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A West Lothian woman has been awarded the prestigious Queen's Ambulance Service Medal (QAM).

Gail Topping, a paramedic at the Scottish Ambulance Station in Livingston, has been recognised after campaigning for better mental health support services for ambulance staff.

Gail began her career in 1999 working in Ambulance Control before becoming a Technician in 2002 and a Paramedic in 2004. She had an 18-month secondment as a Practice Placement Educator in 2012 before returning to Livingston Ambulance Station.

In her own time she has created the West Lothian Listening and Support group, which provides a safe place for staff to meet and discuss incidents that they have been affected by or concerns that they may have.

She explained: “I was recovering at home for a few days after a particularly challenging shift. My colleague Ruth Anderson – a dispatch manager at our East control centre – came to visit me at Livingston ambulance station and she was very supportive.

“We decided that we needed a mechanism so that other members of staff who were experiencing stress or other mental health problems were better supported and we have worked hard for nearly four years to push that forward.”

She is also the driving force behind the ‘RUOK?’ campaign, originally an Australian initiative to raise mental health awareness amongst staff who have attended distressing incidents, and has also worked with volunteers to organise and deliver sessions encouraging staff to talk openly about mental health issues, helping to reduce the stigma attached to a topic that has historically been seen as a weakness by frontline ambulance staff.

Gail continued: “Raising mental health awareness is vital to ensuring people who are stressed and suffering from work or home pressures, get the help and support they need,”

“I am delighted the importance of these issues has been recognised in my receiving this medal – however, the recognition deserves to be shared amongst all my friends and colleagues in the Service, especially Ruth, who have helped set these initiatives up and championed them to make them such a success.”

Pauline Howie, Scottish Ambulance Service, chief executive, said: “I am delighted to offer congratulations to Gail for her award – she is a great advocate for the Service and has not only worked hard during her 20 year career, but has gone above and beyond to help staff who need mental health support. The RUOK? initiative has been very well received by staff not only in Scottish Ambulance Service but across the UK and beyond.”