TEN outstanding teams helping to keep patients safe, and improve culture and care experiences for people across the North West, have come away as champions at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards.

At the prestigious ceremony at Manchester Central Convention Complex on Monday 16 September, and just in time for World Patient Safety Day (17 September), the North West’s exceptional contribution to patient safety was recognised, rewarded, and celebrated.

World Patient Safety Day is an opportunity to raise public awareness and foster collaboration between patients, health workers, policymakers and health care leaders to improve patient safety. On this day, the World Health Organisation calls for global solidarity and concerted action by all countries and international partners to improve patient safety. And the winners, across 25 categories at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards are certainly doing that.

Thirty-five NHS projects and teams from across the North West were shortlisted in the HSJ Patient Safety Awards this year, with many organisations being shortlisted numerous times, and a number of nominations being shortlisted in more than one category.

Amongst the ten champions are Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust’s Rainbow Clinic, a specialist clinical service for pregnancy after loss which has reduced premature births and subsequent stillbirths, which won the Maternity and Midwifery Services Initiative of the Year award, Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance Community Partnerships, an innovative service which has encouraged and empowered communities to own information to reduce their risk of cancer mortality, which won the Community Care Initiative of the Year award, and North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust’s Advanced Questionnaire Model to Support Timely Ambulance Dispatch in Cases of Life Threatening Overdose, which won the Mental Health Safety Improvement Award.

Dr Michael Gregory, Interim Regional Director at NHS England – North West said: “Ten winning initiatives in this year’s HSJ Patient Safety Awards is such an immense achievement, and I am so proud of each and every team from the North West who were shortlisted. It’s fantastic to see the dedication and hard work of staff from our region, celebrated on a national scale.

“The safety of our patients should always be our priority in the NHS, and each team involved in these initiatives should take much satisfaction in knowing that these amazing projects are ensuring our population are receiving the very best and safest care.

“Congratulations to everyone involved, this really is putting the patient at the heart of everything we do.”

The theme for this year’s World Patient Safety Day’s is focused on improving diagnosis for patient safety, using the slogan “Get it right, make it safe!”. And the NHS are emphasising the pivotal role of correct and timely diagnosis in improving patient safety. World Patient Safety Day 2024 (who.int)

The HSJ Patient Safety Awards help drive improvements in culture and quality across the NHS. These awards recognise and reward the hard-working teams and individuals who  are striving to deliver improved patient care.

The ten champions from the North West are:

Best Use of Integrated Care and Partnership Working in Patient Safety Award

Northern Care Alliance FT and the Four Localities Partnership – Improving care for people with dementia across an acute hospital discharge pathway

Maternity and Midwifery Services Initiative of the Year Award

Manchester University FT: Rainbow Clinic – A Specialist Clinical Service for Pregnancy after Loss

Mental Health Safety Improvement Award

North West Ambulance Service: Saving The Lives of Patients in Mental Health Crisis – Developing an Advanced Questionnaire Model to Support Timely Ambulance Dispatch in Cases of Life Threatening Overdose

Early-Stage Patient Safety Innovation of the Year

Cheshire & Wirral Partnership FT: Optimising Safety and Innovating Through Digitisation of MHA Administration

Improving Care for Children and Young People Initiative of the Year

Manchester University FT – Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust Retinopathy of Prematurity Imaging Network

Improving Medicines Safety Award

NHS Greater Manchester, Health Innovation Manchester, NIHR Greater Manchester Patient Safety Research Collaboration: Scaling a Local Safety Medication Dashboard (SMASH) Programme to Benefit the 2.8 Million Population of Greater Manchester

Community Care Initiative of the Year Award

Cheshire and Merseyside Cancer Alliance: Community Partnerships: Community ownership of cancer information to increase timely presentation

Patient Safety in Elective Recovery Award

Stockport FT: Improving Theatre Productivity to Ensure Our Patients Have Timely Access for Surgery

Patient Safety Education and Training Award

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care FT – ME in DeMEntia

Seni Lewis Award

Mersey Care FT – Mental Health Triage and Response team

You can find a full list of winners and highly commended entries here: Winners 2024 | HSJ Patient Safety Awards (patientsafetycongress.co.uk)