AHSN collaborations shortlisted for national awards

Collaboration projects involving six of England’s Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) have made it through to the finals of this year’s prestigious HSJ Awards.
Shortlisted in the ‘Enhancing care by sharing data and information’ category, the ‘Suspicion of Sepsis (SOS) Dashboard’ has been created by Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP) through its Patient Safety Collaborative, building on methodology for measuring sepsis previously published by Oxford AHSN.
The South West Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC), led by the South West AHSN, has created an innovative region-wide programme to assess and improve health and care teams’ perceptions of psychological safety, teamwork and leadership to improve patient care. The Safer Culture, Better Care programme has been shortlisted in the new award category, ‘Creating a supportive staff culture’.
An innovative alternative to pagers, supported by Eastern AHSN, has been shortlisted for ‘Using technology to improve efficiency’. Medic Bleep is an app that allows hospital and community staff to communicate in real time, sharing vital information and updates about patients accurately and safely, and entered following a trial by the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) in Suffolk.
Shortlisted in the ‘Innovation in mental health’ category, QbTest is a diagnostic tool which measures attention, impulsivity and motor activity all at the same time – a core requirement for accurate and timely diagnosis of ADHD. East Midlands AHSN worked with international medical company Qbtech Ltd to address the need to improve patient experience, reduce time to diagnosis and achieve efficiency within ADHD care.
Supported and funded by the West of England AHSN as part of a diabetes digital self-management challenge, KiActiv® Health’s collaboration with Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been shortlisted in the ‘Patient digital participation’ category. KiActiv® Health is a clinically proven digital behaviour change programme that redefines the use of physical activity as a potent medicine for diabetes and other long term conditions.
Winners of the HSJ Awards 2018 will be revealed at a ceremony at the Intercontinental London Hotel on 21 November. See the full HSJ Awards shortlist here.
Read on for further information on each of the shortlisted projects…

The Suspicion of Sepsis (SOS) dashboard

An innovative, reliable and consistent tool to measure sepsis, the ‘Suspicion of Sepsis (SOS) Dashboard’ tool has been created by Imperial College Health Partners (ICHP) through the Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC), in collaboration with NHS Improvement and NHS England, and building on the methodology for measuring sepsis previously published by Oxford AHSN.
Sepsis is a common and potentially life-threatening condition. Without early identification and treatment there is a significant risk of long term disability or death, but sepsis currently doesn’t have a gold standard diagnostic test or stable clinical definition.
The new dashboard tool enables NHS staff – for the first time ever – to use reliable data to monitor and assess the impact of interventions on deteriorating patients with SOS. It focuses on measurement of interventions, which helps local teams determine which methods work best, and which may need to be spread more widely across their organisation.
The HSJ awards are one of the largest celebrations of healthcare excellence in the world, recognising and promoting the finest achievements in the NHS, and showcasing them to the service’s most influential leaders.
Kenny Ajayi, ICHP’s Programme Lead for Patient Safety, said: “I am delighted that our partnership work has been recognised on such a prestigious platform. The creation of the tool demonstrates the unique strength AHSNs have in bringing partners together to spark cross-boundary working to benefit patients. We are looking forward to the dashboard being launched fully on World Sepsis Day on 13 September.”
Amanda Pegden, Acute Medical Consultant and sepsis clinical lead, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Swindon, said: “Working together regionally for a common goal has resulted in a pathway we are happy to use to potentially save lives from sepsis.”
Further information on the ICHP dashboard: https://imperialcollegehealthpartners.com/how-are-we-tackling-sepsis/
Further information on the Oxford PSC sepsis patient safety programme: https://www.patientsafetyoxford.org/clinical-safety-programmes/sepsis/

QbTest: transforming ADHD care across the East Midlands

Shortlisted in the ‘Innovation in Mental Health’ category, QbTest is a diagnostic tool which measures attention, impulsivity and motor activity all at the same time – a core requirement for accurate and timely diagnosis of ADHD. ‘QbTest’ is also the only CE marked and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) intervention.
East Midlands AHSN has worked with international medical company Qbtech Ltd to address the need to improve patient experience, reduce time to diagnosis and achieve efficiency within ADHD care.
Over the last 10 years there has been a six-fold increase in the prevalence and rate of medication prescriptions for ADHD in the UK. Assessment and diagnosis is based on subjective clinical observation, interviews and observer questionnaire reports. QbTest supports the diagnostic process for patients referred for assessment of possible ADHD and improves the current delay to diagnosis.
Read our Atlas case study here.

