Two UHDB teams receive national recognition for continuous improvement projects
Two teams at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UHDB) have received national recognition for their innovation and approach to implementing improvements which have directly impact our patients and colleagues.
Both of the projects have been nominated in the Championing Continuous Improvement category of the Smarter Working Live Awards - part of their annual conference being held on Thursday 21 November at the Vox Conference Centre in Birmingham - with the work to embed continuous learning and improvement through the deployment of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), and the digitising of Essential Safety Guides (now known as eGuides) for nurses and healthcare support workers (HSCWs).
The Smarter Working Live Conference & Awards is an annual event to celebrate organisations that excel in 'smarter working' methods - highlighting advancements in areas such as wellbeing, sustainability, and continuous improvement across various sectors.
Through these nominations, we are delighted about this significant recognition of UHDB's efforts to enhance patient safety - improving our ways of working, developing our colleagues' skillset, and ultimately, enhancing the quality of care that we deliver.
Mark Hill, Director of Nursing at UHDB, expressed his admiration for the teams involved in the projects following this recognition, saying he was "incredibly proud" of our colleagues.
He continued: "Their dedication to continuous improvement reflects our commitment to meet the aims set out in our strategy - not only enhancing the quality of the care we provide, but also strengthening our capacity to learn and improve every single day, all to the benefit of our patients and communities."
Our Trust strategy for 2024-2029 which was unveiled earlier this year - titled Our Way to Exceptional Care Together - emphasises the importance of continuous improvement as a core component of providing the best possible care to our patients and communities.
Reflecting on this achievement, Mark said: "From all of us across the entire UHDB family, I send my congratulations to all of the colleagues involved in these projects for this incredible recognition - and I know I speak for us all in saying that my fingers will be crossed that one of our projects takes home the award."
About the shortlisted projects
Digitising Essential Safety Guides for nurses and healthcare support workers
The eGuides used by our nurses and healthcare support workers have undergone a remarkable transformation in the past few years. Previously known as Essential Safety Guides, these have long been a valuable resource for newly qualified nurses and healthcare support workers (HCSWs) at UHDB, offering guidance on critical clinical scenarios such as sepsis, blood pressure monitoring, and acute kidney injury.
These paper-based guides were designed to support clinical decision-making, especially in emergencies, by providing evidence-based information in a portable format. However, while effective, the paper system had limitations in terms of accessibility and the ability to rapidly update content as patient care guidelines evolved.
In response, UHDB colleagues began to transform these guides into a digital format, making them accessible online - significantly improving their availability and enabling staff to access the most up-to-date clinical information on any device, anywhere in the Trust.
In digitising the guides, crucial information to support the delivery of patient care by our nurses and HCSWs is now integrated within the Trust’s digital ecosystem, which has streamlined clinical workflows and improved patient safety by ensuring that these colleagues always have access to the latest guidelines.
This shift is also aligned with UHDB’s broader Digital First agenda, helping us to be more sustainable by reducing our environmental impact - and saving us nearly £10,000 annually in printing costs alone.
This innovation has not only improved access to critical information but has also encouraged other specialties, such as our maternity services through the BadgerNet project, to develop similar digital resources tailored to their needs.
Continuous learning and improvement in our organisation's strategy to deploy PSIRF
The Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) represents a transformative approach to improving patient safety at UHDB. This framework emphasises continuous learning and improvement by encouraging staff to reflect on incidents and identify opportunities for change - embedding a culture of continuous learning and improvement in response.
This innovative approach encourages staff to make regular, small changes to improve the quality of care we deliver to our patients and communities - promoting a systems-based approach to learning, focusing on human factors and what is termed 'root cause analysis' to determine why incidents can happen, and how to prevent them in the future.
As with our work to create eGuides, PSIRF is part of our wider long-term strategy to embed continuous improvement in all that we do every day, fostering a culture of reflection and learning across all disciplines and departments.
The introduction of PSIRF has been supported by comprehensive wider training programmes, which have been delivered across the organisation - including senior leaders through the participation of a new Compassionate and Inclusive Leadership Programme, which ensures that learning is not only continuous, but also ingrained at every level of UHDB.
The PSIRF project has already made significant strides in improving patient safety at the trust, and by focusing on specific local priorities, such as reducing falls or improving compliance with sepsis protocols, the project is a core component of our broader approach to continuous improvement across every area in our organisation.
Good luck, colleagues!
For more information on the Smarter Working Live Awards, visit www.smarterworkinglive.com