THE air ambulance service in Dorset and Somerset has been named as a finalist for the 2015 Health Service Journal Awards.

Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has been recognised for the initiation, development and delivery of a unique Post Graduate Education Programme for their paramedics.

Funded entirely by the charity and run in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire and the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, the initiative has resulted in the charity being named a finalist in the ‘Improving Outcomes through Learning and Development’ category.

Bill Sivewright, Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance Chief Executive Officer said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been selected as finalists in this particular category and at a national level.

“Training and Education forms a cornerstone of the charity’s vision for the pursuit of clinical excellence.

“The unique element of this programme is the fact that the education and training is delivered on-site at the charity’s airbase and not in the University classroom.

“Through this mechanism we have now established a group of highly enthusiastic paramedics and doctors who help deliver the training both at the airbase, on the helicopter and within their own trusts.”

This year, over 600 organisations submitted over 1600 entries. Those shortlisted will now complete presentations and interviews to a judging panel.

Alastair McLellan, Editor, HSJ, said: “The NHS is experiencing one of the toughest periods in its 67 year history, with demand and expectation rising and funding in short supply.

“The fact that the HSJ Awards has seen the biggest ever increase in entries shows the service remains undaunted in its mission to provide world beating patient care.”

The judging panel for the finals is made up of Rob Webster (Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation), Mike Durkin (Director of Patient Safety for NHS England), Ursula Ward (CEO for Portsmouth Hospitals Trust) David Haslam (Chair for NICE), Lynda Thomas (Chief Executive at MacMillan Cancer Support), Gillian Fairfield (The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust’s Chief Executive), and Gill Morgan (Chair of the Foundation Trust Network).

Mr Sivewright added: “Our aim was to motivate the paramedics and other stakeholders in our pursuit for clinical excellence. The project was ambitious and took ingenious planning.

“We identified the needs of our patients given the change in the healthcare landscape and instead of embarking on an already established University course; we created something totally unique, of which we are extremely proud.”

The HSJ Awards will be presented in front of an audience of more than 1700 senior healthcare leaders on 18 November at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

For a full shortlist, visit awards.hsj.co.uk/shortlist.