At the end of April, the culmination of many months’ work at Chamberlain Dunn towers saw hundreds of people donning their posh frocks and black ties to attend the 2016 Advancing Healthcare Awards – an event that we love for so many reasons.
For those not in the know, the Awards reflect the achievements of allied health professionals and healthcare scientists from all over the UK. Over 250 people attended this year – the great, the good, the professional leaders, those at the chalk face and the Ambassador for Sierra Leone (more about him later) – to recognise projects that may well pass you by. If you think that healthcare delivery starts and finishes on the ward of your local hospital or surgery and is delivered by doctors and nurses it’s a real eye-opener. And if you’ve got an interest in how the NHS can deliver the change and transformation everyone seems to think is required, the Advancing Healthcare Awards offers a snapshot of the quiet revolution that these workforces are delivering.
Full details of the winners and shortlisted entrants are available on the website, and I REALLY recommend you take a look. It won’t take much digging to find something that will inspire you, and whether you are a physiotherapist or a pathologist, an art therapist or cardiophysiologist, the chances are that at least one of these projects will involve a service improvement that will resonate with you.
If your Trust or CCG wants to improve patient waiting times, reduce readmissions AND save up to £500,000 annually (at least), why not take a look at the Virtual Fracture Clinic that won category 10? This project might be located in Brighton, but it’s a ‘virtual clinic’ so there’s no reason this can’t make the jump to your Trust sooner rather than later.
If you are a healthcare scientist thinking about ways to take treatment from the lab to the patient home (reducing costs, wait times and improving patient experience), then why not check out the work of our friends Sharon Bamber and her team in Category 6. Again, totally replicable beyond its current location at the Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
And what about the programmes in Wales that really do show how a connected health system including dietitians and education can make use of unused buildings and impact entire communities? What about the radiographer-led programmes in Northern Ireland that reduced waiting times and could be replicated anywhere TOMORROW?
The team at Chamberlain Dunn genuinely love these Awards and it’s not just because of the amazing judges, sponsors and supporters who we welcome back every year. It’s not the amazing venues we get to take over, or the amazing hosts we have welcomed over the years (our huge thanks to esteemed scientific journalist, broadcaster and genomics whizz Vivienne Parry OBE) for leading the celebrations this year) or the chance to hear how NHS colleagues have supported the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone (hence the attendance of the Ambassador).
No, the main reason we get so excited about the Advancing Healthcare Awards is because we know these projects make a difference, and if like us, you too believe that health is #notjustdoctorsandnurses then you’ll want to see these projects in your Trust, your CCG and your locality soon…
So on behalf of myself and all of the team at Chamberlain Dunn, and from the people whose lives are improved as a result of these Awards, thank you and see you again in 2017.
Preparations for the 2017 Advancing Healthcare Awards are already underway, and with new categories being considered in Research and Mental Health, we’d love to hear your thoughts on nominating and supporting the event.
