Youth Forum praised for putting patients first at annual awards
A Derbyshire Children’s Hospital project that allows young people to play a big role in influencing their care has been honoured at the Trust’s annual awards ceremony.
The Trust’s Youth Forum is made up of young patients and young people aged 11-18 that have spent time in our hospitals and meets every two months to discuss the changes they would like to see.
From providing quicker Wi-Fi in children’s wards, to highlighting the issues young people can face when transitioning from paediatric to adult services, members have been involved in a number of different campaigns aimed at improving patient care.
Youngsters involved in the Youth Forum have also developed a campaign to better identify different clinical staff by their uniforms, with the group’s success seeing it win the ‘Putting Patients First’ award at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton Celebrating Success Awards.
Senior Youth Worker Louise Melbourne said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have received this recognition from the Trust and are so proud of all of the young people involved. The Youth Forum is a great way to get young people involved in improving the care that we provide, as it allows them to tell us what is important to them and what we can do to improve their hospital experience. Winning this award is a great achievement for the young people who give up their free time to be part of the Youth Forum and is a great motivator to continue making positive changes in our hospitals.”
The Royal Derby Hospital will host the Big Youth Forum Meet Up on Saturday, 10 November, which will be attended by NHS Youth Forums from across the UK.
The Celebrating Success Awards recognise the achievements of staff and teams working at the Royal Derby Hospital and London Road Community Hospital.
‘Putting Patients First’ was one of eight awards presented at the ceremony, which this year took place at Pride Park Stadium on Friday, 14 September. The winners of these awards were:
- Employee of the Year: Ella Brown, for the compassion shown whilst supporting a colleague through end of life care.
- Chairman’s Team of the Year: Breast Services, for providing breast screening services for both South Derbyshire and South East Staffordshire, resulting in one of the largest Breast Screening Services in the country.
- Right First Time: Prostate Cancer Diagnostic Pathway – Pre-biopsy MRI. Using a pre-biopsy MRI scan has helped show where the cancer is and what kind of biopsy is best suited to each patient; improving patient care and significantly reducing cancer pathways.
- Investing Our Resources Wisely: Nurse-led OPAT service for treating hand infections. The Pulvertaft Hand Centre developed an IV antibiotic service to allow patients to be treated safely as an outpatient.
- Developing Our People: The Hospital Out of Hours Service, for the team’s commitment to treating inpatients outside of the regular working day.
- Ensuring Value Through Partnerships: Cardiac complex device service. This service was launched in April and has allowed the sickest heart patients to be fitted with life-saving cardiac resynchronisation pacemakers and implantable defibrillators on-site in Derby.
- Derby Hospitals Charity Fundraiser of the Year: Intensive Care Unit Sister Helen Herring, for the ‘Let’s Go Outside’ project, which aims to transform the courtyard area outside the ICU into a bright and welcoming space for long-stay patients.
Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive of University Hospitals of Derby and Burton, said: “The extraordinary lengths that all of our staff go to in order to put the needs of our patients first never fails to impress me. It is fantastic that we get the opportunity to highlight some of this work through these awards and so I would like to thank all of the sponsors and organisers that helped make the night possible. The ceremony allowed us to offer a small thank you to our staff for their commitment to providing the best possible care. I’d also like to offer my congratulations to everyone shortlisted as they are all winners in my eyes.”