Wigan hospital trust shortlisted for two categories at prestigious awards night

Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust’s (WWL) excellent work in human factors training and in complex maternity care has seen it in the running for the Harnessing a Human Factors Approach to Improve Patient Safety category, and the Maternity and Midwifery Initiative of the Year category of the HSJ Patient Safety Awards.

This after the finalists were whittled down from more than 500 submissions.

To be held in September, the ceremony acknowledges those who continually strive to deliver improved patient care.

Ehsan Haqqani, WWL’s associate director for governance and patient safety, explained the trust’s ‘human factors’ inclusion and shared his delight for the hard work of colleagues, saying: “I am thrilled to see WWL recognised for the fantastic work being carried out in human factors training, from which we have been able to introduce the human factors concept into our incident investigations across a large proportion of the Trust, with more than 400 colleagues completing the training in less than two years.

“I’d like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the phenomenal work done by all the teams involved for committing their time and effort to provide such a positive training programme that always continues to be well-received and often oversubscribed. By learning, researching and understanding human factors in further detail, we are able to continue to provide and actively improve our care for patients.”

WWL’s Daisy Team will represent the trust’s maternity services at the awards in September, the team is based in the borough and is partly commissioned by Wigan Council to improve the care given to the most vulnerable pregnant patients and their families.

Consisting of special midwives, midwifery support workers and an administrator, the team offers one-to-one midwifery support throughout the pregnancy journey and for up to six weeks following the birth of the baby.

Michelle Hartley, Daisy Team specialist midwife team manager, said: “I am absolutely delighted for the team, it is such exciting and well-deserved news. As busy healthcare professionals, we never underestimate the impact and positive ‘boost’ that being shortlisted for a HSJ Patient Safety Award brings to our wider team and colleagues. This is a high-profile and hugely respected award ceremony and we are delighted to see the dedication and expertise of the team recognised this year.”

Rabina Tindale, WWL’s chief nurse, said: “Patient safety is our top priority at WWL and to have two finalists at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards is testament to how much of our effort is put into maintaining and improving the experience our patients receive in our hospitals and out in the community.

“It’s especially pleasing to see the specific learning and teaching we provide through human factors training being recognised, because it’s vitally important that our staff have an in-depth understanding of how this plays a role in incident avoidance and in incident investigations.

“I am so pleased to see our maternity colleagues showcased as finalists as well. The Daisy Team work with some of the most vulnerable parents-to-be in the Wigan borough and in some of the most complex environments.

"The way this team develop trust, transparency and compassion with their patients is of huge credit to working culture members of the team have created, and their approach to maternity care is phenomenal.”