NHS Forth Valley Associate Audiologist Louise Whitelaw was recognised as a Rising Star at the recent Advancing Healthcare Awards.

These UK wide awards, recognise and reward projects and professionals that lead innovative healthcare practice and make a real difference to patients’ lives in the healthcare science and allied health professions. They also cover a wide range of professional and specialists groups whose achievements often go unnoticed.

The ‘Rising Star’ award shines the spotlight on people within five years of qualifying who have already made their mark. Louise – nominated by NHS Forth Valley Lead Healthcare Scientist Stephanie Doody – joined Forth Valley’s audiology department as an assistant technical officer in 2008. Her main duties were administrative but it was clear from the outset that Louise was a great asset to the department and that her forward thinking attitude were talents which would be better used in a more technical delivery of patient care. Within a year Louise had put herself forward for the new hearing aid associate diploma at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh.

NHS Forth Valley Lead Healthcare Scientist Stephanie Doody said: “Louise has embodied all that an associate practioner could achieve for patient care and technical ability, if not more. She is a Rising Star not only because of the massive effort she puts in daily, but in her continued commitment to deliver excellent care to patients in Forth Valley.”

The national awards, in their eighth year, are organised by Chamberlain Dunn and are sponsored by NHS England, NHS Employers, Unite the Union, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland health departments, Health Education England, the Academy for Healthcare Science, the Institute for Physics and Engineering in Medicine, the Allied Health Professions Federation, the Society and College of Radiographers, Pulse, GateHouse and Caboo Design.