A Consultant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn has today been named in the Queen’s birthday honours list.
The announcement is even more special this year, as it coincides with the start of the official Jubilee celebrations throughout the UK.
Dr Peter Young is a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Critical Care at QEH, and first qualified in 1990, and alongside his clinical work he has specialised in innovation and the development of medical devices which serve to improve patient safety.
A married father of four, Dr Young has been honoured with an OBE for ‘Services to Innovation and the Prevention of Never Events in the NHS’, which acknowledges his exceptional work in finding solutions to overcome preventable medical incidents.
He was part of the founding team behind King’s Lynn Institute for Patient Safety (KLIPS), which has spent the last 20 years designing and testing devices which reduce risk in all areas of healthcare.
His teams work has been presented to over 100 international conferences and currently at least six of their devices are on the market.
Having completed his MD dissertation at the University of East Anglia on Pulmonary Aspiration in Mechanical Ventilation, his subsequent innovation and entrepreneurship led to him being selected as a fellow of the NHS Innovation Accelerator Programme. He is now a much respected alumni.
Dr Young first learned about the honour some weeks ago, but was under strict instructions to keep the news confidential, as is protocol when someone is selected to be acknowledged by Her Majesty.
He said: “It was certainly a bit of a shock to read it at first. In fact, I thought it might be a mistake.
“I’ve had to keep pinching myself to believe this is happening to me, as it’s not something you set out in your career ever assuming will come your way.”
Modest about his achievement, Dr Young added: “In many ways, it feels odd to be singled out.
“To me, medicine is such a team sport, and I find myself being recognised for something I do out of complete passion for the work, and alongside a great team of people who are all so committed to improving safety and solutions for our patients.”
Congratulating Dr Young on his outstanding achievement, QEH’s CEO, Caroline Shaw CBE, said: “On behalf of all those who work at Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital, and all those who have benefited from Dr Young’s commitment and innovation, I congratulate Peter and look forward to seeing him receive this honour in due course.”
An official date for Peter’s award ceremony is yet to be confirmed, although he anticipates it may be several more months. In the meantime, Dr Peter intends to have some particularly special family celebrations with his family this Jubilee Weekend.
–ENDS–
For further information, please contact Deborah Watson at deborah.watson@qehkl.nhs.uk
Notes to editors:
- The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) King’s Lynn is located near some of the most beautiful scenery in the UK, along the north Norfolk coast, and not far from Sandringham House
- We provide a comprehensive range of specialist, acute, obstetrics and community-based healthcare services to around 331,000 people across west and north Norfolk, in addition to parts of Breckland, Cambridgeshire and South Lincolnshire
- We have more than 4,000 staff and volunteers, approximately 530 beds, and a helipad for air ambulances. We work with neighbouring hospitals for the provision of tertiary services, including as part of regional partnership and network models of care, such as the trauma network. Some specialist services and clinics are provided in community facilities, such as the North Cambridgeshire hospital in Wisbech
- In February 2022, the significant progress that has been made at QEH in just three years since 2019 was recognised by the Care Quality Commission who rated the Trust as ‘Good’ in all the core services they inspected, and recommended the Trust moves out of the recovery support system (formerly special measures). We have an absolute determination to continuously improve care and services for our patients and their families
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