Hospital receives high commendation at prestigious awards ceremony

An initiative that has reduced waiting times and improved outcomes for patients needing emergency surgery in Medway has been highly commended at this year’s HSJ Patient Safety Awards – an esteemed awards programme, designed to encourage and drive improvements in culture and quality across the NHS.

Staff from the surgery and anaesthetics department at Medway Maritime Hospital scooped the prize in the ‘Urgent and Emergency Care Safety Initiative of the Year’ category.

The project, led by Dr Akuratiyage De Silva, Anaesthetist, and Natalie Baxter-Evans, Emergency Clinical Coordinator (both pictured below), has brought together teams involved in emergency surgery, to identify and remove barriers that delayed patients’ operations, guided by the hospital’s Patient First improvement programme.

Natalie Baxter-Evans said “We were so honoured when we heard we’d been highly commended in our category, and we know it will mean a huge amount to our colleagues as well as the wider community within our workplace. Professional awards such as this are always a real boost to staff morale and an incentive to continue our efforts to improve the services we deliver and the overall patient experience.’’

Dr De Silva said: “As a result of the changes, we are seeing more patients through this specialist operating theatre, so they are getting the treatment they need sooner. Not only has this benefited our patients, which was our main focus, it has also helped build staff morale and improve wellbeing. Using the theatre more efficiently also saves the hospital almost £100,000 per year.”

The awards ceremony was hosted by comedian and TV presenter, Zoe Lyons, in Manchester on 16 September. An incredible 415 entries were received, with 206 organisations, projects and individuals making it to the final shortlist, having gone through two rounds of rigorous judging.

Alastair McLellan, Editor of the Health Service Journal, said: “It’s always wonderful to take some time to celebrate those who are working at the forefront of patient safety, delivering core services and always seeking new ways of overcoming challenges.

“It gives me great pleasure to congratulate all those who were highly commended, including Medway NHS Foundation Trust in the category of Urgent and Emergency Care Safety Initiative of the Year.’’

“The aim of this years’ event was to provide a space for ‘honest conversations’ about how to create safety in a system under pressure – and I really believe that our winners this year truly reflected and represented this ethos.”

“Once again, it’s been so heartening to see such a huge level of entries, submitted by hard-working and dedicated teams who, in these ongoing times of budget uncertainty and workforce shortages, are striving to deliver improved patient care and to ensure patient safety, education and wellbeing is at the heart of decision making at all levels.”