We are celebrating after scooping three awards at the prestigious HSJ Patient Safety Awards.
Following two of the toughest years in the health and social care sector, we continue to champion patient safety and have had our efforts recognised at a national awards ceremony held in Manchester.
The HSJ Patient Safety Awards continue to be the most esteemed accolade of healthcare service excellence in the UK and are not just a celebration of success stories but also a platform to shape the future of the NHS. These awards help drive improvements in culture and quality across the NHS and recognise and reward the hard-working teams and individuals who are striving to deliver improved patient care.
At the ceremony held on 24 October, we were awarded Primary Care Initiative of the Year, Community Care Initiative of the Year and Patient Safety Team of the Year, beating hundreds of other strong nominations.
The Primary Care Initiative award focussed on the work the Trust does delivering a Mental Health Prevention and Promotion service within Primary Care Networks, with a new workforce supply of psychological practitioners.
Dr Gita E Bhutani, National Development Lead Psychological Professions Network, commented:
“We’re delighted to have won the award. It is real recognition for the new role we’ve developed across the North West and the difference our Associate Psychological Practitioners make in primary care to people seeking help for mild mental health difficulties, as well as increasing capacity within primary care and general practice.
“This project would not have been possible without the input and support of the Trust and partner organisations including Health Education England in the North West, Health Education England, Innovation Agency, University of Central Lancashire and the North West Psychological Professions Network.”
The Community Care Initiative of the Year award was awarded to the Trust’s Autism Outreach Team for their work in supporting autistic adults at risk of admission to mental health inpatient and specialist hospital settings.
After receiving their award, Samantha Porter, Trainee Advanced Practitioner and Clinical Lead and Sarah Jackson, Consultant Nurse from the Autism Outreach Team said:
“It’s a real privilege to have been given the opportunity to develop a much needed specialist autism service, and an honour to have been recognised for the positive impact our service has had for autistic people.
We embrace the ethos that each individual we work with is unique and ensure that each individual receives care and support which is developed together in a meaningful and purposeful way.
This award signifies that stepping outside of conventional ways of working can really change the lives of others, for the better. This award will no doubt highlight the importance of such services and help us to continue to grow and build on our achievements thus far.”
Finally we were presented the final award of the evening, the prestigious and highly sought-after Patient Safety Team of the Year. This was awarded for our collaborative work to Reduce Restrictive Practices.
The HSJ judging panel is made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community and on awarding the Team of the Year Award they noted:
“The judges felt this winning project is a shining light in the sector and should be shared with the world.”
Stephen Osbaldeston, Consultant Nurse Reducing Restrictive Practice and Gary Sutton, Assistant Director for Continuous Improvement said:
“This award is a great acknowledgement of all the hard that has gone into the Reducing Restrictive Practice collaborative. Everyone involved should be very proud of what has been achieved so far. The reduction we have seen has helped to improve the experiences of patients within the wards and this work is making our wards safer for patients and staff.
We are not going to rest on our laurels, we are firmly focused upon reducing use of restrictive practices by a further 30% during 2022/2023, so we are looking forward to the next stages.”
Maria Nelligan, Chief Nurse & Quality Officer concluded:
“These awards really help shine a light on the collaborative efforts and dedication of our staff members over the last 12 months to successfully implement so many incredible services and initiatives.
“We are committed to delivering improved outcomes for our patients, and to be recognised with these national awards in such competitive categories is a wonderful achievement, a huge congratulations to everyone involved”
The full list of winners and highly commended can be found here.
