Innovative project to improve patient experience shortlisted for prestigious healthcare award

A project to redesign junior doctor rotas to improve patient experience and reduce reliance on agency locum spend has been shortlisted for a national award.

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A project to redesign junior doctor rotas to improve patient experience and reduce reliance on agency locum spend has been shortlisted for a national award.

A team at United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been named as finalists in the Health Service Journal’s Value in Healthcare Awards in the General Medicine category.

The team worked closely with junior doctors, consultants and allied health professionals to improve the junior doctor rota on medical wards across the Trust to ensure consistent seven day staffing to meet patient demand.

The project included introducing a more robust handover system using iPhone apps and developing a rota availability checker which allows junior doctors to quickly identify opportunities to swap shifts and book leave much further in advance.

Patient satisfaction has significantly improved since the new rota has been in place. The most recent Friends and Family Test (a national tool that asks people if they would recommend the services they have used) revealed that 91% patients were satisfied with the services they received, compared to 79% before the new rota was introduced and a national average of 88%.

The results of the new rota has also seen a reduction of spend on monthly locum staff in general medicine from £26,000 to £3,500, a reduction of 86.5%.

Tom Ridgeway, Business Manager for medicine at ULHT said: “We are extremely pleased to have been shortlisted for this prestigious national award. It recognises the hard work of the project team over the last year to improve the experience of our patients while they are in our hospitals.

“The feedback we have received from our junior doctors has also been extremely positive, with many commenting that they now have more flexibility around shifts while also being able to provide the right level of staffing during shifts to meet demand.”

Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Tuesday 24 May at Manchester Central alongside the HSJ Value in Healthcare Congress.