Sue Norman, an advanced clinical practitioner working in the urgent community response team in Basingstoke, was named overall winner and Allied Health Professional of the year at the prestigious NHS England Chief Allied Health Professions Officer Awards.
Sue was originally nominated in, and won, her Greener AHP category, which recognises service improvements which improve healthcare’s environmental impact. Her work was instrumental in sourcing and then implementing the Trusts first electric urgent response van.
Over the last 12 months of this service, 95% of patients were being reached in 0-2 hours. A total of 635 patients were seen, of which 82% remained at home. Sues work to implement the electric vehicle for the team meant that alongside keeping people safe and well at home they also avoided the environmental impact of 521 emergency ambulance journeys.
Following her double win Sue said “Leading a service improvement project has been such a hugely rewarding experience. I have been on an incredible journey to become an Advanced Clinical practitioner which has enabled me to have the support to successfully lead this project. Our Urgent Response Van has made a huge difference to the way our service runs and improved the efficiency with which we can reach our patients within our local community, whilst reducing our carbon footprint.”
The electric van is used for staff to visit patients who may otherwise have been sent to hospital, to treat them at home and ensure they have all the equipment and support they need to remain at home.
Sue added “I am very proud of the work the team has done to enable this project to be successful, and I am very grateful for the recognition of this award.“