Dudley healthcare teams are celebrating after winning two national awards for improvements in maternity and end-of-life care. The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust picked up two HSJ Patient Safety Awards at a ceremony at Telford International Centre on September 28.
Maternity Safety Initiative of the Year
The trust won Maternity, Midwifery and Neonatal Safety Initiative of the Year for a project aimed at reducing periods of escalation within maternity services. Teams reviewed the whole maternity pathway, making changes to areas including maternity triage, induction of labour, caesarean section discharge and the management of capacity and patient flow.
The trust said the changes reduced the average time its maternity unit spent in escalation from 117 hours each month to almost zero. Group director of midwifery Claire Macdiarmid said the award recognised the 'commitment, creativity and determination' of staff.
She added: “What makes me particularly proud is the way colleagues have challenged themselves to do things differently, worked across traditional boundaries and kept families at the heart of everything they do.”
End of Life Care Award
The trust also won Palliative and End of Life Safety Initiative of the Year for work integrating end-of-life care into intensive care. The project uses the Gold Standards Framework to help staff identify earlier when patients may be approaching the end of their lives.
It aims to improve advance care planning and provide more personalised care, while strengthening links between intensive care and specialist palliative care teams. The work has enabled more patients to leave intensive care and receive treatment in their preferred place when clinically appropriate.
In 2023, the trust’s intensive care unit became the first in the UK to achieve Gold Standards Framework accreditation. Consultant in palliative medicine Louis Harpham-Lockyer said the award was 'fantastic recognition' for staff who had worked to make high-quality end-of-life care part of everyday intensive care practice.
Trust Leadership Reaction
Group chief executive Diane Wake said: “To win two national patient safety awards in one evening is a tremendous achievement and one our teams should be extremely proud of.” The trust had three projects shortlisted for awards overall, including one in the data and analytics category.
