Guidance

King's Ambulance Service Medal for distinguished service: nomination guidance for England

Updated 7 August 2024

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Introduction

The King’s Ambulance Service Medal for distinguished service (KAM), formerly the Queen’s Ambulance Medal for Distinguished Service (QAM), was instituted by Royal Warrant in 2011 and first used in 2012.

It was introduced to award ambulance staff for distinguished service to the public or profession in their operational roles, placing them on a par with other uniformed staff in the police (the King’s Police Medal) and the fire and rescue service (the King’s Fire Service Medal).

The ‘King’s Ambulance Medal for distinguished service: UK eligibility criteria and allocations’ guidance details the:

  • scope of the KAM
  • eligibility criteria
  • allocations across the UK and the Crown Dependencies

Up to 4 awards a year are available in England. KAM recipients are announced at the same time as the New Year Honours List and the King’s Birthday Honours List.

This guidance details the process for England, which is aligned to the process and timeframes for considering nominations for honours. It should be read in conjunction with the overarching ‘King’s Ambulance Medal for distinguished service: UK eligibility criteria and allocations’ guidance.

Making a nomination

NHS England will engage with ambulance services and other organisations for nominations twice a year. However, nominations can be submitted, and are welcomed, at any time. This will help to develop a pipeline of nominees.

Nominations are welcomed for and from all ranks of the ambulance services, particularly nominations for frontline staff. Ambulance services are encouraged to promote awareness of the KAM through staff networks, newsletters and so on.

Nominations should be submitted on the ‘King’s Ambulance Service Medal for distinguished service: nomination form for England’.

As with honours, a nominee should not be made aware that they are being nominated, and people cannot nominate themselves.

The citation section of the nomination form should not exceed the 350-word limit and should include evidence of the nominee’s contribution and impact, setting out the reasons why they deserve to be considered for the KAM.

Nominees should have demonstrated exemplary personal performance. This is likely to be characterised by:

  • devotion to duty
  • exceptional ability
  • exemplary conduct over a prolonged period

The regulations made under the Royal Warrant (see Annex A of the ‘King’s Ambulance Medal for distinguished service: UK eligibility criteria and allocations’ guidance) give some examples of exemplary personal performance. Other examples may include:

  • making a breakthrough or being a proponent for a particular change
  • having an outstanding impact on patients or staff
  • improving patient safety by reducing risks or changing systems
  • acting as a leader in their field or rising to a challenge or responsibility beyond their core job
  • taking on an innovative or challenging role and being regarded as a role model
  • showing innovation or creativity in delivering long-lasting results
  • contributing voluntary service in the community to further ambulance trust objectives

It is also helpful to include, in the relevant section of the nomination form, details of any supporters of the nomination, including employer support. (Employer checks, and professional regulator checks, as relevant, will be undertaken by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) as part of due diligence.)

Send your nominations to mb-honours@dhsc.gov.uk.

Consideration by the KAM panel

Nominations are considered by a KAM panel chaired by NHS England’s Director for Out of Hospital Urgent and Emergency Care. The panel membership includes the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer for England and representation from the ambulance services, including the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives. 

The panel considers nominations received, assessing the quality and relative merit of nominations and deciding which to recommend at each round. Over the course of the rounds, the KAM panel will seek to ensure that the lists of recommended nominees reflect the profile and distribution of the ambulance services workforce.

The KAM panel submits its recommendations (via the DHSC honours team) for consideration by the DHSC Main Honours Committee at each round. This committee considers the recommended nominees, together with any views from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. These arrangements align with the arrangements for considering honours nominations for the health and adult social care sector.

Before recommendations are sent to His Majesty the King for his approval, the recommended nominees are approached (‘sounded’) in strict confidence - as with honours, they should not tell anyone that they are under consideration.

KAM recipients are announced when the honours lists are announced at New Year and the King’s Birthday. No information will be provided to nominators or employers in advance of the announcements.

The process and timetable is shown below.

Overview of the KAM process, aligned to the process and timings for the honours rounds

Figure 1: overview of the KAM process in England

The flowchart at figure 1 above details the following steps in the KAM process in England:

  1. NHS England trawls for nominations reminding ambulance services or other organisations of the deadline for the upcoming round. (The deadline is the end of February for the New Year Honours round or the end of August for the King’s Birthday Honours round.)

  2. Nominations are submitted to mb-honours@dhsc.gov.uk.

  3. The KAM panel considers nominations.

  4. The KAM panel submits its recommendations to DHSC.

  5. Recommendations are shared with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

  6. Recommendations are considered by the DHSC Main Honours Committee.

  7. Recommended nominees are ‘sounded’ in confidence. DHSC seeks approval of recommended nominees from His Majesty the King.

  8. DHSC liaises with the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood on the announcement of KAM recipients at New Year and King’s Birthday Honours.

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