Morecambe Bay Hospitals Trust staff recognised and thanked in Patient Safety Awards

Winners of the UHMBT Patient Safety Awards were delighted to receive recognition and thanks for their hard work at an awards ceremony at The Villa in Levens near Kendal on Friday February 17.

Aaron Cummins, Chief Executive of UHMBT, said: “Our new Patient Safety Awards recognise individuals and teams for their dedication to keeping our patients safe. I would like to thank our award winners and everyone at our Trust for their incredible and tireless support for our patients. The last few years have been tough and everyone should be proud of the outstanding work that has been achieved.”

Lynne Wyre, Deputy Chief Nurse of UHMBT, said: “I feel it is a privilege to care for patients and families, often at the most vulnerable times in their lives. For every patient we see, there are countless opportunities to ensure that their time with us is as positive and as safe as we can make it.”

The first award of the night – the ‘Going Above and Beyond Patient Safety Award’ - was won by Danielle Sadler, a Bereavement Specialist Nurse for UHMBT.

Danielle’s nomination was truly heart-warming and it was as follows: “Danielle supported me and my family with resources and links, spending time - much later than she should have - ensuring I had everything that might help me, my children and the wider community to deal with our loss.

“She then thought of me the following day bringing a gift as she had been thinking about my situation and wanted to bring me comfort. I know that she does the same with all those she supports and I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful, kind and compassionate colleague working in our UHMBT team.”

The ‘Quality or Patient Safety Improvement Projects/Initiatives Patient Safety Award’, was won by Dental Nurse Stephanie Gillies.

Stephanie’s highly positive nomination was as follows: “Stephanie has been a huge pioneer of pushing for ‘Mouth Care Matters’ to be recognised within the Trust. She has recently been working with the stroke wards and has been showing the nursing team the various aids available for patients who have had strokes and how they can be used.”

The ‘Learning from Excellence Patient Safety Award’ was won by the Theatre 4 Team (Ortho Revision Hip and Knee Surgery Team) at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI).

The Theatre 4 Team was praised for reducing length of stay for patients following revision hip replacements. This has helped to reduce morphine consumption and has reduced the time it takes for patients to bear their own weight after surgery.

The final award was the ‘Patient Partnership Patient Safety Award’ which was won by the Integrated Community Stroke Team (ICST) at FGH.

Aaron said: “Congratulations to all of our winners – the judges had a particularly difficult task as there were so many excellent submissions. Thank you to everyone for your continued care, compassion and dedication to keeping our patients safe.”