Alex McGuiggan, 60, who was diagnosed with laryngeal (throat) cancer in 1999, underwent a laryngectomy as part of his cancer treatment and now speaks with the help of a voice prosthesis.

Mr McGuiggan was recognised with a Personal Achievement Award at the Bupa Foundation Awards in London this week for developing a patient-led training programme to educate healthcare professionals on the correct procedure for resuscitating laryngectomees.

In 2004, after several incidents where laryngectomees were incorrectly resuscitated outside of hospital head and neck departments - through their nose and mouth and not through the stoma in their necks - the National Association of Laryngectomee Clubs (NALC) drew attention to a gap in training for professionals which was putting people's lives at risk.

Mr McGuiggan, who is a semi-retired Open University lecturer and a father of three, developed his training programme over an 18-month period with the help of NALC and leading charity Macmillan Cancer Support.

Over the past three years he has delivered this training to healthcare professionals across Northern Ireland in hospitals, universities and other training venues, such as the ambulance service and GP surgery settings in a voluntary capacity.

He has also trained a number of other laryngectomees to deliver the same training across the UK.

The training has been such a success in Northern Ireland that health professionals as far afield as Australia have started accessing the online training resource developed as part of the programme.

Mr McGuiggan said: "On behalf of all the people who have been involved in the development and roll-out of the training programme, I am extremely proud to receive this Bupa Foundation Personal Achievement Award."

The Bupa Foundation, established thirty years ago, is now a leading medical research charity that helps to fund research which will improve healthcare in the UK for the long-term. As well as winning the prestigious award, Mr McGuiggan has also received £5,000 from the Foundation to support his award-winning training programme.

Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen, deputy chair of the Bupa Foundation, said: "We are proud to give Mr McGuiggan a Bupa Foundation Personal Achievement Award for his important work, in conjunction with Macmillan Cancer Support, to help healthcare professionals improve their understanding of the correct procedure for resuscitating laryngectomees, which has and will continue to help to save lives."