Infection Prevention at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust celebrated in national awards
The Infection Prevention and Management team at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust were in the spotlight last month, as part of a national campaign to underline the importance of clinical audit and quality improvement in enhancing patient care.
They have been announced as a winner of the Influencing Change category of the Clinical Audit Heroes awards hosted by Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP), which are an integral part of Clinical Audit Awareness Week.
Clinical audits review and measure healthcare, often in relation to local and national standards and targets. They are an effective way to determine if services are performing as they should and, if not, identify where changes are needed. They also help healthcare providers and patients alike to understand how their service is performing, and where improvements could be made. As such, the work of clinical audit teams is essential, both as drivers of improvement in their own organisations and in supporting scrutiny of our health system at a national level.
Matron Catherine Ford and Biomedical Specialist Practitioner Annette Koshti-Richman at UHP said: “We are delighted to be recognised in the Clinical Audit Heroes awards. By taking an evidence-informed approach to improvement projects like this we help to target change where it will have the greatest impact.”
Chris Gush, CEO of HQIP, explains: “Without clinical audit, we would lack the necessary insights to understand what is working well and, crucially, what is not. By measuring our healthcare services and tracking the differences that improvement activities make, clinical audits are directly contributing to saving and improving patients’ lives.”
They were recognised for the Biomedical Devices monthly prevalence audit and its part in enabling the Electronic Urinary Catheter Assessment and Monitoring (eUCAM) project which aims to improve urinary catheter care and management.
The judges stated that it is a clearly structured clinical audit with demonstrable changes in practice, including an electronic form and guidance at the point of care. Clear improvement was evidenced, with reduced catheter use and reduced avoidable infections.
