King's Ambulance Service Medal recipient announced

A Scottish Ambulance Service staff member who has been instrumental in developing several key projects for SAS has been awarded the King’s Ambulance Service Medal (KAM).

Liam Coughlan, Head of Programmes at SAS’s Programme Management Office (PMO), has been awarded the prestigious honour, which acknowledges ambulance personnel who have shown exceptional devotion to duty, merit and conduct.

Liam, of Lenzie, joined SAS in 2013 and his current role involves leading a team of staff supporting the delivery of the Service’s 2030 strategy, which aims to save more lives, reduce inequalities and improve health and wellbeing.

During his time at SAS, he has been involved with several major pieces of work and previously led the Enabling Technology programme as part of SAS’s 2020 strategy. He has also managed the Ambulance Telehealth Programme, which delivered new ICT infrastructure into our emergency ambulances and the Integrated Clinical Hub Project, which developed how the Service responds to 999 calls.  

On receiving news of the award, Liam said: “I was surprised to say the least. My team and the Service colleagues that work with us are just fantastic and it’s them that ultimately make our projects a success, so I am really pleased to see the work of the team recognised, albeit through me.”

Liam said one of his key highlights was to lead the creation of the PMO department, which was formed in 2021.

He added: “I’ve been involved in some major pieces of work that have impacted on every member of staff in some way, shape or form. It’s difficult to pick highlights but some would be working with clinical and operational colleagues to deliver the ambulance telehealth work and then to see the huge effort that went into delivering new defibrillators into all our A&E vehicles.

“However, to see my team develop as project professionals and deliver significant change across a wide variety of areas stands above all of that.  I learned a long time ago that you are only as good as your team and in the PMO I have a team that are motivated to deliver positive change for their colleagues and patients and will go the extra mile when needed.”

SAS Chief Executive Michael Dickson said: “Liam always shows unwavering dedication and devotion to any service programme or project that he manages. In the past few years, Liam has been an integral part of the support and coordination of some of SAS’s biggest programmes of work.

“Liam has incredible knowledge across the organisation and throughout his career he has always strived for success in the delivery of his programmes whilst always ensuring the credit is given to the wider teams. We often credit those who are the face of the project, but without Liam’s leadership, dedication, organisation and experience we would never deliver as much as we do and he is the epitome of SAS core values of compassion, equality, dignity and respect, teamwork and honesty.”