Medic of the Year 2021 award for Raigmore Hospital trauma consultant Dr Luke Regan
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A TRAUMA consultant at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, has won an "above and beyond" award from colleagues...Medic of the Year 2021.
Dr Luke Regan is an emergency medicine and prehospital physician covering the Highlands, has managed seriously injured patients such as people who have fallen down ravines, survived drowning in the North Sea or been in serious crashes.
Dr Regan was the founder of the Highland PICT team (Prehospital Immediate Care and Trauma) for the region, and has been pivotal in the provision of high quality enhanced care in the area traditionally under-served in this regard.
Each year, the Council of Members of the College of Remote and Offshore Medicine choose someone in the medical community who has provided medical excellence above and beyond their daily medical practice.
The Council of Members is a membership programme where medical professionals can join the College and be part of the team. https://corom.org/membership/.
Dr Regan has published widely in relation to rural prehospital care, recently in relation to Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) certification covering the effectiveness of ultrasound in the detection of fractures in adults with suspected upper or lower limb injury
Dr Regan was nominated for his ongoing work to develop a high quality evidence base for the use of prehospital ultrasound and his central role in guiding the PICT team to fruition as a seven day a week prehospital, physician-lead, enhanced care service for the Highlands.
Last week the PICT team won the emergency services prize at the Highland Heroes awards after what has been a challenging time for them.
As the Courier has previously reported the team – which attends the scenes of major trauma incidents, providing advanced care and extending the capabilities of the Scottish Ambulance Service – was facing a cut to the cover it could provide after NHS Highland failed to commit to continue providing funding in conjunction with the Scottish Ambulance Service and the national Scottish Trauma Network (STN).
With the service due to be cut from seven days a week to just four it has since received a stay of execution after health secretary Humza Yousaf confirmed funding would continue from STN to allow it to go on operating at its current level for at least the next six months.
Team member Dr Catherine Brown of the Scottish Ambulance Service said: "It's wonderful to have been able to lift the trophy on behalf of the whole team, and especially for Dr Luke Regan, an emergency medicine consultant from Raigmore Hospital who is the man really behind it all.
"It's great to have this as a demonstration of the public's belief in what we do."
