Hospitals reward staff with big ideas for improving patient care
Reducing the length of stay for hospital patients and cutting waiting times were some of the top staff programmes rewarded at an awards ceremony.
The event was held to celebrate improvements made at Walsall Healthcare and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trusts joint Quality Improvement Awards.
Among the winners was a scheme to improve day case rates for bladder tumour procedures at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital which saw the number of day cases increase from 8.7 per cent to 30 per cent. This involves an operation to check or remove cancer from inside the bladder.
As a result of such procedures the average length of stay was reduced from 1.32 days to 0.85 days, helping patients go home sooner and saving the hospital more than £30,000 which was then invested in care costs.
Another winner was the Walsall Manor Hospital's efforts to introduce day case surgery for hip and knee replacements. This was introduced in March and is proving beneficial for patients.
Participants all produced posters capturing their projects, they explaining the background to their ideas, the challenges faced and the results.
Many of the award nominations have seen multiple benefits including better patient experience, shorter hospital stays, more effective use of resources and improved job satisfaction for staff.
The hospitals group chief strategy officer Simon Evans said: “The event was a fantastic way to showcase all the hard work our staff are putting in to improve patient experience.
“Everyone I spoke to was so passionate about their area and providing the best patient care they can. It was brilliant to see the difference our staff are making using their innovative and creative ideas.
“To have more than 100 poster submissions covering so many areas and specialities makes me feel so proud of our talented teams.
