The Link May 2026 - Book - Page 8
NORTHERN IRELAND
NI Update
Return to Belfast
The Advancing Healthcare Awards Northern Ireland are now in their 8th year and as always we are
looking forward to celebrating with our sponsors, judges, finalists and guests at what will be a very
special evening celebration. This year the ceremony will be hosted by broadcaster and journalist,
Frank Mitchell.
THE SHORTLIST
Award for service improvement
Sponsored by HSC Clinical Education
Business Services Organisation
Person-Centered Care for (Musculoskeletal) MSK Services
through Community Appointment Days
Eilis McGarvey, Musculoskeletal Lead Physiotherapist,
Nikki Scott and Reuben McIlrath, Clinical Team Leads and
Temporary Project Leads, and Allie Cameron, Principal
Physiotherapist, MSK Services, South Eastern Health and
Social Care Trust
Advanced Paramedic Critical Care Rapid Response Vehicle
Glenn O’Rorke, Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS)
Lead Paramedic and the Advanced Paramedic Critical Care
team, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
Food first approach for care home residents with
dysphagia: Impacts on service users, costs and
environment
Fiona Hillen, Clinical Specialist Dysphagia Dietitian and
Elizabeth McKnight, Head of Nutrition and Dietetics, South
Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
Sleep talking on Facebook: Enhancing support for CPAP
patients by building an amazing online community
Niall Hugh Totten, Senior Chief Sleep Healthcare Scientist,
Clare McMahon, Chief Sleep Healthcare Scientist, Shona
O’Hara and Lauren Hawthorne, Sleep Healthcare Scientists,
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
New Pharmacogenomic (PGx) testing service, Precision
Diagnostic Laboratory
Mark Watson, Scientific Lab Manager and the Precision
Diagnostic Laboratory Team, Western Health and Social Care
Trust
Early Respiratory Diagnostics Project Armagh & Dungannon GP federation
Melissa Traynor, Lead Respiratory Physiologist and Lauren
Smith, Clinical Physiology Manager, Armagh & Dungannon
GP Federation and Dr Deirdre Cleary, General Practitioner,
Moy Medical Centre
Award for Outstanding Leadership
Sponsored by the Institute of Biomedical Science
Circle of safety: Seamless traceability of reprocessed
medical devices
Brian Boyd, Head of Decontamination Services and
Healthcare Scientist, and the team, Northern Health and
Social Care Trust
An Inspiring Lifetime Commitment to Excellence in
Neurophysiology Through Compassion,
Innovation, and Transformational Patient Care
Brenda McManus, Chartered Scientist, Belfast Health and
Social Care Trust
Healing the Healers
Diane Keys, Occupational Therapist Advanced Practitioner
Level 2, and Rebecca Hughes, Band 6 Occupational Therapist,
and the Post-Covid team within Occupational Health, Belfast
Health and Social Care Trust, Blossoms at Larne Lough and
NHS Charities Together
Transformational Regional Leadership Driving
Outstanding Improvement in Podiatry Services and
Diabetes Care Across Northern Ireland
Denise Killough, Professional Head of Podiatry Services,
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
From Exclusion to Employment: leading mental health
recovery
Ellen Malcolm, Occupational Therapy Manager Mental Health
and CAMHS, Donna McElduff, Specialist Occupational
Therapist, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and the team
at Action Mental Health
Advancing Radiotherapy Care Through Leadership and
Workforce Transformation
Karen Bradley, Principal Dosimetrist, North West Cancer
Centre, Western Health and Social Care Trust
Frank Mitchell presents the U105 Radio Phone-In every weekday
morning. As a TV presenter with UTV Frank fronted a variety
of long running shows including UTV Life, School Around The
Corner, End to End and Ultimate Ulster. The former BBC producer
was also the ITV weather presenter with UTV for over 30 years.
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