Winners of NHS South Central Health and Social Care Awards

The winners of this year’s NHS South Central Health and Social Care Awards were announced yesterday evening at an awards ceremony at Oxford Brookes University.

The event was attended by almost 80 health and social care staff from across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, whose projects were shortlisted by an expert panel of judges.

18 teams of frontline staff spent the evening showcasing their innovative work to staff from other local organisations.

The winners are:

• Acute Care Award – Diabetes In-Patient Prospective Service from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
• Excellence in Commissioning Award – Primary Care Commissioning Team from NHS Berkshire
• Mental Health and Wellbeing Award – The Mental Health Community Development Team (Movers and Shakers project) from NHS Buckinghamshire
• Success in Partnership Working Award – The Mental Health Community Development Team (Wellbeing for Travellers project) from NHS Buckinghamshire
• Primary Care and Community Based Integration Award – Teledermatology Group from NHS Hampshire
• Support for Independence Award – Integrated Commissioning Team (Mental Health) by NHS Oxfordshire and Oxfordshire County Council.

Congratulating the winners, Andrea Young, Chief Executive of South Central Strategic Health Authority, said: “I am enormously impressed by the high calibre and range of projects I have seen this year. All of the projects deserve recognition for the excellent work they are doing. They all share a common goal, to provide better care for patients and improve the services offered by the NHS.

The Diabetes In-Patient Prospective Service Team

“I am pleased to see that staff are using their unique expertise and experiences to develop innovative solutions that are improving the quality of patient care; whilst at the same time helping the NHS to work more efficiently and contributing towards the savings that we need to make.

“What is important is that these new ways of working become every day practice and are adopted across the whole region. This will mean all patients experience an improved service and a higher quality of care, and more people benefit from the support available to lead healthier lifestyles.”

Winning projects included a dermatology team in Hampshire who are using the latest technology to make a remote diagnosis of suspicious skin lesions. This means patients no longer need to travel to hospital for a diagnosis and less anxiety for patients, as they learn their diagnosis earlier and treatment can be offered more quickly. Also the NHS saves money with fewer appointments needed at hospital. A 70% reduction in referrals has resulted in an annual saving to the local NHS of around £600,000.

David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, said: “Now in their ninth year, the awards celebrate these people, their innovations and the positive effect they have on patient care.

“The future success of the NHS is going to depend on our staff – seeking out, trying and testing new ideas – and being open to the change they may bring. I hope staff feel proud of their achievements to date and that the awards inspire others to continue striving for innovation and delivering high quality outcomes for patients. I wish them all the best in the national stages of the awards.”

The overall winning entry which will be put forward to the national Health and Social Care Awards is the Diabetes team at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust. The Diabetes In-Patient Prospective Service reviews all patients with diabetes on a daily basis to improve patient outcomes. This means shorter stays in hospital, fewer patients needing re-admission to hospital and lower incidence of hospital associated infections.  The national awards will be held at a high profile event hosted by Andrew Lansley, Secretary of State for Health, in Liverpool on Thursday 18 November.

The winning projects for each of the six NHS South Central award categories are:

Acute Care
Diabetes In-Patient Prospective Service from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
This service reviews all patients with diabetes on a daily basis to improve their outcomes and experience. This has resulted in reductions in a large number of performance indicators and in particular, length of stay, re-admission rates and hospital-associated infection rates.

Excellence in Commissioning
Primary Care Commissioning Team from NHS Berkshire West
The team commissioned primary medical services in central Reading. The Reading Walk-In Centre opened in August 2009 and provides access to GP services from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week. The Health Centre has attracted over 1,600 patients from Reading to date and 41 per cent of those registered had not been registered with a GP before.

Mental Health and Wellbeing
The Mental Health Community Development Team (Movers and Shakers Project) from NHS Buckinghamshire
Movers and Shakers (M&S) is a programme to engage isolated and socially disadvantaged communities and encourage them to lead healthy lifestyles. M&S members are volunteers who establish and run weekly sessions, supported by a team of four organisers. Members choose physical, mental and creative activities, healthy lunches are served, and there is a much improved awareness of self help.

Success in Partnership Working
The Mental Health Community Development Team (Wellbeing for Travellers project) from NHS Buckinghamshire
Women and young girls from a number of traveller sites in south Buckinghamshire were given training to become community health advocates. This raised awareness of the importance of accessing screening, healthy eating and emotional wellbeing. The project is a partnership between One Voice 4 Travellers, Bucks New University and NHS Buckinghamshire and is funded by Buckinghamshire Community Foundation. The project has benefited around 60 families.

Primary Care and Community Based Integration
Teledermatology Group from NHS Hampshire

Teledermatology is a service whereby GPs can use technology to send a photograph of a skin condition and history to a consultant dermatologist and receive recommendations and treatment advice for the patient electronically. The initiative has led to a decrease in patient waiting time, rapid turnaround time and ease of referral.

Support for Independence
Integrated Commissioning Team (Mental Health) by NHS Oxfordshire and Oxfordshire County Council

This is a partnership project, governed by a carer-led Board. The team has developed a clear pathway from acute in-patient mental healthcare to full independence. Prevention of admission, recovery and sustainable independent living are key aims. Together with a unified referral system, this allows clients and professionals to easily identify where on the pathway they need to be and how to access services.

Ends
Notes to Editor

1. For further information please contact Sarah Eastman, Communications Officer at South Central Strategic Health Authority on 01635 275613.
2. For further information about a winning project please contact the individual organisation. Contact details can be found online www.southcentral.nhs.uk
3. Photos of the award ceremony and winning projects are available upon request. Logo attached.
4. Click here to view the brochure which contains details of all projects which entered into the awards.
5. The event was attended by staff working in the NHS, social services, local government, the voluntary, charity and independent sector organisations, patient and carer organisations and prison services.