National achievements

The lengths that UHDB teams have gone to during the pandemic to limit the spread of Covid-19 in our hospitals has been recognised on a national scale.

UHDB has been shortlisted for two awards at the Health Business Awards for the Trust’s ‘Redirooms’ project, which has helped to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in our hospitals and keep people safe.

Pop-up pods, known as Redirooms, have been used in different assessment areas across the Trust since last winter, including at Royal Derby Hospital’s Medical Assessment Unit – meaning patients suspected of having Covid-19 can be separated from others until their test results are known.

This innovative move has helped to reduce Covid-19 outbreaks across the Trust, improved patient experience and staff confidence by minimising the chance of them being exposed to the virus, and most importantly, kept patients and colleagues safe.

All this work is set to be recognised this week at the Health Business Awards, where the project has been shortlisted for awards in the ‘Covid Response’ and ‘Patient Safety’ categories.

Helen Forrest, Head of Infection Prevention and Control at UHDB, said: “Limiting the spread of Covid-19 in our hospitals so that we can continue to keep people safe has been central to everything that we’ve done since the start of the pandemic. By allowing us to temporarily separate patients who are suspected of having the virus from others, the Redirooms have completely transformed our ability to manage and reduce Covid-19 transmission risk within the Trust. 

“We’re extremely proud to have been able to introduce this innovative solution for the benefit of our patients and it’s fantastic to see that all of the hard work and dedication of our teams – from Infection Prevention and Control, to Acute Medicine, to Estates and Operations – has been recognised by this award shortlisting.”

The virtual Health Business Awards will be streamed online on Thursday 9 December, from 1pm.