Wessex AHSN shortlisted for national HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2022

Wessex Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) has been shortlisted for a prestigious Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Award with Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, and the North and Mid Hampshire Primary Care Networks.

The coveted awards celebrate the teams and individuals striving to improve safety, culture and patient care across the NHS.

Wessex AHSN is a finalist in the ‘Improving Care for Older People Initiative of the Year’ category for their work with local partners to improve frailty and falls care. Collaborating with partner organisations to trial an integrated rapid response service model, Wessex AHSN developed a toolkit to enable spread and adoption of the best practice approach.

Cheryl Davies, Senior Programme Manager in Wessex AHSN's Healthy Ageing team said: "This nomination reflects the power of the AHSN Network and system collaboration to develop a best practice service model for the benefit of individuals living with frailty, and staff. We are overjoyed that this project has been recognised for its impact on patient safety, providing us with a firm platform for further spread and adoption of both the innovative service model and toolkit."

Alison McGinnes, Consultant Nurse for Frailty at HHFT said: “We know that our older population, where possible, want to be treated at home, so we designed a service where we integrated emergency, health and social care services together, providing a one stop assessment for patients and acting as one NHS team. It’s really rewarding to see this service make a real difference to our local community, and feedback from patients and their families has been overwhelmingly positive that they can stay and be supported at home. It's important to us to make sure our patients are at ease and are cared for in the best place for their needs.”

East Midlands AHSN has also been shortlisted for their early detection of deterioration in home care project. East and West Midlands have together been shortlisted for their work in managing deterioration for people with learning disabilities living in supported living settings.

The full list of finalists for the 2022 HSJ Patient Safety Awards can be found on HSJ Patient Safety Awards website.

The winners of the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2022 will be announced on 15 September. 

Find out more about the E-Learning for Excellence in Frailty Identification Assessment Training