Yeovil Hospital’s innovative approach to reviewing a patient’s ‘journey of care’ through the hospital has been shortlisted for a national award by the prestigious Health Service Journal (HSJ) publication.
The hospital has been shortlisted for the Acute Sector Innovation category in the annual HSJ Awards, which this year received hundreds of nominations across 23 categories.
Yeovil’s project, “This is not just patient flow, this is YDH patient flow”, was developed over a series of months in order to try and streamline hospital processes which can have an impact on how long patients have to stay in hospital, and to involve the whole workforce in helping make the patient experience of care the best it can be.
The project has at its heart the aim of improving the patient’s ‘journey’ through their stay in hospital; making sure that they get the treatment they need, such as a scan or referral, in a planned and timely way. Not only does this mean that patients have a better experience of care; but also that they do not stay in hospital longer than they need to. This, in turn, will mean that people arriving at A&E can be treated with minimal delay, with beds available for those patients who really need them.
Simon Sethi, Director of Urgent Care and Long Term Conditions at Yeovil Hospital, said: “I am very proud that the hard work and dedication of our team here in Yeovil has meant that this initiative has been recognised by the HSJ in the shortlisting for their awards.
“Our challenge has been to involve every one of our staff in helping the patient journey be as smooth and efficient as possible. To do that, we developed themed days of the week, such as ‘Morning Monday’, where staff focus on helping patients get home before noon, and ‘Next Step Tuesday’, where the focus is on the next steps needed in a patient’s care, and trying to remove any barriers to that next step happening immediately
“We’re particularly happy that our efforts in this area have led to a 16 per cent reduction in the number of patients staying in hospital for longer than 14 days, as part of ‘14-day Wednesday’.
“We know that hospital can be a stressful environment for some people and that generally, they are much happier recovering at home, in a familiar setting. Our job is to make sure that we can give our patients the best possible experience of care while they are in hospital, and this shortlisting is testament to the daily hard work and commitment of all our staff in making our care the best it can be.”
The winners of the HSJ Award will be announced on 23 November.
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