Saving and protecting lives for 42 years

He has spent the whole of his long and distinguished career caring for others with the NHS. As he begins his well deserved retirement, Dave Blain spoke to Rick Lyon about the highs and lows, and why he feels so privileged

For more than four decades, Dave Blain has dedicated himself to saving and protecting lives.

During the course of his 42-year career with the NHS, largely with what is now Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) and latterly with Hull Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), he held numerous critical roles.

Dave saved countless lives as a paramedic and, through the training he has delivered as a tutor to other health professionals, has undoubtedly helped save hundreds of thousands of others.

As a safeguarding lead, he implemented changes that protected many, many more, not just in Hull and the East Riding, but across the country.

Now, as he starts his retirement, Dave looks back in his distinguished career with great pride.

“I can definitely say I’ve saved many people’s lives,” says Dave.

“I’ve delivered 17 babies at various locations, ranging from the second floor at Debenhams to the backs of cars and pub car parks.

“It’s also a really privileged position to be in when someone is dying, or someone dies, and you are the last person to be with them and can help ease that transition from life to death that we’re all going to make at some point.

“You do become philosophical about that.

“But I think the biggest highlight for me was being a tutor. When you are teaching other health professionals and you know they are going to go out and save hundreds of thousands of other people’s lives, that’s an incredible feeling.

“What I’ve given them, they’ve taken out there and they’re touching people’s lives. That gives me a real feeling of fulfilment.

Dave, 58, says the thing he will miss most about the NHS is the tremendous comradery between colleagues. Never has that been needed more than in the last 18 months, as the country – and the world – was plunged into crisis by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Most people who work in the NHS talk about the comradery we have and that common bond that gets us through,” he says.

“I’ve never experienced anything quite like the last 18 months and that unity has certainly helped.

“It has certainly been the hardest time and I think that’s just about demand.

“Emotional and physical fatigue is definitely a massive factor at the minute. There’s no respite, and there’s no respite on the horizon, but going through those experiences together really bonds you.”

TUTOR: Dave Blain delivering CRP training to schoolchildren

The support of the public, particularly the weekly rounds of applause held across the country to thank NHS workers during the height of the pandemic, also had a significant impact.

“To get that outpouring of respect was phenomenal,” says Dave.

“It definitely helped, without a doubt. We’d see and hear it every Thursday evening.

“Nobody in the NHS expects that and they probably still don’t expect it.”

Father-of-two Dave left what was then Bransholme High School, now Winifred Holtby Academy, when he was just 16, with the ambition to become a paramedic.

However, at the time the ambulance service could only accept new recruits from the age of 21 so Dave, who has always had a passion for food, started as a trainee chef at Hull Royal Infirmary and went to catering college for four years.

He completed his emergency medical training on completion of his catering course and became an operational paramedic, working for the ambulance service in numerous roles over the subsequent years, including station officer, work-based assessor, and clinical tutor.

As he rose through the ranks, Dave moved into quality and governance roles and in 2001 he became child protection lead for what was then Tees East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service, working closely with other partner agencies.

It was at this time he was asked to sit on an independent panel on the case of Harold Shipman.

“There were two other paramedics from other areas of the country and we listened to all the 999 calls that Shipman made and looked at all the clinical documents on the people that had been killed,” says Dave.

“That review into the case of the biggest mass murderer in UK history then fed up into the national review.”

When the Children’s Act was updated in 2004 there was an increased focus on protecting children from harm and Dave became safeguarding lead for children, before becoming head of safeguarding.

In 2009 he was asked to set up a national ambulance safeguarding group, which is still in operation today.

He later joined East Riding CCG and has spent the latter part of his career with the NHS at Hull CCG as designated professional for safeguarding adults.

It has been an extremely rewarding, if challenging career.

“In safeguarding, every day is emotionally corrosive,” says Dave.

“When I worked at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, for example, my team were dealing with two child deaths a week through abuse and neglect. That has a huge impact on you.

“But I’ve been in safeguarding for the past 20 years, which is a really crucial role. It really does help improve people’s lives.”

DISTINGUISHED CAREER: Dave Blain as a young paramedic

He may be retiring from the NHS, but Dave won’t be putting his feet up just yet.

He has set up his own independent safeguarding consultancy company, does a significant amount of voluntary work, and is a governor at Mersey Primary School, in east Hull.

Dave also coaches women’s football team Hull United and plans to do more FA coaching badges.

And he is offering his services to carry out CPR and defibrillator training in schools – something he is passionate about.

“I’d really like to see it on the school curriculum and I deliver that for anyone who asks for it,” says Dave.

“I’d also like to see defibrillators everywhere, because that’s what saves lives and anyone can do it.”

Dr Dan Roper, NHS Hull CCG Chair, said: “All of us at the CCG wish Dave a long and happy retirement.

“Dave is truly an unsung hero of the NHS and has enjoyed a long and varied career, primarily as a paramedic but more recently as designated professional for safeguarding adults, providing huge support to the CCG and the wider system.

“Dave combines dedication to his work with being a genuinely great colleague and I’d like to personally thank him for his contribution to our health service both locally and nationally. I think I speak for everyone when I say he will be missed.

“Dave informed me just a few weeks ago that he initially trained as a chef, and still to this day his bread-and-butter pudding is the talk of the CCG and will be for many years to come!

“It was a great pleasure to work with Dave and we wish him all the best.”

NHS Hull CCG is an ‘outstanding’ rated, clinically-led health care organisation that works in close partnership with GP practices, providers of health services, local government, the local public sector, local voluntary and carer groups, patient representatives and the general public. Its 32 local GP practices serve the local registered patient population of over 300,000 people across the city. It aspires to excellence in everything it does in order to deliver its vision of Creating a Healthier Hull.