Teams of staff at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals have been recognised for their hard work by gaining more shortlisted entries in two high profile national award schemes than any other trust in the country.
Staff at the NHS Foundation Trust have reached the final list in six separate categories across the Patient Safety Awards and the Care Integration Awards, both run by leading publication the Health Service Journal (HSJ).
The Care Integration Awards are a new initiative set up to recognise partnership working between staff in different parts of the healthcare system. The Patient Safety Awards are an annual scheme promoting the best work across the NHS in improving the safety of patients.
The Department of Gastroenterology has been shortlisted in three separate categories in the Patient Safety Awards and one category in the Care Integration Awards.
The department’s work on community care for patients with gastrostomy tubes has been recognised in both award schemes. A team from the department ran a project to improve outcomes for patients who have returned home having had gastrostomy tubes inserted in hospital. The team established a dedicated community service for these patients, including the employment of a dedicated gastrostomy specialist nurse and two community dieticians. The project was successful in significantly reducing the number of patients requiring readmission to hospital.
A second project undertaken by the department has been shortlisted in the ‘Technology and IT to Improve Patient Safety’ category of the Patient Safety Awards. The department has been successful in developing an innovative small bowel endoscopy service and was one of the first UK centres to use this technique, originally developed in Japan. The team adopted the new technique, which involves using a small endoscope device to examine the small bowel in much greater detail than was possible before, and is now the largest centre using the technique in Europe. Over 100 units in the UK now use the technology for the benefit of patients.
The Trust has also been shortlisted in the Diabetes Care and Musculoskeletal categories in the Care Integration Awards.
In Diabetes Care, the Trust is recognised for its work in establishing a community-based service for patients who use injections as part of their treatment. Prior to the project, many patients had to travel to hospital for their treatment. The team worked with staff in the community, setting up a new system by which patients are referred to a specialist diabetes nurse or dietician nearer to home. Over a two-year period over 2500 appropriate patients were able to have their care in the community rather than having to come to hospital and waiting times for patients who needed hospital care reduced dramatically.
The Trust features in the Musculoskeletal Care category for a project that saw hospital stays following hip and knee replacements significantly reduced. The Orthopaedic Enhanced Recovery Programme introduced a series of new initiatives to help patients recover faster after their operation, including pre-operative patient education, pre-and post-operative plans for each patient to enhance recovery speed, and admission of patients on the day of surgery. The team reduced the average length of stay by more than 2.5 days.
Sir Andrew Cash, Chief Executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It is fantastic news that our staff have been recognised in so many categories of these prestigious national award schemes. This is testament to their hard work and dedication and I congratulate them.
“These awards recognise the ways in which our teams have driven forward improvements in these areas in new and innovative ways. As a trust we are committed to continually improve patient safety and to work ever more closely with our healthcare partners across the city and beyond.”
The winners of the awards will be announced at a ceremony on 4th July.
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