Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust is pleased to reveal that its EPICENTRE team has been shortlisted for Acute Sector Innovation of the Year at this year’s HSJ Awards, recognising outstanding contribution to healthcare and earning the opportunity to showcase their achievements on a national platform.
EPICENTRE is a project which sees hospital doctors expanding their boundaries by redefining emergency healthcare and delivering acute hospital care out of the traditional environment.
By seeing patients in their own home, consultants aim to avoid some admission to hospital and potentially a patient having a long stay away from home.
With acute medical consultant decision-making in situ, supported by diagnostics including point of care ultrasound (POCUS) and blood testing, the clinician has access to acute drugs to care for the patient without transfer to hospital.
This is done with the security of transfer to hospital if needed, bypassing A&E and potentially reducing length of stay and improving health outcomes for the patient.
EPICENTRE Lead Consultant Dr Sarb Clare commented: “The EPICENTRE team are incredibly delighted and overwhelmed with this recognition. It truly has been a journey creating this innovative acute service from inception and to watch it grow and flourish from strength to strength.
“Being the first in the country to deliver such a service of acute medics and diagnostics in the community has been important to show that we need to think outside traditional urgent and emergency care models and need to be courageous and forward thinking for our patients.
“It is humbling for us to see the impact this has had on our patients and how urgent and emergency care can be delivered safely in patients’ homes.”
The pressures faced across the healthcare sector haven’t been far from the headlines over the past 12 months – yet the quality and overriding positivity of the award entries this year highlight the enduring devotion of workers within the health and social care industry, dedicated to improving patient outcome.
A staggering 1067 entries have been received for the HSJ Awards 2022, with 219 projects and individuals making it to the final shortlist (from across 162 organisations). The high volume – and exceptional quality – of applications is once again reflecting the breadth of innovation and care within the UK’s healthcare networks.
Now in its 42nd year, the HSJ Awards continue to provide an opportunity to shine a light on the outstanding efforts and achievements that individuals and teams across the sector deliver on a daily basis.
Of the 25 categories, three are new for 2022, representing some of the recent challenges and triumphs within the NHS. These comprise new awards for COVID Vaccination Programme, Reducing Healthcare Inequalities and Performance Recovery Award.
The judging panel was once again made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community, including; Sarah-Jane Marsh (Chief Executive, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s FT); David Probert (Chief Executive, University College London Hospitals Foundation Trust); Dr Bola Owolabi (Director Health Inequalities, NHS England and NHS Improvement); Eugine Yafele (Chief Executive, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust); Tracy Allen (Chief Executive Officer, Derbyshire Community Health Services Foundation Trust)
Following the thorough judging process, SWB NHS Trust was shortlisted, ahead of the official awards ceremony to be held later this year.
Despite the tough competition, EPICENTRE really did stand out as a ‘success story’ worthy of a prized place on the panel’s shortlist. At this first stage of judging, the shortlist was based on ambition; outcome; value; involvement & working together and crucially, how the project might be “picked up” and replicated elsewhere for the benefit of both patients and professional colleagues.
HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, added: “On behalf of all my colleagues, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate Dr Sarb Clare and her EPICENTRE team on being shortlisted as a finalist in the acute sector innovation category. All of the applications represent the ‘very best of the NHS’ and often leave our esteemed panel of judges with an impossible choice!
“Year on year the number of entrants continue to rise which I find so encouraging and is testament to the effect that HSJ Awards can have on improved staff culture and morale.
“We’re all very much looking forward to welcoming our finalists to the awards ceremony in November, celebrating their impressive achievements and jointly acknowledging our values of sharing best practice, improving patient outcomes and continuously driving for better service. But we never forget that the award ceremony is not just a celebration within a night, but a platform to recognise the hard work of all our NHS staff, all year round.”
The full list of nominees for the 2022 HSJ awards can be found at https://awards.hsj.co.uk/ alongside details of the Awards partners; https://awards.hsj.co.uk/partners
The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at the Battersea Evolution Centre, London on 17 November 2022.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For more information/media enquiries relating to the 2022 HSJ awards, please contact Jo Hudson or Katie Hinksman via katie.hinksman@trinitypr.co.uk or tel: 0207 112 4905 / 0770 948 7959
For more information relating to SWB NHS Trust please contact vanya.rogers@nhs.net
ABOUT THE HSJ AWARDS.
The most coveted accolade in UK healthcare, the HSJ awards is the largest annual benchmarking and recognition programme for the health sector. Over the last 40 years the awards have been celebrating healthcare excellence through huge political, technological and financial challenges within the sector. Through a rigorous, fair and transparent judging process the awards produce a roll call of the best organisations, teams and people in the NHS and the wider health sector.
ABOUT HSJ
Health Services Journal is the only title to cover all aspects of publicly funded healthcare, providing news, analysis, best practise information from some of the most powerful and respected figures in health. The HSJ audience is formed of healthcare leaders from both clinical and non-clinical backgrounds and both public and private sectors.
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