Allison given recognition
Retired nurse was an inspiration
A woman who was for a number of years NHS Forth Valley’s lead nurse for learning disability services has been awarded an OBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
Allison Ramsay, who retired earlier this year, was overwhelmed when she heard about the award but was keen to point out that she saw it as recognition not only for her work to improve care for people with learning disabilities, but also to the many people who have worked with her and supported her during her 38-year career as a nurse.
She said: “It has been nervewracking waiting for the awards to be published and I have been overwhelmed by all the messages of support and congratulations.”
Allison joined NHS FV in May 1979 as a nursing assistant, intending to work only for the summer months. However, she enjoyed working with people with learning disabilities and was encouraged by other qualified nurses to undertake nursing as a career.
She qualified in May, 1983, and over the next 10 years had various posts at the former Royal Scottish National Hospital in Larbert and in community learning disability services, before taking on a combined clinical and management role in 1994.
During the next few years the focus for people with learning disabilities was to help them live as independently as possible in community settings and a hospital closure plan was put in place across the country.
Appointed NHS Forth Valley’s lead nurse for learning disabilities in 2001, Allison focused on developing enhanced learning disability services in the community and creating Loch View, a new assessment and treatment facility close to Forth Valley Royal Hospital.
Like many nurses, Allison started training when still a teenager, and she hopes the award may help to raise the profile of learning disability nursing and encourage young people to think about this as a future career.
She would also encourage nurses working in other areas to consider retraining in learning disabilities as she says is a very rewarding, fulfilling and varied area to work in.
She added: “I have had a great career in NHS Forth Valley and I am so appreciative of the support I have had from friends and colleagues over the last four decades.”