Local Staff Recognised For More Than 2,000 of Helping Patients

26/02/2019 Achievement

Around 70 NHS Forth Valley staff, with a total of 2080 years service between them, received a Long Service Award after achieving 20, 30 or 40 years service. They attended a special award ceremony at Forth Valley Royal Hospital to celebrate their long careers working for the NHS. The event was hosted by NHS Forth Valley Chairman, Alex Linkston and Chief Executive, Cathie Cowan and each member of staff received a specially designed certificate and pin badge.

Two short videos, together with a presentation from a 30 year award winner, highlighted the varied careers of some of this year’s recipients. The videos are available on the multimedia section of the NHS Forth Valley website www.nhsforthvalley.com

The 40 year award video showed Irene Warnock, a former District Nurse and Head of Community Nursing reflecting on her years in the NHS. She recalled the start of her long and varied career in community nursing with a letter asking her to report for duty with two pairs of brown shoes, brown tights and white Kirby grips to keep her hat in place! Irene has held a wide variety of posts throughout her long nursing career. These include staff nurse in a number hospital wards, district nurse/midwife, advanced nurse practitioner in community hospitals, anticipatory care lead and a spell in GP out-of-hours services.

Members of staff receiving their 30 years service award

30 years service awards

Sandra Campbell, Macmillan Nurse Consultant for Palliative Care in NHS Forth Valley, celebrated 30 years service with the NHS and spoke about her commitment to cancer care. A national award winner, she has led the development of a number of partnerships which have resulted in many successes. These include the Macmillan benefits service in Forth Valley and the One-to-One service which offers follow up support and advice to local people across Forth Valley after they have undergone treatment for cancer.

The 20 year award video featured NHS Forth Valley Consultant Physician, Dr Jeyakumar Selwyn. Dr Selwyn, who cares for older patients, wrote a training book for junior doctors and also contributed to a handbook for those taking exams to become a Member of the Royal College of Practitioners (MRCP). His love of singing began at the tender age of five when he was a choirboy at St John’s Cathedral, Nazareth in the diocese of Totico

20 years service awards

rin, India. Today he continues to make music, in the company of his wife, son and daughter who have formed a gospel group known as the Sunbeam Singers. They’ve already raised thousands of pounds for charity, with many sell-out concerts.

NHS Forth Valley Chairman, Alex Linkston, said: “It was a pleasure to present these awards to staff and gave me the opportunity to say a personal thank you for their long and dedicated service to the NHS. The staff who attended this year’s award ceremony came from many different backgrounds and it was fascinating to listen to their personal stories and hear about some of the many changes they had witnessed during their long NHS careers.”

A total of 72 staff received long service awards – 12 for 40 years service, 40 for 30 years service and 20 for 20 years service. The largest proportion was from the nursing and midwifery department.