Celebration for Long-Serving Ambulance Staff

Friday, 25 February, 2011

Staff at the ceremony at Bramall Lane in Sheffield. Pictured in the centre at the front of the group is Yorkshire Ambulance Service's Vice Chair Pat Drake (purple jacket), the Queen's Representative Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire Mr David B Moody (Bla

Staff from Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust who, between them, have clocked up over 1,000 years of service were honoured at a Long Service and Retirement Awards ceremony this week.

The special event took place on Thursday 24 February 2011 at the Sheffield United Football ground at Bramall Lane, where the Queen's Representative, Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, Mr David B Moody, presented the awards alongside the Trust's Deputy Chief Executive Simon Worthington and Vice Chair Pat Drake.

Tribute was paid to the dedicated and caring staff from across the region, many of whom have spent much of their working lives in the ambulance service.

The accolades include the Queen's Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for 20 years exemplary frontline emergency service, the Yorkshire Ambulance Service 20 year Long Service Award for non-frontline duties and an award in recognition of 30 years service. The retirement of a member of staff who served an impressive 37 years will also be celebrated.

Simon Worthington, who is also the Trust's Finance Director, said: "These awards recognise outstanding commitment to duty and I would like to congratulate and thank each recipient for their valuable years of service.

"People think that the ambulance service is just about ambulances with blue lights, but we value the dedication of our staff who work behind the scenes just as much. These awards offer us a great opportunity to recognise the tremendous achievements of staff from all areas of the organisation including those working in our 999 communications centres, non-emergency transport service and within support services.

"Our staff are without doubt our greatest asset and work extremely hard to provide the very best possible care to our patients. Each and every one of them is a credit to our service and the public they serve."

A wide range of ambulance memorabilia such as photos, old uniforms and equipment was on display at the event along with four emergency vehicles spanning 126 years of the service including a horse-drawn ambulance from 1885.

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