A MIDWIFE, a speech and language therapist and a haematology team from the region are all in the running for national awards recognising their outstanding contributions.
Nominees in the annual Scottish Health Awards have all now been revealed, ahead of the awards ceremony which takes place in Edinburgh on November 2.
Midwife Lynn Young said: “I was overwhelmed to be nominated for this award, particularly as the nomination was from a family I had looked after during a bereavement in pregnancy, and then again during a further pregnancy with the happy outcome of a healthy baby boy.”
Nominated in the Midwife category, Lynn, who lives in South Ayrshire, added: “I work as a community midwife in Stranraer, and love my job which I have been in for 23 years.
“I have enjoyed the continuity of working with local families and getting to know them over the years. I am proud to have worked with an incredible team of midwives, obstetricians, maternity care assistants and support staff over many years, and nominations such as this reflect on the motivation of everyone in the team to provide the best care we can locally.”
Speech and Language Therapist Claire Dolan will meanwhile represent NHS Dumfries and Galloway in the category Allied Health Professionals (AHP), nominated for her work supporting a young boy.
She said: “I was nominated by a family that I worked with, supporting their little boy to move from full time use of a nasogastric tube to full oral feeding.”
Claire’s role sees her working with families in acute hospital care and in the community, supporting children and young people who have difficulty with eating, drinking and swallowing – also known as Dysphagia.
Working closely with colleagues, and with the families of patients, Claire said: “Their journey can sometimes be a long one and getting to know a family well is often part of the job.
Reacting to her nomination, Claire, who is originally from Gatehouse of Fleet but now lives in Dumfries, said: “I am humbled by the nomination as my role is a small part within a patient’s journey. I work with a fantastic group of therapists and community teams providing follow up developmental care to our families in the region and they absolutely deserve the recognition for the support they provide.
“To be recognised as a key part in achieving such an important goal for a family is extremely special, and I am grateful to have been part of their journey.”
Meanwhile, Consultant Haematologist Dr Ranjit Thomas has paid tribute to his department – after it was nominated in the Top Team category.
Dr Thomas said: “We’re immensely grateful to the patients who have nominated us for this award, just as we are to all the patients who express their gratitude for the quality of treatment and care that they’ve received.
“I’d especially like to thank all patients for their understanding and patience amid the staffing challenges experienced over the past year.”
Recognising all the work which takes place in support of the service, the Lead for Clinical Haematology is keen to note the roles played by the secretarial team, the biomedical scientists and pharmacists, health support workers, specialist chemotherapy-trained and ward-based nurses, the embedded clinical nurse specialists and clinical pharmacists, support services and IT, as well as the medical colleagues who provide necessary specialist input.
Thanks are also due to numerous teams across the central belt, specifically the Beatson Oncology and Radiotherapy teams, the Bone Marrow Transplant and CAR-T teams, the Stem Cell Harvest teams, the Haematopathology Molecular and Genetics Diagnostic teams, and the Haemostasis team, all of whom continue to offer very specialist, world class support.
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