The recruitment team at West Midlands Ambulance Service were the proud recipients of the winning trophy at a prestigious HR awards ceremony in London this week.

The Healthcare People Management Association Excellence in Human Resource Management Awards took place at the Tower Hotel in London last night. The awards celebrate and recognise some of the inspiring achievements of HR teams across the UK and praise their hard work and commitment to making the NHS a great place to work.

The Trust's team were recognised as the worthy winners in the ‘Recruitment Team of the Year’ category, beating fellow shortlisted nominees Medway NHS Foundation Trust and North East London NHS Foundation Trust.

Recruitment Manager, Louise Harris, submitted a nomination entry called ‘Small Team, Big Achievements’ earlier this year and was over the moon when it was shortlisted into the category from more than 100 other nominations. As a small team of seven, the Trust’s team worked tirelessly to successfully recruit more than 400 front line staff in 12 months with a comprehensive student paramedic programme. Tweeting from the event, Louise said:

"Super proud to be the Recruitment Manager of the best team in the NHS - and that’s official! We’ve had a superb night and can’t wait to get home tomorrow and spread the joy with our nearest and dearest.”

Talking about the achievement, Director of Workforce and Organisational Development, Kim Nurse, added: "[This is] such a proud moment. These awards, promoting excellence in HR, are hotly contested attracting a huge number of entries from right across the healthcare spectrum, and this year was no different.

"To have the WMAS Recruitment Team in the final was excellent, but to be the overall winner was just perfect - they are truly outstanding.”