A specialist team at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn has been shortlisted for a specialist healthcare award.
The Rapid Assessment and Frailty Team (RAFT), an amalgamated team of colleagues from the QEH, Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust and West Norfolk CCG, are finalists at The Patient Safety Awards 2020.
Hosted by the Health Service Journal (HSJ), the awards get hundreds of entries every year, aiming to recognise the very best in safety, culture and patient care, with the RAFT team being selected as finalists for the “Improving Care for Older People Award.”
The Rapid Assessment and Frailty Team provides a seven-day assessment service to cover all emergency areas, including Acute Medical Unit (AMU), Ambulatory Emergency Care (AEC), Same Day Emergency Services unit (SDEC), Surgical Assessment Unit (SAU) and other clinics including the Frailty and Fracture Clinic.
The team consists of nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, paramedic and Assistant Practitioners, who are all working to reduce patient admissions and support patients to be discharged back into the community. The style of assessment used by the team have been designed to improve patient experience for older patients by reducing the number of clinicians involved in their care.
Sara Tansley, Rapid Assessment and Frailty Team Lead, said: “We are immensely proud to have been recognised for our commitment to provide outstanding care to older patients within our community.
“RAFT is a unique team within the Norfolk healthcare system, pulling together healthcare professionals from multiple Trusts so that our patients get the very best care without having to tell their story multiple times, to multiple organisations. RAFT has reduced the need for hospital admissions for many patients too.
A recent CQC inspection rated the service as ‘outstanding’ and current RAFT data suggests that approximately 85% of patients assessed would have been admitted had the RAFT not intervened.
Sara continues: “The growth in service since 2006 has been tremendous and every member of the team both past and present has been integral in the services success, which has led to the recognition that we are delivering a high standard of care to patients today.”
Caroline Shaw, CEO of the QEH, said: “We are incredibly proud of the RAFT team for receiving this well-deserved place in the finals.
“This service is an invaluable to our patients; working in partnership with local organisations Norfolk Community Health & Care Trust and West Norfolk CCG to recognise where patients need acute care and helping our older patients avoid undergoing lengthy admissions or discharges. Fingers crossed they win!”
The event is set to take place in November.
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