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A Lincolnshire paramedic who died from COVID-19 in December will have a minute’s silence in his honour on the day of his funeral.

Tony Chadbourne, often known as Chad or Chadders, died of the virus on the week of Christmas after 23 years service for East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS).

His family described him as an “NHS hero who dedicated his life to his career” and now he will be honoured as such at his funeral on Friday, January 22.

Tony Chadbourne worked in the ambulance service for over 20 years. | Photo: EMAS

Tony had recently received his 20 year service medal from EMAS, and was promoted to Duty Operations Manager a month before his passing.

EMAS posted a tribute on social media on the day of the funeral, vowing to mark Tony’s life with a minute’s silence at 12.45pm.

It reads: “Due to current national restrictions, we cannot pay our respects in the way we normally would for a colleague and so instead will be marking a minute’s silence at 12.45pm today, wherever we are.

“If you would like to join us in observing a minute’s silence to remember Tony, wherever you are at 12.45pm, please do.”

A number of heartfelt tributes have been shared by people at EMAS to remember Tony, from staff and bosses alike.

Richard Henderson, EMAS chief executive, said: “Losing Chad is incredibly sad, and it’s difficult to find the words to express how colleagues across the service will be feeling as they hear this devastating news.

“My thoughts are with Chad’s family, and his close colleagues and good friends, many of whom will be at work today and over the coming weeks; continuing to provide emergency and urgent care for those who need it.”

Her Royal Highness, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, surprised local healthcare staff at the Lincolnshire General Practice Nurse Conference.

The Queen’s daughter-in-law, who is married to Prince Edward, joined the start of the conference on Wednesday, January 20 and thanked all healthcare staff in Lincolnshire for their efforts during the pandemic.

She was welcomed to the conference on what was her 56th birthday by Dr Helen Garr.

She spoke with the nurses and healthcare assistants and asked how they were coping during the pandemic.

Nurses and HCAs attending the conference.

The day before her 89-year-old father had his COVID vaccine and Sophie said “it was a huge weight off my mind”.

“I know that that wouldn’t be happening without the care and attention of the nurses out in general surgeries,” she said.

https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/1352211006253051904

The conference also included professional development sessions, the launch of the ShinyMind wellbeing app, and the General Practice Nurse and Health Care Assistant Awards.

The Lincolnshire Training Hub Team.

Lisa Freeman, Director of Nursing at Lincolnshire Training Hub, said: “To have such a high profile visitor attend our conference and recognise all of the hard work which goes on with nursing teams in Lincolnshire General Practice has provided a much needed boost to our workforce.

“We all headed into the practices with a spring in our step.”

Dr Runa Saha, GP and Medical Director at Lincolnshire Training Hub, said: “We are committeed to supporting the recruitment, training and development needs for General Practice in Lincolnshire. Our workforce are passionate about meeting the needs of the Lincolnshire patients.

“We are proud to be supporting the growth of the workforce through placements in Primary Care for students from the University of Lincoln and other institutions, creating a new generation of healthcare staff.”

Awards winners

• Nurse of the Year – Celia Hughes
• HCA/NA of the Year – Peter Malleappah
• Nursing Team of the Year – Church Walk
• Student Placement of the Year – Abbey Medical Group
• The Extra Mile Award – Sue Smith
• Outstanding Contribution to General Practice – Adele Parsons

NHS bosses are hoping to offer all care homes in Lincolnshire the first COVID vaccine dose by the end of the week.

Director of Nursing at Lincolnshire CCG Martin Fahy told BBC Radio Lincolnshire that about three quarters has been completed so far.

By Thursday, nearly 50,000 people in the county received doses of vaccine — more than half of the county’s over 80 population.

Mr Fahy said Lincolnshire’s health services had been “at great guns” now for a number of weeks.

“We’re on track to complete all our care homes by this weekend, so we’re really excited about that,” he said.

“Care homes are one of our top priority groups at the moment.”

“We were one of the first areas to open up, and we now have all of our local vaccination centres up and running.

“Lincolnshire is very much ahead of the game and we’re making really good progress in that respect.”

The figures released Thursday show 49,633 jabs between December 8 and January 17. It’s the first time localised figures have been released.

It means they do not include some figures from the Boston mass vaccination centre which opened at the beginning of the week.

The data shows that of the doses given, 24,253 were aged over 80 for their first dose, with a further 1,562 receiving a second jab.

Some 22,682 people under the age of 80 have received their first vaccination and another 1,136 have been given their second.

Lincolnshire County Council’s Director of Public Health Professor Derek Ward confirmed there were currently 15 care homes with an outbreak of more than one case.

They include around 70 residents and a similar number of staff.

Earlier today, he said the vaccination news across the county was “decent”, and added the NHS services across the county had been “doing a great job” in rolling it out.

However, he still urged more local details to be released.