Trafford Healthcare wins ‘Trust of the Year’ award and placed top performer for patient safety
November 30th, 2009
The health trust that runs Trafford General, Altrincham General and Stretford Memorial Hospitals has been named the best in the country of its size in the Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2009 and one of the safest hospital trusts in England.
Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust was awarded the accolade of Medium-Sized Hospital Trust of the Year because of the quality of the care it provides and its low mortality rates compared with other similar hospitals.
It was also the only trust in the North West, and one of just 14 trusts in England, to be placed in the top-performing band for patient safety.
The annual Dr Foster Hospital Guide gives patients detailed information about the quality of care they can expect at every hospital in the country. It singles out for special praise those hospitals deemed to be the best performers in a range of categories.
Trafford Healthcare was praised for its excellent record on ensuring that patients receive safe, effective treatment. In particular, the Trust was one of the best in the country for reducing the risk of patients developing potentially fatal blood clots while in hospital. All day-case patients and inpatients are assessed on admission for their risk of developing clots and given medication, compression stockings or 
other appropriate care to reduce it. The Trust also has one of the lowest hospital standardised mortality ratios (HSMR) in the country compared with other similar hospitals.
Ron Calvert, Chief Executive of Trafford Healthcare NHS Trust (right), said: “I am proud and pleased that we have been named Trust of the Year in our category. Our staff have worked incredibly hard to deliver these improvements and I am delighted that they have been recognised in this way.”
Kieran Doherty, 3
9, a patient from Partington (left), said: “The care I have received at Trafford General has been absolutely fantastic. All the staff treat you as if you are a member of the family. Even if you call them in the middle of the night, they are there within minutes and happy to help you. It’s very touching, really, the way perfect strangers care for you. I have found the hospital to be very clean and welcoming and even the food is good.”
Systems in place that helped Trafford Healthcare win the Medium-Sized Hospital Trust of the Year:
• Every ward and department has its own matron who is responsible for the quality of care, patient safety and the patient experience. Matrons carry out in-depth quality checks on everything from ward cleanliness and handwashing to the safe management of medication and checking that patients are well nourished and receiving any support they need at mealtimes. Because the matrons check these quality measures so frequently, immediate action can be taken to correct anything that does not meet the expected standard. There is friendly competition between different wards, leading to a ‘high performance’ culture.
• The accuracy and frequency of clinical observations – e.g. patients’ temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen, and pain levels – has been improved through regular audits and feedback to doctors and nursing staff.
• We use an ‘early warning scores’ system (based on clinical observations) which quickly identifies any patients who may be getting more unwell so that staff can respond quickly and provide the additional care they need.
• We have a ‘critical care outreach team’ who visit wards to assess patients at risk of becoming critically ill and provide specialist support to staff on the wards. This means that wherever possible we can help patients recover and stay well enough not to need to be admitted to the critical care unit.
• The risk of infection has been reduced through new antibiotic policies and the introduction of ‘no touch’ techniques when inserting catheters, drips and other devices.
• The management of clinical areas has been reorganised so that clinicians play a key role in the day-to-day running of the services. Each directorate – Medicine & Rehabilitation, Surgery & Access, and Diagnostics – is jointly managed by a senior consultant (known as Clinical Directors) and a senior NHS manager. They are supported in this by the Head Nurses for Medicine & Rehabilitation and Surgery & Access.
• Nursing has been reorganised so that each ward/department is managed by a ward matron. The ward matrons are not part of the nurse-to-patient staffing level for their area, meaning they can focus full-time on supervising other staff and making sure that the quality of care being provided is of the right standard. The ward matrons report to directorate matrons, who carry out further checks on the quality of care, as well as looking at longer-term issues such as staff training and development.
• Patients can now give us instant feedback on their hospital experience by using simple handheld Patient Experience Trackers. The trackers ask patients five questions about their hospital stay. The patients’ responses are anonymous but give us instant feedback so we can swiftly carry out any improvements needed. We also listen to patient feedback provided via patient surveys, comments and suggestions cards, and volunteers from our Patient Advice & Liaison Service who visit the wards to ask patients about their hospital stay.
Read the Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2009.
Contact:
Emer Scott, Head of Communications, 0161 746 2945 or emer.scott@trafford.nhs.uk
