Notts teams highly commended in HSJ Digital Awards for making a real difference to patient care through technology
Nottinghamshire Healthcare is proud to announce we have had colleagues highly commended in the HSJ Digital Awards.
Our East Midlands Cancer Alliance Centre for Psychosocial Health (EMCA CPH) has been highly commended in the Improving Mental Health through Digital category.
We have also had colleagues highly commended, alongside Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), and social care teams, for the 'One Version' dataset, which focuses on improving discharge performance across Nottinghamshire health and social care. The project was shortlisted in the Connecting Health and Social Care through Digital category.
The HSJ Digital Awards, held 26 June at The ICC in Birmingham, celebrate the power of digital initiatives to transform patient care, improve access to services, and deliver more efficient, equitable healthcare.
Becky Sutton, Chief Operating Officer said:
We're really proud of all colleagues involved in these services. The work that has gone in to them has made a huge difference to patient experience. The East Midlands Cancer Alliance Centre for Psychosocial Health team work really hard, ensuring patients get the mental health support they need during a really difficult time. The 'One Version' dataset project demonstrates how partnership working can be of huge benefit to patients and get them out of hospital, with the support they need, as quickly as possible. Huge well done to everyone involved on this national recognition.
EMCA CPH was recognised for its work in designing and delivering a remote cancer psychology service with integrated digital innovations which impressed the judges with its impactful innovation and scalability.
Dr James Rathbone, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Co-lead of the service said:
We are so delighted that our service has been highly commended for its work towards improving mental health for those living with and beyond cancer. We're honoured to have been recognised at the prestigious HSJ Digital Awards as we feel it is recognition of how we have successfully embedded the digital technology in a way that directly impacts patient care and outcomes.
The service provides high quality training to cancer care professionals, mental health support for those living with and beyond cancer, and leads on research and evaluation, to ensure patients continue to be provided with the best possible support. The service delivers all of its interventions digitally via remote video call, making them easily accessible. The service also monitors and addresses where patients may not have access to digital technology, and works collaboratively with locally provided services to ensure patients are still able to receive support.
Many people living with or beyond cancer experience impacts on psychosocial health, quality of life, functioning and broader health outcomes. Timely, accessible, and personalised psychosocial support can have a significant positive impact on a broad range of health and social aspects of life, as a way of addressing this key, long term need for people affected by cancer.
The judging panel - composed of influential figures from across the health and digital landscape - praised EMCA for its innovative use of simple digital technology to improve patients' outcomes and experience.
This national recognition underscores EMCA CPH's role as a digital leader within the NHS and wider healthcare community, and highlights the importance of innovation, collaboration, and patient-centric design in driving forward digital transformation.
The service routinely collects feedback from its patients and one service user commented:
I have gained so much from the sessions with [psychologist]. I was really impressed with the waiting times for therapy and felt really listened to in terms of what I needed and what therapeutic approach might be helpful. The whole experience has been great and I can't quite believe the difference it has made to my overall well-being.
The 'One Version' dataset partnership project looked at identifying a process for helping patients who are medically fit for discharge, to be able to leave hospital sooner, with the right support in place. The project began with Nottinghamshire Healthcare and NUH, but has now been rolled out to include other local hospitals managed by Sherwood Forest Hospitals Foundation Trust and Bassetlaw General Hospital.
The transfer of care hubs, which include colleagues from Nottinghamshire Healthcare, the hospital trusts, and social care, work together to agree the discharge process for any patient needing support on discharge from our local hospitals. They then use shared data to ensure they all see the live most up to date information for the patient, and can facilitate the discharge as soon as the patient becomes medically fit to leave hospital.
The teams look to get in place whatever support is needed, examples include rehabilitation at home, a package of care, a rehabilitation bed or a nursing home placement.
The project has led to a significant reduction in medically safe patients being in hospital beds when they don't need to be. This has helped to free up hospital beds for other patients who need them.
The HSJ Digital Awards received a record number of entries this year, reflecting the scale and pace of digital innovation taking place across UK health and care settings.
For more information about the awards, visit: https://digitalawards.hsj.co.uk
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