Ambulance colleagues celebrate long service in Yorkshire

Colleagues with a combined service of 4,000 years have been recognised for their dedication at a Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust (YAS) Long Service and Retirement Awards event, including one member of staff who has celebrated an incredible 50 years’ service.

Over 220 staff had reached 20-, 30-, 40- and 50-years’ service in the NHS during 2022 and nearly 100 awardees and their guests attended the special event at Wetherby Racecourse, during which awards were presented by YAS Chair Martin Havenhand and Helen Thomson, His Majesty’s Vice Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire.  Recipients included staff from A&E Operations, the Emergency Operations Centre, non-emergency Patient Transport Service, NHS 111 and support services.

In total, 25 individuals were congratulated for achieving 20 years’ NHS service and 18 individuals for reaching the 30 years’ service milestone. The honours handed out included the Queen’s Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, given to 39 colleagues with 20 years’ exemplary frontline emergency service during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.  Thirteen staff were recognised for an amazing 40 years’ service and one recipient picked up an award for an outstanding 50 years’ service.

Alan Baranowski joined Sheffield Ambulance Service in 1972 and spent 20 years working in Sheffield, first as an Emergency Medical Technician and later as a Paramedic. Since then, he has held a wide range of roles including Associate Director of Operations and Head of Resilience and Special Operations.

In the 1980s he became involved in the very early development of paramedic and trauma training at the former South Yorkshire Ambulance Service.  Alan also played a significant part in the UK-wide development of the computerisation of ambulance control room systems which remain in operation today, and he worked with local A&E consultants on pioneering new protocols for neonatal and paediatric clinical procedures for paramedics.

In 2002 he led on the development of the UK’s first ‘paramedic degree courses’ at both the University of Sheffield and then Sheffield Hallam University.

In 2016, Alan was awarded the Queen’s Ambulance Medal, a great honour which recognises Alan’s many years of dedicated service and makes him part of a very small, select group of ambulance personnel who have shown exceptional devotion to duty, outstanding ability, merit and conduct in their roles.

Peter Reading, Chief Executive, said: “Our Long Service Awards event is a fantastic opportunity to truly thank staff for their contribution to the service, the NHS, and our local communities over the last 20, 30, 40, and even 50 years.

“It has been humbling to witness the incredible work and dedication of colleagues across the Trust, and it was great to speak to so many colleagues at the event and hear about their varied careers. They should all be immensely proud of their achievements.”

The awards ceremony was also an opportunity for members of staff who recently retired to be thanked for their valuable service to the Trust and communities across Yorkshire. Some of them couldn’t say a permanent goodbye to the Trust and have come out of retirement and returned to work.