A number of NHS Borders staff have been shortlisted for the Scottish Health Awards 2021.

Ross Mackie, Team Manager for Adult Community Mental Health, was shortlisted for the Care for Mental Health Award. Despite the pandemic Ross retained his vision of peer support workers becoming part of the mental health services and made this happen through his ‘tenacity, passion and commitment’.

Jane Allison, a Podiatrist at Galashiels Health Centre, has been shorted for the Allied Health Professional Award for her ‘great fortitude and tireless work’ during the pandemic. To ensure that all high-risk patients were seen regularly, Jane instigated a review system and coordinated patient care with the podiatry, district nursing and diabetic teams. Without this work the Podiatry Service are certain that many more patients with critical foot conditions would have been admitted to hospital.

The Pregnancy Assessment Unit have been shortlisted for the Midwifery Award. When the team was relocated from an acute base to a community setting, they ‘took it in their stride’ and ‘seamlessly’ made the new environment both Covid-19 safe and person-centred. At the height of Covid-19 the team also significantly adapted how they provided care to patients, in collaboration with their community midwife colleagues, to minimise face to face visits when appropriate so that they could help reduce the risk of infection. 

This year’s winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 4 November.

Ralph Roberts, Chief Executive of NHS Borders, said: “I am delighted to congratulate our finalists on reaching the last stage of the Scottish Health Awards. Their innovation, hard work and dedication are all the more impressive given the ongoing Covid-19 challenges. To be selected as a finalist in such well contested awards is a real achievement and I wish them all the best of luck for the 4th of November.”

Every year, the Scottish Health Awards recognise and reward the dedicated NHS staff, support workers, volunteers and specialist teams who go the extra mile to provide outstanding patient care.