This year’s King’s New Year Honours list has seen recognition given to ambulance employees from London, North West, Northern Ireland and Scottish Ambulance Services.
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Chief Executive, Michael Bloomfield has received the Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to Health and Social Care.
Michael has 37 years’ experience working in the public sector. He joined the Civil Service in 1987, moving to the Department of Health in 1998 where he held several posts including in HR, Public Health policy and Secondary Care policy.
He was appointed as Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service in March 2018 and has been transformative, leading NIAS to excel in service delivery through the establishment of best practice in NI.
The King’s Ambulance Medal
This year has seen three recipients of the King’s Ambulance Medal (KAM), which honours a select group of ambulance personnel who have shown exceptional devotion to duty, outstanding ability, merit and conduct in their roles within NHS Ambulance Services.
At North West Ambulance Service Lisa Ward, Director of People, has also been recognised with the KAM.
Lisa has worked for the service for over 24 years and is recognised for her commitment to helping staff and patients.
As well as her role within NWAS, Lisa is also HR Director lead for National Education Network for Ambulance Services, leading national educational and training development on behalf of the ambulance sector. She is a highly regarded member of the Staff Council and supports the national LGBTQ network.
Her decades of allyship were recently recognised with an award at the national LGBTQ conference in 2023.
Learn more about Lisa’s honour here.
From London Ambulance Service Darren Farmer, Director of Ambulance Operations, has been awarded the KAM.
Since joining London Ambulance Service in 1992 as a paramedic, Darren Farmer has provided exemplary service for over 30 years rising through the ranks to become Director of Ambulance Operations with responsibility for more than 5,000 members of frontline staff.
In the past couple of years, Darren has been instrumental in introducing a new way of working at LAS to improve workloads and lead to improved satisfaction among frontline staff.
Learn more about Darren’s deserved accolade here.
In Scotland, Kenny Freeburn, Regional Director for East, has been awarded the prestigious honour, acknowledging his exceptional devotion to duty, merit and conduct.
Having initially trained and worked as a nurse, Kenny, of Arbroath, first joined the Service in 1994, starting out as an Ambulance Care Assistant (ACA), before moving on to work as Head of Service in East Central, National Community Resilience Manager and Deputy Director in the North and East Regions.
In addition, Kenny is currently leading delivery of the Service’s National Scheduled Care Project, the SAS Ethnic Minority Network and regularly undertakes national roles and responsibilities and deputises for the Chief Operating Officer when required.
Further recognition for dedication to ambulance, paramedic and patient care services:
Emergency services worker Ben Hawkins has been awarded the British Empire Medal for his work on staff wellbeing and mental health.
Ben Hawkins is now a police officer but was recognised for his efforts when working as an emergency dispatcher and community first responder for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust in Bedford.
Mr Hawkins, of Yaxley near Peterborough, has campaigned for better mental health support for emergency service workers for several years.
Learn more about Ben’s accolade here.
Commenting on the above honours, Jason Killens KAM, AACE Chair and CEO at WAST, said:
Huge congratulations to Michael, Lisa, Darren, Kenny and Ben for their awards in this year’s King’s New Year Honours list, who have been rightly commended for their contribution to the ambulance sector, its patients and its people.
Thank you to them all for their outstanding efforts, input and impact.
In addition to the above awards:
Roy Farmer, a Huddersfield-based volunteer community first responder (CFR) with Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, has been recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to the community in West Yorkshire.
Roy signed up to be a community first responder in April 2015 and is approaching ten years of volunteering in his local area.
During that time, he has clocked up over 11,000 hours and attended over 3,500 incidents, including 38 cardiac arrests where he has achieved 15 ROSCs (return of spontaneous circulation).
Dr Stephen Reaney, GP, has received the MBE for voluntary service to the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.
Richard Jones has also been awarded the MBE for services to St. John Ambulance in Wales.
Pat Shakespeare, Superintendent at Portland Division, St. John Ambulance has received the BEM for services to Community First Aid in Portland.
All at AACE applaud and congratulate this year’s recipients, who will receive their medals at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace later in the new year.
About the King’s Ambulance Service Medal
The King’s Ambulance Service Medal (KAM) honours a very small, select group of ambulance personnel who have shown exceptional devotion to duty, outstanding ability, merit and conduct in their roles within NHS Ambulance Services.
The award was introduced in 2011 (as the Queen’s Ambulance Medal, QAM) and ensures that the dedication of ambulance staff now has the same level of Royal recognition as other members of the emergency services.
The number of nominations for a KAM in any one year may never exceed ten and includes up to four Medals for England, up to two Medals for Wales, up to two Medals for Scotland, up to one Medal for Northern Ireland and up to one Medal for the Channel Islands. They are awarded twice a year.
Nominations for the KAM can be made using the form on this page.
