ESSEX & HERTS AIR AMBULANCE’S CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE TAKES SHAPE WITH KEY APPOINTMENTS
Left to right: Prof Chris Uff, Adam Carr, Lisa Burrell, Dr Gareth Grier, Dr Sarah McLachlan
In a significant step forward in delivering its vision, to create a world-leading community through which prehospital care is developed to achieve the best possible outcomes for all patients, local life-saving charity, Essex & Herts Air Ambulance (EHAAT), has made four key appointments to its Centre for Excellence.
The Centre for Excellence is underpinned by its four pillars: Research and Scholarship, Innovation, Education and Training, and Community, which support three overarching clinical domains of cardiac arrest, head injury and patient experience and outcomes. Together these create a framework where working collaboratively, the highest possible standards of pre-hospital clinical care can be reached.
Advanced Paramedic Practitioner, Lisa Burrell, has joined the Centre for Excellence team as Education and Training Lead. A busy mother of three, she brings a wealth of experience to the new role, and also runs a MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice at St George’s, University of London.
Lisa’s role in the Centre for Excellence will be primarily focused on embracing the training needs and professional development of EHAAT’s clinical teams, and the wider medical community. Working alongside colleagues, she will also be responsible for creating a strategy which focuses on sharing best practice, to ensure prehospital care is developed to make a real difference to patients and their families.
Lisa said: “I am thrilled to join such a highly motivated and talented team. EHAAT has a strong reputation for leading development in prehospital critical care, and it is a great privilege to be part of the innovative journey going forward with the Centre for Excellence.”
Consultant Neurosurgeon, Professor Chris Uff, has been appointed as the Centre for Excellence Academic Lead for Head Injury. Keen triathlete and violin maker, Professor Uff is head of neuro trauma and neurovascular surgery at The Royal London Hospital and Major Trauma Centre in East London. His role will see him working with the clinical teams at EHAAT, and linking up with other partner organisations, to understand more about head injury and what new and innovative treatment options are available to reduce the lasting effects of what can be a catastrophic injury.
Professor Uff said: “I’m delighted to join the EHAAT team as academic head injury lead. Working with such diverse and unique talent places us in an enviable position to deliver outstanding and innovative care to our patients.”
Adam Carr, who has been with EHAAT since 2013 as a Critical Care Paramedic and more recently Head of Patient & Family Liaison, has been promoted into the new role of Community Lead (Clinical) at the Centre for Excellence. In this new role, Adam will deliver and oversee a co-ordinated community training programme covering CPR and defibrillators, so that the public are better able to make life-saving interventions in the crucial minutes following an incident.
Adam said: “Being given the opportunity and resources to set up the ‘Community’ pillar of EHAATs Centre for Excellence is such a huge and exciting opportunity for me. Over my time with EHAAT, I have seen, on a regular basis, the difference bystander CPR makes to the outcome of our patients. For this reason, one of my main initial projects is going to be ensuring CPR and AED (defibrillator) training is accessible and available to as many of the good people of Essex and Hertfordshire as possible. I genuinely believe this will benefit our local communities and beyond, I can’t wait to get started!”
Dr Sarah McLachlan has been appointed as Centre for Excellence Research Lead. Having worked with EHAAT for the last five years, she is also a Senior Research Fellow in Health Sciences Research at Anglia Ruskin University. Sarah’s new role at EHAAT will be focused on building and leading a team to deliver the charity’s research and scholarship strategy. She will also lead on research collaborations with other organisations, as well as patients and members of the public.
Sarah said: “I am delighted to have the privilege of leading the implementation of our exciting Centre for Excellence research and scholarship strategy. The strategy focuses on enhancing our understanding of patients’ experiences and outcomes, and producing high quality evidence to help drive continual improvements in the care that we provide, especially around head injury and cardiac arrest.”
Dr Gareth Grier, Project Lead at the Centre for Excellence, is delighted to welcome Sarah, Lisa, Chris, and Adam to the Centre for Excellence team. He said: “Our vision for the Centre for Excellence is bold, innovative and sits at the heart of the community. With Chris, Sarah, Adam and Lisa on board, and their combined knowledge and experience, I have no doubt that we will be able to take constructive steps in our aim to create a world leading community, where clinical excellence sits at the centre of our ambition, ensuring prehospital care is developed to make a real difference in achieving the best possible outcomes for patients and their families in our region and beyond.”
To support, donate and find out more about EHAAT and the Centre for Excellence visit https://www.ehaat.org.
