Colleagues at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital are celebrating after two wins at the annual NOA (National Orthopaedic Alliance) Excellence in Orthopaedics Awards 2023.
The industry awards showcase the best of orthopaedics, and scooping two wins at this event is a huge achievement.
First to win an award was the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital/University Hospitals Birmingham Mutual Aid Collaboration for the Partnership and Integration Initiative.
The project’s aim was to reduce patient waiting time across the BSOL Integrated Care System, which had been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic. Following an assessment of patients and waiting times across both trusts, it was clear that University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) had significantly more patients waiting over 52 weeks and, with the consent of patients, the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital took cohorts to be treated quickly.
Colleagues at both trusts continue to go above and beyond to support orthopaedic patients and in total, 2,000 patients have been transferred and treated at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital on behalf of UHB and BSOL over the course of the project.
By coming together and collaborating on an approach with patients at its heart, both trusts were able to significantly improve the patient journey, and ultimately outcomes for orthopaedic patients.
The second award win of the night was the Workforce Retention Initiative - the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital’s Financial Wellbeing Initiatives. The project was celebrated for recognising the impact of the escalating cost of living across the Trust for its workforce, patients and the local community and launching specific initiatives to ease this strain.
Following a series of focus groups to understand how the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital could support colleagues with their financial wellbeing, the Birmingham Trust was able to develop impactful initiatives. These included resources signposting available services to colleagues, a period dignity programme – the Blue Bag Project – providing free period products, £1 meals at the on-site Café Royale and out of hours food provision. A Hardship Fund was also launched, a one-off grant staff and patients can apply for requesting support to alleviate financial stress.
Matt Revell, Medical director at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, said: “Being shortlisted is a huge achievement, but winning two awards really pays testament to the quality of the projects and strength of initiatives run by my colleagues and teams at the ROH.
“The NOA awards are a wonderful platform to share best practice with Orthopaedic colleagues and showcase the amazing, innovative work happening at the ROH.”
The Birmingham Trust was shortlisted for awards in four categories: Partnerships and integration initiative, Innovation in Orthopaedics, Workforce retention initiative, and Equity, Diversity, Inclusion.
The NOA Excellence in Orthopaedics Awards recognise NOA member organisations, projects and teams that have distinguished themselves through exemplary contributions, influence, and commitment to transforming services across orthopaedics. The Awards are an opportunity to not only celebrate achievement but to share best practice and promote continued collaboration in orthopaedics nationwide.
Visit www.roh.nhs.uk for more information.
