Three wins for NUH at national patient experience awards
The Patient Experience Network National Awards (PENNA), now in its 13th year, is the only awards scheme to recognise best practice in patient experience across all facets of health and social care in the UK.
The 2023 awards ceremony took place in Birmingham on the 28 September and we are delighted that Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) won three awards and were runners up for a fourth.
Cancer Prehabilitation Service - NUH Prehab Team
Winner - Partnership Working to Improve the Experience Award
Winner - Personalisation of Care Award
BAME Wig Project - BAME Shared Governance Council
Winner - Using Insight to Improve Equality of Care Award
“Keep Moving” Patient Information Sheet - Patient Partnership Group (PPG) and Active Hospitals Steering Group
Runner up - Communicating Effectively with Patients and Families Award
Cancer Prehabilitation Service
NUH launched its Cancer Prehabilitation Service in April 2022 to prepare patients for surgery through improvements in physical fitness, psychological wellbeing and healthy eating. Research has shown that this can reduce the length of stay in hospital, limit post-op complications, and support recovery. The scheme offers community-based group sessions, reducing travel time and expense; developed a dedicated direct referral pathway to speed up access to psychological support; involved Social Prescriber link-workers; and created a transitional care pathway, ensuring a seamless transition from prehab to rehab.
Delivery of this cost-effective, holistic offer has been achieved by integrating with community partners’ established infrastructure, providing access to physical, psychological health and care services. It has improved patient outcomes, generating positive feedback from patients and their families.
When asked how it feels to win two PEN national awards and what this means for the Cancer Prehabilitation Service, Abi Burrows, Matron - Prehab & Pre-op, Admitted Care said,
"We are delighted to have been recognised by the PEN for personalisation of care and partnership working. From the outset, the service was co-designed alongside patient partners, recognising the unique link between health and social care, mind and body. It is only through collaboration that we have achieved a truly holistic service to provide the best outcomes for our patients. Under the unwavering clinical leadership of Dr Wake and Dr Evans, we have further ambitions to expand the service to support all patients awaiting major surgery, not just those with cancer. Prehabilitation offers a proactive approach to supporting flow and discharge, minimising hospital length of stay and encouraging longer term improvements in population health. Partnership working can provide opportunities to utilise existing infrastructure, minimising costs and providing access to a wider range of resources, and one we will continue to explore and progress together."
BAME Wig Project
The BAME Shared Governance Council recognised the need for appropriate wigs for BAME cancer patients following chemotherapy treatment. Patients had fed back about the emotional trauma associated with the loss of respect and dignity due to being offered inappropriate wigs, the Council wanted to restore patient dignity.
The overall outcome has been the dissemination and the scheme now being offered to ALL patients with alopecia, plus a regular trichology clinic, with the intention of sharing good practice regionally, nationally and internationally.
When asked how it feels to win a PEN national award and what this means for the project and service at NUH, Aquiline Chivinge, Chair of the BAME Shared Governance Council said,
"We feel very emotional, humbled and pleased that we won. This is for all the members of Sistas Against Cancer group including Dr Rose Thompson whom we lost from cancer. Their determination and collaborative working with the BAME Shared Governance Council got us to this winning position. This has given us confidence to keep going with the project and share with other organisations our best practice and learning. The project has now received funding from NUH Charity to provide the trichology service for another year."
“Keep Moving” Patient Information Sheet
The Patient Partnership Group (PPG) identified a need for patients to stay active in hospital, and created a placemat with information on. It then worked with the Active Hospitals project to create a Keep Moving leaflet, with QR codes linked to online physiotherapy videos.
Patients were included at every stage of planning and delivery. The ward manager who successfully piloted the project won a Team NUH award for his leadership in 2023, with more than 400 people having used the leaflet. The leaflet is being rolled out to other wards, and has attracted interest from Trusts and social care providers across England.
In total, six projects at NUH were shortlisted for this year's Patient Experience Network National Awards, congratulations also go to the teams behind the following projects.
- Health Care of Older People (HCOP) Shared Governance Council’s Radio Project
- Improvements to new patient Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy (SACT) Information Project
- High Intensity Service User Project