Safer Culture, Better Care in the South West

The South West Patient Safety Collaborative (PSC), led by the South West AHSN, has created an innovative region-wide programme to assess and improve health and care teams’ perceptions of psychological safety, teamwork and leadership to improve patient care in the South West.
In the NHS, the culture of the organisation and its teams can have a huge impact on the quality of care patients receive and the outcomes of their treatment. Within organisations, an improved safety culture is also associated with greater satisfaction and engagement from staff.
The Safer Culture, Better Care programme took a new approach to supporting teams with their safety culture, using a validated safety climate assessment tool and debriefing sessions to identify any areas for learning and improvement.
Joanna Pendray, Programme Manager – Patient Safety Collaborative, South West AHSN, said: “We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for a HSJ Patient Safety Award in the new category: ‘Creating a supportive staff culture’. We feel immensely privileged to work with the frontline teams in the South West who are taking part in the Safer Culture, Better Care programme. Since the its launch in 2015, we have worked with staff in all of the acute trusts in the South West, plus mental health trusts, hospices, care homes, a clinical commissioning group and GP practices. The teams have been really enthusiastic and have expressed their appreciation for the time and space the programme has given them to discuss their culture, celebrate good practice and highlight areas where changes need to be made.”
Read our Atlas case study here.

Using technology to improve efficiency: Medic Bleep

An innovative alternative to pagers, supported by Eastern AHSN, has been shortlisted in the ‘Using technology to improve efficiency’ category.
Medic Bleep is an app that allows hospital and community staff to communicate in real time, sharing vital information and updates about patients accurately and safely, and entered following a trial by the West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSFT) in Suffolk. Whilst not a replacement for face-to-face communication, the new technology is considered far more effective than the pager system which is common in most hospitals.
Results of the trial showed that the tool improved communication response time, which is some cases led to faster discharge for patients, and left a clearer audit trail than the system they had previously used. Under the trial, Medic Bleep saved nurses 21 minutes every shift, and junior doctors 48 minutes a shift – freeing up more time to care directly for patients.
With support from the Eastern AHSN, the company behind the tool, Medic Creations, is now working on rolling the product out to other hospitals.
Read our Atlas case study here.

Supporting self-management of diabetes in the West of England

KiActiv® Health is a clinically proven digital behaviour change programme that redefines the use of physical activity as a potent medicine for diabetes and other long term conditions. The initiative with Gloucestershire CCG demonstrated how Diabetes can be improved by empowering personal responsibility and the effective self-management of personalised physical activity. 93% of participants completed the programme, with 97% of participants improving their physical activity. This resulted in improvements in weight and HbA1cand was particularly notable for its impact on co-morbidities.
The programme was implemented in primary care practices with different demographics and levels of deprivation to demonstrate scalability and replicability across the health economy. These outcomes demonstrate the programme’s positive impact on inequalities and highlight the opportunity to support the transition from condition specific pathways to a more holistic patient centric service.
The initiative was supported and funded by the West of England Academic Health Science Network as part of a diabetes digital self-management challenge.
Dr Elizabeth Dymond, Deputy Director of Innovation & Growth at the West of England AHSN, said: “It’s great to hear that one of our challenge projects has been shortlisted for an HSJ award – congratulations to Gloucestershire CCG and KiActiv®. We worked with our member organisations and Diabetes UK to shape the call to industry and choose the diabetes self-management tools. It’s been a great example of partnership working and one we’re looking to repeat on different themes with our STP/ICS innovation hubs.”