Merseyside and Cheshire’s specialist cancer hospital has been shortlisted for one of the UK’s top awards for patient safety against tough competition from healthcare providers across the nation.
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust – which delivers highly-specialist care from its own sites in Aintree, Liverpool and Wirral, as well as other hospitals across the region – is a finalist in the ‘Changing Culture’ category of the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2020.
Despite huge advances in treatment which have significantly increased survival rates, cancer is still one of the UK’s leading causes of death. The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre has been shortlisted for its work to learn from deaths to keep improving the quality and safety of the care it provides.
Doctors and other healthcare professionals meet to reflect on every inpatient’s death and consider whether anything could have been done differently. The day after a patient has died, their family or carers has a sit-down conversation with a senior nurse where they receive practical and emotional support and can provide any feedback – positive or negative – about the care their loved one received.
Reviewing every death in the hospital in this way means that clinical teams in The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre can continually improve care, address any common themes or problem areas, and share this learning with other NHS organisations. Bereaved relatives and carers who choose to be kept fully informed of the findings are also told about any lessons that have been learned and how care will be improved as a result.
The award shortlisting caps off an incredible fortnight for The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in which it opened its new 11-storey flagship hospital in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter and was rated one of England’s top healthcare providers in the CQC’s National Inpatient Survey.
Dr Sheena Khanduri, Medical Director of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“This is a hugely important initiative that has involved staff from across the Trust, including our patient safety and mortality leads, the palliative care team and the clinical effectiveness team, and it is fantastic to see it recognised in this way. Sadly, although there has been immense progress in cancer treatment, people do die. Reflecting on any lessons we can learn enables us to continually improve our care and continue to improve cancer outcomes.”
The team behind the new process includes staff from across the Trust, including:
· Dr Dan Monnery, Patient Safety Lead;
· Dr Zaf Malik, Mortality Lead;
· Claire Cadwallader and the specialist palliative care team;
· Dr Helen Wong, Marie McKay and Andrea Law from the clinical effectiveness team; and
· Dr Amir Montazeri (Patient Safety Lead, Integrated Care), Dr Danielle Shaw (Patient Safety Lead, Chemotherapy), Dr Allison Hall (Patient Safety Lead, Radiation Services) and Dr Gabe Toth (Patient Safety Lead, Haemato-Oncology).
Finalists in the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2020 have been selected based on their ambition, visionary spirit and the demonstrable positive impact that they or their project have had on patient and staff experiences within the health and/or social care sector.
The judging panel is made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community including Rachel Power (Chief Executive, The Patients Association), Jean Knight (Chief Operating Officer, Northamptonshire Healthcare FT) and Vincent Badu (Deputy Chief Executive, Kent & Medway Partnership Trust.
The full list of nominees for the 2020 HSJ Patient Safety Awards can be found on https://awards.patientsafetycongress.co.uk/2020-shortlist. Winners will be selected ahead of the ceremony, which will take place virtually as part of the Patient Safety Virtual Congress and Awards in November 2020.
