The Island’s Audiology Service has been named as the Department of Health’s Top Team for 2010/11, for their work on an Island-wide restructure of the Audiology Service, which has improved services to patients and delivered greater efficiencies. The annual Top Team Award ceremony was held yesterday at Keyll Darree, the Department’s Education and Training Centre, where four shortlisted teams competed for the title of Top Team, the Department of Health’s highest accolade for staff. The runners up had equally impressive projects, concerning the following areas: Phlebotomy Service Appointment System Optimising the Care of Vulnerable Adults at Noble’s Hospital Live Well Stay Well The ceremony was opened by Minister for Health, David Anderson MHK, who went on to say, “It is a magnificent achievement for our Audiology team to have won this award, especially when you take into consideration the stiff competition from our three runners up. The Top Team Award has been running for six years, and this is the first final to be held since I became Health Minister in April 2010. It’s a real pleasure to see the hard work and dedication of our staff recognised in this way. All of the teams short-listed demonstrate the dedication and commitment the Department has to continually making our services better. Congratulations to the winners, and I hope this will spur them on to even greater heights.” Following a written submission from a number of teams in December 2010, four were shortlisted for the final which involved each team delivering a 20 minute presentation to impress judges, Sue Gee, Managing Director of TLC Solutions; Richard Butt, Editor of Isle of Man Newspapers; and George Quayle, Chief Executive of Age Concern Isle of Man. Project Lead, Dariel Sayle, said “The team was ecstatic to win the Top Team Award. The whole year the team worked together was a really positive time and the Audiology team has developed and grown as a consequence of the restructure. The Top Team initiative is a really uplifting experience as it helps teams to reflect on their achievements. We had a wonderful day and would like to pass on out thanks to the organisers and the panel of judges.” The presentations detailed the project work the teams have done over the past year and how this had benefited the Department’s services and the people of the Isle of Man. David Killip, Chief Executive Officer, Department of Health, said “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to meet these teams and ensure that their hard work receives the recognition they rightly deserve. It gives me great pride to present this Top Team Award to the Noble’s Hospital Audiology Department, but all the teams are ‘Top Teams’ in their own right. These projects of course represent only a fraction of similar work going on across the Department and the large number of our staff who go the extra mile to innovate and deliver excellent service every day.” - Ends -