The hospital trust that runs Goole, Scunthorpe and Grimsby hospitals, as well as community services in North Lincolnshire, has been shortlisted for a Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Award.
North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust (NLAG) and its staff have been recognised for their efforts in infection prevention and control, specifically during the pandemic to keep patients, staff and the community safe.
Maurice Madeo, assistant chief nurse and deputy director of infection prevention and control at the trust, said: “The last year has been incredibly tough for everyone and has put great pressure on our NHS and healthcare workers. When COVID-19 reached us, we had to act fast, changing how we worked to mitigate the spread and keep our patients and staff as safe as possible. “We implemented several measures to support us with this, which have since been recognised by the HSJ. “We are delighted to have been shortlisted for this award. Our staff pulled together in such an uncertain time. Their efforts, alongside these new measures really made such a difference to minimising the spread of COVID-19 within our hospitals.”
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, maximising safety precautions for patients and vulnerable people in hospitals, care homes and across the community is as important as ever and the HSJ awards aim to celebrate the teams at the frontline pushing the boundaries of patient safety and driving cultural change to minimise risk, enhance quality of care and ultimately save lives. Throughout the pandemic the trust implemented a number of new procedures across its hospitals and services in order to protect both patients and staff.
Along with a digital flag system which enabled staff to manage patient care and movement throughout the hospital, during the second wave the trust also introduced Redirooms - mobile carts that expand into air-filtered isolation rooms to help to increase the space available for isolating patients within main admission and assessment areas. This allowed staff to safely isolate positive or suspected positive patients until a full assessment could be done. The trust says it also undertook an in-depth evaluation on how the pandemic was managed and this allowed us to develop a vulnerability assessment tool which has since been adopted nationally.
Ellie Monkhouse, chief nurse and director of infection prevention and control at the trust, added: “I am extremely proud of the staff involved in creating and implementing these innovations and their shortlisting for this award. The safety of our patients is a priority and these measures have contributed significantly during the pandemic. “I wish the team the best of luck and thank them for their continued efforts in keeping our patients, colleagues and the community as safe as possible.” The trust is one of three finalists in the Infection Prevention and Control category for ‘Minimising nosocomial COVID-19 cases using multimodal approach incorporating human factors’. The awards ceremony will take place on September 20 at Manchester Central, when the winners will be announced.
Staff at North Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust have been shortlisted for a Health Service Journal Patient Safety Award. (08-07-55 SU)
