Trust scoops award for patient safety
Monday, 29 June, 2009
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust, (SECAmb) has been named regional winner of the Patient Safety Award at the Best of Health Awards 2009 held at the Grand Hotel in Brighton in June.
The Trust picked up the award at the NHS South East Coast-organised event for the
implementation of its Make Ready initiative - a scheme in which vehicles are regularly deep-cleaned, restocked and checked for mechanical faults in order to significantly minimise the risk of cross-infection and improve patient safety.
SECAmb's clinical directorate was also nominated as regional finalists in the Innovative Health and Social Care Technology category at the awards, which celebrate the achievements of health and social care teams and individuals across Sussex, Surrey and Kent.
The Make Ready team, led by Make Ready Project Manager, Chris Ford, now go forward to the national Health & Social Care Awards, which takes place in London in July.
SECAmb currently has two Make Ready depots, in Chertsey, Surrey and Hastings, East Sussex. Following a successful pilot of the scheme in Chertsey in 2008, the Trust has plans to roll out the initiative across the whole of Sussex, Surrey and Kent. There are plans to create 12 depots in total across the SECAmb region by 2016.
At the depots, specially trained non-clinical staff are dedicated to the preparation of ambulances and other response vehicles for a shift on the road.
SECAmb's Chris Ford said: "The initiative significantly enhances and improves the service we provide for the community. It minimises the risk of cross-infection, frees up frontline crews who traditionally clean and restock ambulances to spend more time treating patients and keeps vehicles on the road for longer. Make Ready is effective and efficient and is part of SECAmb's continual drive to innovate, modernise and improve patient outcomes."
SECAmb Chief Executive Paul Sutton said: "I'm delighted the Make Ready team picked up the Patient Safety Award and also for SECAmb's nomination in the Innovative Health and Social Care Technology category.
Make Ready is just one of the many ways SECAmb is constantly striving to improve patient outcomes, patient safety and clinical quality across Sussex and Surrey and Kent."
