new.gif){kind=small}
RD&E Named Trust of the Year
The Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust has been named Trust of the Year 2011 (South) by independent health consumer guide Dr Foster.
The RD&E is one of four excellent hospitals nationally to be given the regional award by Dr Foster, a leading provider of comparative information on health and social care services.
The criteria used for these awards were:
- measures of patient mortality (including deaths following surgery and other procedures such as Primary Angioplasty) and:
- patient experience drawn from the national patient survey results about how patients rated their care at the RD&E, their involvement in decisions about their treatment and whether they felt they were looked after with respect and dignity during their time in hospital.
Chief Executive of Dr Foster Intelligence Tim Baker said: “The Trust of the Year award recognises excellence in the NHS. It is important to identify hospitals where the evidence points to outstanding achievement, both in outcomes and in how patients’ rate their experience of care. To be named Dr Foster Trust of the year a trust has to perform highly on two important measures of hospital quality: mortality and patient experience. There can only be one winner for each of the new NHS regions. We congratulate the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust on their award this year.”
RD&E Chief Executive Angela Pedder OBE said: “None of this progress could have been achieved without the commitment and innovation of our staff to better patient care and experience. The emphasis on team work cannot be overstated; whether that is teams made up of clinicians; doctors, nurses and allied health professionals or managers and clinicians working together, continuously striving to drive up standards of care which results in better outcomes for patients.
“Our patients and their families put their trust and confidence in us to provide safe quality healthcare. At the RD&E we have taken this responsibility and duty of care seriously. With this in mind, a programme of work has been undertaken to review, update and improve aspects of care in theatres, clinics and on wards. Staff awareness has been raised about the correct protocols, good practice and the Trust has committed to ensuring that any surgery or interventional procedure is performed on the right patient in the right place every time.
“The RD&E has also trialled a new approach to patient care which aims to have the patient recovering sooner after major surgery. The Enhanced Recovery Programme has been developed as part of a national Department of Health initiative which includes pre-op assessments to identify and address risks and complications before surgery; changes in care and surgical practice to reduce the impact of the procedure on the body and post-op care to aid recovery.
“Essential to the success of this approach and other service improvements has been the involvement of patients from the outset in decisions about their care. In addition to established surveys of NHS patient satisfaction we have also developed our own ways of capturing ‘real time’ feedback on wards from our patients which is shared within hours with the team looking after them to flag any issues including safety and communication.”
Jan - June 2012