Colleagues from the children’s ward at the University Hospital of North Tees have been celebrating this month, after being presented with a gold accreditation award as part of the Trust’s ‘Clinical Quality Standard’ rating.
The department were presented with the award during a special ceremony in December; by Chief Nurse Lindsey Robertson and Non-Executive Director Rita Taylor.
Senior Clinical Matron Victoria Whitfield explained more: “The paediatric ward has been on a journey of continuous improvement and development over the last 12 to 18 months.
“The commitment and passion shown by all members of the team has been exemplary. And the accreditation has recognised the teams commitment to patient safety, quality and experience for our babies, children, young people and their loved ones.”
A focus on key areas leads to gold accreditation
The drive towards a gold accreditation has enabled the team to focus on key areas that required improvement. Empowering them to lead on quality initiatives designed to improve clinical pathways. This has included enhancing workforce skills, supporting trainee play specialists, trainee nurse practitioners and the recruitment of new team leads.
Victoria added: “The team have been amazing and have embraced and encouraged feedback from our children and young patients. They have taken on feedback through our ‘feedback tree’ and other channels to improve patient experience.
“The ‘feedback tree’ has been a really fun and effective way to interact with our smallest patients to get their opinions. It has given the team feedback on a variety of areas including environment, staff, and food and play facilities. This has had an instrumental part to play in shaping and improving our services.”
The continued development of health promotion topics has also been a strong focal point within the ward. Displays highlighting accident prevention, the impact of the pandemic, mental health awareness and support as well as hand hygiene audits conducted by the children.
Lead Nurse, Quality and Professional Standards Ruksana Salim, who attended the event and celebrated the department’s award, said: “The children’s have been on an incredible journey since 2018. Ward manager Heather Walker’s leadership has been fundamental in the gold achievement. But it’s very much been a team effort by all involved and it was lovely to be able to celebrate their hard work.”
“The push for gold accreditation has played a paramount role in ensuring the team continue to provide high quality of care to the ever-changing needs of the children and young people they care for.”