Autumn has been a season of success for Weston Area Health NHS Trust with a series of notable achievements and positive external recognition.
The Trust has also introduced a text reminder service – to prompt patients when their out-patient appointments are coming up, which is proving popular, and a new-look website at www.waht.nhs.uk
Examples of recent successes include:
Pathology Accreditation
The Pathology Department (where diagnostic tests are carried out) underwent a four-day Clinical Pathology Accreditation inspection and were successfully re-awarded their accreditation.
The inspectors reported that they found Weston Pathology staff to be enthusiastic and knowledgeable, with training given a high priority in the department. Site Security in the department was well managed and documentation well written and up-to-date.
National Hip Fracture Database
A report published by the National Hip Fracture Database reflected improvements in the quality of hip fracture care at Weston over the past 12 months.
The number of hip fracture patients who were admitted to orthopaedic care within four hours went up from 52.8 to 68.4 per cent.
The number having surgery within 48 hours was up from 83.1 to 84 per cent and their overall length of stay in hospital was down from 16.6 to 15.3 days – well below the national average of 20.2 days.
This outcome reflects extremely well on our Emergency teams, our orthopaedic surgery and nursing staff and our Allied Health Professionals, such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
Productive Outpatients
Weston has been selected as the first pilot site in England for the Productive Outpatients programme.
It is a 24-week programme delivered by University College London Hospitals, working with NHS Elect and the NHS Institute.
Weston was chosen to pilot the programme because its Outpatients Department was judged to have forward-looking and dedicated clinical teams.
Text Reminder Service
The Trust has launched a new service reminding patients of their forthcoming outpatient appointments via text messages to their mobile phones. Patients will receive a text two days before their appointment.
The Department of Health estimates there are 5.5 million missed Outpatients appointments nationwide every month. Weston suffers from this too - at a rate of between 550 and 600 Did Not Attend (DNA) patients per month - and when our attending patients learn this figure they are very angry about it.
Reducing Did Not Attends is therefore in everyone’s interest – to save both wasted time and money.
If you are a patient of the hospital, please make sure we have your mobile phone number on your medical records, so we can use this service to help you.
Weston Area Health NHS Trust Chief Executive Peter Colclough said: “We are very pleased that all these achievements and innovations are very patient-focussed and are genuinely helping us to deliver improved services to our patients every day.
“It is always gratifying when your work is recognised as being of a high standard by external parties and these successes reflect very well on our hard-working and dedicated staff.”
Website
The Trust has re-vamped and re-launched its website at www.waht.nhs.uk
The site has increased interactivity with patients and visitors able to contact the Trust to leave comments and feedback through a single click.
It has modernised navigation and a search facility to help browsers locate the information they require and helpful links to other relevant sites, including Google Maps. It is also fully accessible via mobile devices, such as phones and tablets.
Peter said: “We hope people will use the opportunities offered by the new website to offer us their thoughts, views and feedback at the click of a mouse. It is through increased understanding of our patients’ requirements that we can make the necessary improvements.”
The Trust is also active on and contactable through Twitter via @westonnhs
For further information, please contact Caroline Welch on 01934 647091 or carolinewelch@nhs.net