London Ambulance Service staff honoured at awards ceremony with special VIP guest

The achievements of staff at London Ambulance Service were celebrated at a glittering awards ceremony in London recently.

More than 1,300 colleagues were nominated and recognised for their hard work and dedication over the past year at the annual ‘We Are LAS’ awards ceremony in South West London.

The black-tie event had a special VIP guest appearance from TV soap actress and personality Claire Sweeney.

The Coronation Street star thanked staff and volunteers for their contribution to patient care across London – from packing medicines, preparing vehicles, cleaning premises, maintaining our IT infrastructure or treating patients over the phone or at the scene.

Jason Killens KAM, Chief Executive at London Ambulance Service, said: “These awards really highlight the dedication and compassion of our entire workforce, and it was wonderful to celebrate their achievements.

“I’m incredibly proud of our dedicated teams – they work around the clock to make sure our services run smoothly and the people of London get the urgent and emergency care they need. I’m grateful that this event gives us the opportunity to reflect on that hard work and pay thanks to those who go the extra mile for our patients and their colleagues.”

The flagship ‘We Are LAS’ awards are the first to be held since the arrival of Chief Executive Jason Killens KAM last year, who awarded this year’s CEO commendation award to Luke Ripley, Ambulance Person for Non Emergency Transport Service in New Malden.

Luke demonstrated immense courage and bravery when he responded to a female passerby who, along with her daughter, was being threatened by an individual armed with a knife.. During the shocking incident, Luke entered the property where the knifeman was and successfully de-escalated the situation.

Other winners include Lee Bevan and Simon Gore who won the Lifetime Achievement award, and individuals whose dedication, compassion and impact have shaped the very heart of the Service.

The full list of winners are:

• Clinician of the Year Award – Shannon Orkin, Paramedic at Waterloo Ambulance Station
• Outstanding Patient Care Award – John Butcher, Emergency Medical Technician
• Mentor of the Year Award – Brett Phillips, Paramedic at Bromley Ambulance Station
• Collaboration Champion Award – Health Inequalities Team
• Outstanding Teamwork Award – Team F – Camden
• Caring in Action Award – Heidi Rapley, Station Support Manager at Ilford.
• Living our Values Award – Alison Pentecost, Incident Response Officer.
• CEO Commendation Award – Luke Rapela, Ambulance Person for NETS in New Malden.
• Everyday Inspiration Award – Adam Lavin, Station Support Manager at Wimbledon
• Emergency Operations Centre Star Award –  Andy Beasley, Incident Response Officer at Barnehurst.
• Integrated Urgent Care star – Talia Austin, Bank Health Advisor at 111 and IUC
• Ambulance Operations star – India Best, Trainee Emergency Medical Technician (Apprentice) at West Ham
• Ambulance Support Services Star – Ajay Balloo, Make Ready Hub Co-ordinator in Croydon
• Support Services star – Sarah Fonteriz, Strategy Lead at Waterloo
• Rising Star award – Caleb Garuba, Paramedic at Newham
• Innovation and Quality award – Ruairi Kennedy, Paramedic at Friern Barnet
• Inspirational Leader award – Mohammed Hoque, Team Manager at Homerton
• Lifetime Achievement award – Lee Bevan, Clinical Team Manager and Simon Gore, Emergency Medical Technician.