AN “inspirational” employee at Clydebank’s Golden Jubilee has been recognised in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2020.

Dr David McDonald, a senior physiotherapist, has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to healthcare and for his work as the national lead for enhanced recovery across NHS Scotland.

The Golden Jubilee has been at the forefront of enhanced recovery since 2007, when it became the first Scottish hospital to use the innovation to benefit all patients.

The pioneering technique is a multidisciplinary team approach to post-operative care aimed at facilitating early recovery and resultant discharge from hospital.

Dr McDonald, who has worked at the hospital since 2005, was part of the Golden Jubilee team who launched the programme to reduce the number of days’ patients spend in hospital after hip and knee replacement surgery.

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Work like this to reduce hospital length of stay means that today’s patients normally go home from hospital within one to two days, compared to five days in 2007.

David said: “I am humbled and delighted to have been awarded an MBE and feel very fortunate to have received it.

“As a member of the team who introduced enhanced recovery to Scotland, I feel honoured that the work my colleagues and I have undertaken has received this recognition.”

The pioneering work has gone on to revolutionise the treatment of patients across Scotland and has increasingly been adopted as a gold standard throughout the UK and Europe.

Jann Gardner, NHS Golden Jubilee chief executive, said: “David’s dedication to healthcare is an inspiration and this is a well-deserved award which recognises the important role he played in rolling this out across Scotland.”