Trust triumphs at NHS Parliamentary Awards after patient safety improvements

A project introduced at Medway NHS Foundation Trust to improve the care of deteriorating patients and reduce avoidable cardiac arrest calls (2222 or crash calls) has been named South East regional winner at the NHS Parliamentary Awards 2023 in the ‘Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care’ category.

In line with a key objective set out in the Trust’s Patient First improvement plan, this multidisciplinary team project – led by Aranghan Lingham, Darzi Fellow, Orthopaedic Specialty Training Registrar, and Alison Davis, Chief Medical Officer – has seen colleagues record a sustained reduction in avoidable cardiac arrest calls across acute and emergency care from an average of five calls per month to just one.

This improved early identification and treatment of unwell patients was made possible through collaborative, frontline-led changes to the Trust’s intelligence, systems, and culture. This included introducing twice-daily safety huddles for unwell patients, an initiative where patients and relatives could raise concerns about a decline in clinical condition, an electronic track and trigger system enabling early identification of deteriorating patients, and a new medical model to reduce ambulance handover delays.

Following a nomination by local MP Rehman Chishti, the project was picked by the judging panel from hundreds of applications submitted, meaning the Trust will go forwards to the national awards in London on 5 July – the day of the NHS’s 75th birthday. The ceremony will be held at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, Westminster.

Jayne Black, Chief Executive at Medway NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I’m exceptionally proud of everyone who has worked so hard to improve the safety of our hospital by launching this project. This includes all of our ward-based teams, colleagues across urgent and emergency care, and the Acute Response Team.”

“It’s fantastic to receive such an esteemed award which highlights our improvements – I know how much it means to colleagues across the Trust who really deserve this, and importantly, it demonstrates to our patients across Medway and Swale that we are dedicated to improving the care we offer.”

Rehman Chishti, Conservative MP for Gillingham and Rainham, said: “I was very proud to nominate the Trust for its excellent work in reducing avoidable cardiac arrest calls. This is recognition for the efforts of staff and dedication to patients and the NHS – I look forward to meeting the team to congratulate them in person!”

Anne Eden, Regional Director of NHS England in the South East region, said: “I feel incredibly proud to see our dedicated staff and volunteers being recognised in this way and I would like to personally congratulate each and every one of them. There really is a lot of incredible work going on across the South East which undoubtedly makes a difference to the patients and communities we serve.”

“I would also like to thank local MPs from across the region for taking the time to submit their nominations, and to our regional judging team who have had the challenging job of selecting winners from the dozens of fantastic nominations received this year.”