Somerset paramedic presented with top award by HRH the Duke of Cambridge

A Somerset-based paramedic has been presented with the Queen’s Ambulance Service Medal by HRH The Duke of Cambridge at Buckingham Palace this week.

Adrian South, Deputy Director of Clinical Care for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT), was recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2022 and received his medal in London on Tuesday 7 June.

Adrian, 41, who lives in Chard, Somerset, has worked for the ambulance service for 21 years.

He has been instrumental in the move of the paramedic profession from conveying almost every patient to hospital, to managing more than half of patients on-scene.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Adrian was asked to focus on infection prevention and control, providing senior leadership for a range of projects, including the introduction of improved PPE for staff and the launch of the staff vaccination programme. 

Adrian says: "To be honest, I was quite taken aback to find myself on the New Year’s Honour’s List.

"My role over the years has been to constantly focus on the care we provide to our patients, and to support developments which improve that care.

"The clinical team provide a toolkit of guidelines and interventions for our frontline clinicians. However, it’s our clinicians who then take that toolkit, and use it to deliver the best care they can to our patients.

"They’ve worked tirelessly delivering care throughout the pandemic and they are the ones who really deserve an award.”

The Queen’s Ambulance Service Medal is awarded to a handful of people each year who have given service characterised by exceptional devotion to duty and marked by outstanding ability.

Adrian, who graduated from the University of Hertfordshire in 2002 as one of the first degree-level paramedics in the UK, was appointed Deputy Director of Clinical Care for SWASFT in 2010.