Patient Safety Hero award announced
Published: 13 Jun 2022
The winner of the Patient Safety Hero Award has been announced today; congratulations to the Critical Care Audit Team at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. In addition, the judges have also awarded a commendation to Corrine DeCosta, Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.
WINNER: The Critical Care Audit Team at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. The team was nominated for their quality improvement project focusing on preventing never events occurring from misplaced nasogastric and feeding tubes into the lung, which demonstrated sustained improvements in patient safety.
The judges were impressed by the team’s structured approach to identifying the problem and seeking to find a solution, as well as their evidence of improvement and commitment to continuing improvement of patient safety.
COMMENDED: Corrine DeCosta, Advanced Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. Corrine was nominated for an audit project that concentrated on safe sleeping in the neonatal unit that resulted in improved patient safety, not only whilst patients were in the neonatal unit, but also when the patient was discharged home.
The judges heard how Corrine thought outside the box: “An innovative aspect of this project is that it was identified that supporting parents at the earliest opportunity was more likely to create a sustainable improvement.”
Full case studies of these projects will be made available on the HQIP website in due course.
Other award categories
The Patient Safety Hero Award recognises clinical audits supporting improved patient safety, and is one of five categories in this year’s Clinical Audit Heroes Awards. The winners of each award will be announced at a series of daily Lunch & Learn events, hosted by N-QI-CAN, on each of the award topics from 13-17 June. Details of these events (and recordings for those who wish to listen again, once they have taken place) – in addition to news of all the winners – can be found on the Clinical Audit Awareness Week webpage.
And don’t forget to join in the fun by sharing online, using #CAAW22!