Staff from Aberdeen are part of the NHS 24 111 team nominated at this year’s Scottish Health Awards.
The team are finalists for the Top Team Award and the Innovation Award for their “outstanding” work during the Covid pandemic.
Clinical director Dr Laura Ryan said she is extremely “proud and privileged” to call the NHS 24 111 staff her colleagues.
She said: “NHS 24 services grew significantly to support the national Health and Social Care response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“As well as developing services to support the public, and offer sustainability to our professional partners during the pandemic, we have developed and delivered a wide range of services to health and care across Scotland.
“NHS 24 people are highly trained and committed to delivering the highest possible safe high quality patient care. No matter what part of Scotland they work in, colleagues in all our centres have acted as a single team to provide our response to the pandemic.”
Expanding services for Covid
The NHS responded to the pandemic by setting up a Covid helpline, recruiting additional staff and creating the online information hub, NHS Inform.
The 111 service was also expanded to be open 24/7 to further support urgent care and minor injuries.
More than 3.1million calls have been answered by NHS 24 across all services since February 2020, when the first Covid case was recorded in Scotland.
Staff have worked behind the scenes to ensure the latest information is readily available on the NHS Inform website, which was made easier by the introduction of new IT systems for remote working.
The finance, recruitment, estates and training teams all found “creative solutions” to keep the service running smoothly throughout the pandemic.
The Scottish Health Awards has recognised the efforts of all the teams which has made it a finalist for the Top Team Award.
Support for mental health
The NHS 24 team has been nominated for the Innovation Award for its Mental Health Pathway, which provides 24/7 mental health support to anyone who needs it in Scotland.
It is an “innovative, pioneering, collaborative” project between Police Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service and NHS 24 mental health practitioners.
Those who call the police or ambulance service with mental distress are assessed and referred for the support and treatment they require.
Dr Ryan added: “These two nominations as finalists in the Scottish Health Awards recognise the hard work, dedication and genuine team work of all our people, in a period where we have seen incredible pressure on NHS services.
“They are selflessly committed to continue to deliver the highest quality of care for Scotland. I am extremely proud and privileged to call them colleagues.”
The winners will be announced at the Scottish Health Awards on November 4.