Respiratory Consultant Dr Ronan O’Driscoll has been awarded the British Thoracic Society’s (BTS) Meritorious Service award for 2015. The citation describes him as an indefatigable champion of patient safety and excellence in clinical care throughout his career.
In particular, this award was given for his work in chairing the first BTS Guideline on Emergency Oxygen use in adult patients (jointly with Professor Tony Davidson), which he is currently involved in updating. This developed out of his pioneering work at Salford Royal, which has now become the standard model for oxygen use in hospitals throughout the UK and is also spreading to other countries. With his support, BTS set up a network of Oxygen Champions to share the messages within UK hospitals, undertake clinical audits, and monitor outcomes. Salford Royal, BTS and Southend Hospital NHS Trust won a Patient Safety Award for this work in 2011
The BTS award follows hot on the heels of Ronan winning the Doctor of the Year title in Salford Royal’s Staff Awards 2015.