BAA 2024 Award Winners
Eight fantastic winners were presented with their awards during the British Academy of Audiology Annual Conference in Telford on 21st & 22nd November.
Every year at the British Academy of Audiology Annual Conference, time is taken to celebrate Audiologists and their teams who have excelled and shown exceptional commitment to the Audiology profession over the past 12 months. We would like to acknowledge and celebrate our 2024 champions.
BAA Clinician of the Year – Julie Wilkins
The BAA award for the Audiology Clinician of the Year, in memory of Peggy Chalmers, is an award that recognises an Audiologist who stands out from the crowd with regards to patient care. Julie was nominated for always going above and beyond to improve the experience for a patient, but also the working environment for the whole audiology team. Patient care always comes first. This person is retiring this year, and their contribution has been immeasurable to our Audiology team, both as an excellent clinician but also as an excellent manager. They show empathy and kindness to staff, and will go above and beyond for them on a daily basis.”
Team of the Year presented to Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Adult Audiology Team
The Team of the Year award is always a hotly contested prize, with many, many nominees worthy of winning each year. The 2024 Team of the Year Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Adult Audiology Team was nominated for working together, and across the wider audiology team, to significantly improve access for patients and reduce waiting times. The recovery of the service, through innovation, determination and collaboration, and without additional resources, is phenomenal. They have been nominated for the direct impact the work has had on patients through the significant reduction in waiting times and reestablishment of the much-loved open access service, and the positive impact on the morale of the whole team.”
BAA Supervisor of the year is Neil Summerfield
This award recognises an Audiologist who stands out from the crowd in supervising and supporting a student while on placement. BAA look for an individual who has gone above and beyond to provide a supportive learning environment on placement for students, providing leadership and guidance as well as inspiration. The award is focused on the mentoring of students.
Neil was nominated for being the best supervisor, as their breadth and depth of knowledge are second to none. They are kind, patient, and able to educate people without making them feel inadequate. They are proactive in training other staff and have undertaken courses which allow them to see the potential in others. They are forward thinking and always have ideas to improve the way the team works.“
BAA Publication award presented to Abeda Haque & Kirsten Mills
The BAA Publication Award (Jos Millar Shield) is a long-standing award given each year for the best contribution to a BAA publication. The recipient is chosen from all articles printed in the previous year’s magazine and newsletter.
Abeda Haque & Kirsten Mills receive this year’s BAA Publication award for their article in the Summer magazine, “Unilateral Hearing loss in the paediatric population.”
BAA Early clinical researcher award is given to Dr Maria Goodwin
This award winner is selected from all free papers presenting at the BAA conference, delivered by a student or someone in the early stages of their career. And this year, the winner is Dr Maria Goodwin for her research presentation: “Achieving sound results: developing tailored physical activity interventions for adults with hearing loss.”
BAA Higher Training Scheme Award presented to Kathryn Key
The BAA Higher Training Scheme Award is given to the person who has exceptional feedback during the examination process of the Higher Training Scheme. The HTS committee selects the winner based on examination feedback. This year, that person is Kathryn Key – congratulations!
Congratulations to all our award winners. We hope to catch up with you all in more detail after the conference. For more information on the BAA Awards, please visit www.baaudiology.org/awards. Applications for the 2025 awards will open in the Summer of 2025.
Poster prizes
Best Clinical/Service Innovation poster winner was awarded to Paramdeep Kaur, Maddiya Afzal and Gwawr Jones for their poster: ‘Experiences of delivering a new Tinnitus Information Group’
Best Education/Research poster winner was awarded to Marette Ambler, Amanda Hall and Kate Hanvey for their poster: ‘Exploring the burden of “work” in the paediatric cochlear implant assessment process’
