This year, NSW Ambulance is proud to have finalists in two categories of the Australasian Ambulance Awards for Excellence. Run by the Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA) for over 10 years, the aim of these awards is to recognise the hard and innovative work of member ambulance services from Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
NSW Ambulance’s Wellbeing Workshop Program is a finalist in the ‘Excellence in Mental Health & Wellbeing’ category of the awards and our Elevate Program is a finalist in the ‘Excellence in Staff Development’ category.
The Wellbeing Workshop’s Senior Program Specialist, Elizabeth Simeoli, said her team were thrilled to be listed as a finalist.
“With over 4,100 staff having completed the Wellbeing Workshop to date, with close to 80% of those participants advising they would recommend the Workshop to their colleagues – we felt it was only right to share the Workshop with our Australian, New Zealand and Papua New Guinean colleagues,” she said.
“The Wellbeing Workshop team live and breathe the program, they give their hearts and minds to participants each week and it shows in the experience our staff have with us.”
Leadership Development Program Specialist, Toni Purnell, said it was wonderful to hear that the Elevate Program is also a finalist.
“Our goal was to create a program that was disruptive – in a positive way – as well as meaningful and inspiring for our operational leaders,” she said.
“We also wanted to ensure the vast experience our leaders already have was acknowledged and leveraged as part of the learning process.
“To be recognised for this achievement is incredibly special and a credit to all NSW Ambulance staff who have participated in the program to date with openness, curiosity and commitment to being the best contemporary leaders they can be.”
The CAA awards are designed to encourage innovation and to enable services to share their work and learn from each other. They are independently judged by a panel of industry-respected judges from across the globe, and divided into six categories; technology, clinical practice, staff development, patient care, leadership, and a new 2021 category; mental health and wellbeing.
The winners will be announced on 17 November.