The Cardiology team at Forth Valley Royal Hospital have been awarded the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh’s inaugural William Cullen prize for excellence in service innovation.

The prize was awarded at NHS Forth Valley’s annual Staff Recognition Awards on 27 September 2016.

The team, led by Dr Catherine Labinjoh, Consultant Cardiologist/Speciality Lead, and Carolyn Probert, Senior Charge Nurse, were praised for developing a supportive learning environment and providing excellent care to acute cardiac patients.

Awarding the prize, Dr Dan Beckett, Assistant Director of Standards, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said:

“I am delighted to award the new William Cullen Prize to the Forth Valley Cardiology team. This ward has brought together teams from different clinical environments to create and provide a service that is providing high standards of patient care for cardiology patients and their relatives.

“The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh has Members and Fellows all over the world, but this prize particularly recognises excellence at a local level in Scotland.”

One patient who nominated the team said:

“It’s a ‘Mending Hearts from every angle’ kind of approach, being there emotionally while still remaining professional, the Nurses always lend a listening ear and the housekeeping staff give you a lovely smile, you can clearly see everybody there does their job with all their heart and actually cares about the patient behind all the medical jargon that often ‘defines’ the patient…doing more than they actually have to just to brighten up their patients’ day!”