Award for injured doctor a boost to her recovery
Editorial Department • Published 19 Jan 2012 13:00
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Dr Cathy Armstrong, consultant anaesthetist, is pictured with the British Association of Day Surgery (BADS) President's Prize for 2011 for advancing the cause of day surgery.
A year after she was seriously injured when an ambulance she was travelling in overturned, consultant anaesthetist Dr. Cathy Armstrong is celebrating receiving an award for her commitment to day surgery.
The British Association of Day Surgery (BADS) President's Prize for 2011 was awarded to the senior doctor at the Erne Hospital for advancing the cause of day surgery in both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Since the Association was chartered 21 years ago, this is the first time the President's Prize was awarded to doctor from the island of Ireland.
Dr Armstrong, who was seriously injured in an accident near Brookeborough a year ago today, said receiving the BADS President's Prize was an encouragement during her recovery. "It was a boost but most important for my recovery has been my family, my friends and my work colleagues and I am grateful for all the support they have given me." The ambulance she was travelling in was transferring a seriously ill patient from the Erne Hospital to the intensive care unit at Belfast's Royal Victoria Hospital when it collided with a lorry.
Appointed as an anaesthetist at the Erne Hospital in 1995, Dr Armstrong is the first person from Ireland to be brought onto the BADS Council representing both north and south. She received the award for influencing and facilitating change locally and nationally to adopt modern surgical practices and techniques. Dr Armstrong said it was an incredible honour to have been awarded the British Association of Day Surgery President's Prize.
Dr Armstrong said: "Developments in clinical care and surgery in recent decades has meant more and more procedures can be carried out on a day surgery basis. Taking into account each individual patient's needs and circumstances, where day surgery is appropriate it has positive outcomes enabling patients to return to their home environment to continue their recovery. The fantastic clinical staff I work with in the Erne have readily embraced these developments in surgery and anaesthetics."
Since June 2010, BADS has been represented at 16 different meetings and has organised events jointly with the Royal College of Surgeons of England, The Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland, the Scottish Government and The Irish Department of Health and Children, amongst others.
Dr Smith said: "We have had a particularly successful year in Ireland, organising a total of three very popular events and advancing the progress of day surgery on either side of the border. It was largely for this reason that I awarded my 'President's Prize' to Cathy Armstrong for all of her amazing efforts in making these possible."
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 19 Jan 12
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