12 July 2018
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) had two finalists at this week’s prestigious HSJ Patient Safety Awards.
The creation of a kit box to improve swallow tests for stroke patients was nominated for a ‘Best Innovation for Patient Safety Award’ while the continued development of the Trust’s interactive Cancer App was nominated for a ‘Cancer Care Award’.
The kit box was created during a Transforming Care improvement event – work done in partnership with the Virginia Mason Institute in America – and includes everything a nurse needs to give a stroke patient a swallow assessment at the moment they first arrive in the Emergency Department.
Explaining the importance of the innovation, Debra Holland, Data Analyst and Assurance Co-ordinator at SaTH, who sponsored the improvement process alongside a multi-disciplinary team of staff at the front-line of delivering stroke services, said: “Almost 50% of people who have a stroke will experience swallowing difficulties and therefore an early assessment to see if they can swallow safely within the first few hours of being in hospital is vital.
“If a patient who is unable to swallow safely is given solid food it can get stuck in their airway and can lead to infections and pneumonia.
“By having the Swallow Test Kit Box readily available it has reduced the time it takes to complete a test from seven hours and 33 minutes to just 66 minutes – meaning we are now achieving the national target and more importantly proving much better care to our patients.”
Debra added: “To be nominated for a HSJ Patient Safety Award is very special as it recognises the huge strides we have made in improving care for stroke patients. It would have been nice to win the category but we will keep on working as a team to ensure the kit box becomes fully embedded and improved upon.”
Meanwhile, SaTH’s interactive Cancer App continues to win plaudits having won at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards last year. Although not a winner in 2018, the continued development of the App ensured it was shortlisted for the final.
The App, which was funded by the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund, helps patients understand and monitor the side effects of chemotherapy treatment and the long-term follow-up of prostate cancer.
The App is packed with important information about chemotherapy and advice about when to contact the helpline to ensure patients are seen at the earliest opportunity. It is hoped the technological advance will result in fewer chemotherapy patients being admitted to hospital as an emergency.