Great Western Ambulance staff honoured for a millennium of service
Wednesday, 21 October, 2009
Almost 1,500 years of service by ambulance
staff helping patients have been recognised at a prestigious longservice
awards ceremony.
HM Lord Lieutenant of Bristol, Mrs Mary Prior MBE JP, presented nine members of Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) staff with the Queen's Medal for Long
Service and Good Conduct - awarded to ambulance staff who have completed 20 years' service, of which at least seven
years have been frontline accident and emergency operations.
A further 17 staff were also presented last month with awards for 20, 30 and
40 years' service with GWAS and a total of 57 staff were in line to receive
an award - representing a combined total
of 1,450 years of ambulance service.
GWAS Chief Executive David Whiting, who attended the ceremony, said: "As a clinician myself and having spent all of my working life in the ambulance
service, I appreciate just how important it is to our staff to be recognised
for their dedicated service to our public.
"I am proud that we have been able to recognise the long service of colleagues
who work across the range of important services we provide - from our A&E staff, and Patient Transport Services; our Control centres and colleagues from all our support service functions.
Delivering high-quality, safe and responsive services is without doubt a team effort. "For many colleagues, their
award represents a lifetime of dedicated service and a working life spent caring
for others - often in very difficult and traumatic circumstances."
