PSA
Patient safety in elective recovery award

The mammoth challenge of recovering the elective care backlog will be felt by all parts of the NHS, from hospitals delivering care, to primary care services dealing with latent demand and increased pressures on community, mental health and ambulance services. In order to tackle the backlog, collaboration, innovation and new ways of working are essential to optimise capacity within financial and resourcing constraints. Ensuring a continued focus on patient safety through this recovery period and the future expansion of elective services, is paramount.

This award will recognise initiatives local systems have put in place to prioritise and optimise access to elective care services, including, risk stratifying by clinical need and planning for increased demand in specific areas, the use of technology to help reduce waiting lists, patient involvement in the process of prioritisation and integrated approaches which have enabled rapid innovation in service delivery.

Eligibility

Judges are interested both in projects that look to prioritise safety whilst resuming elective care services. Entries are accepted from across the NHS and public sector.

Ambition

  • Provide a clear rationale for the work and provide context as to why the initiative or improvements were required.
  • What was the ambition for the project, and how did this draw on, or differ from, existing best practice?
  • Outline the targets set for patient safety and quality improvement, and what measures were put in place to achieve them.

Outcome

  • Clearly demonstrate the benefits of the initiative on quality of care, using quantitative evidence to show tangible positive impacts on the safety of surgical care patients.
  • Discuss any other positive outcomes that were a result of the initiative, which could include improved patient experience, waiting time reduction, capacity increase or optimised treatment pathways.
  • Include patient and/or staff testimonials supporting the efficacy of the initiative.

Spread

  • Demonstrate how this work is replicable and scalable.
  • Outline the efforts made to share best practice, or examples of where this project has embedded and spread to other departments, settings or organisations.

Value

  • Clearly evidence how the initiative has improved value for patients and staff, in terms of patient experience, staff satisfaction and quality of care.
  • If possible, provide evidence of value creation in other areas, in terms of increased capacity, reduced costs, reduced variation and/or improved efficiencies.

Involvement

  • Show how patients were involved in decisions around their care, and their views were embedded in the design of the initiative.
  • Provide clear evidence of a multidisciplinary approach, with all relevant parties fully engaging in the work, including managers, medics and nurses as well as patients and families, and how this has led to improved safety.
  • Detail how a culture has been developed in which all members of staff can raise concerns and make suggestions for improvements.

To find out more

Partnership opportunities:  Sponsorship Sales Team
Awards entry enquiries: Delegate Sales Team
Judging and event management: Awards Support