Respiratory Medicine Team at NNUH win prestigious national award

A team of clinicians from the department of respiratory medicine at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has been presented with a prestigious award for innovation by the British Thoracic Society (BTS), for significantly improving in-patients’ oxygen management which will improve patient safety.

The Innovation in Delivery of Respiratory Care Award 2012 was awarded to Drs Crichton Ramsay, Prina Ruparelia and Specialist Nurse Sandra Olive at the British Thoracic Society Summer Meeting in York on Thursday 5th July. More than 40 projects entered the competition, with the respiratory team at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital making the shortlist of three for innovation in the delivery of respiratory care and eventually being crowned overall winner in this category.

Following new guidelines published by the BTS and as part of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital’s Improving Patient Safety (NNIPS) project, the clinicians redesigned the Trust documentation for prescription, monitoring and administration of oxygen into one integrated chart. The charts were piloted as part of the safety project in early 2011 and have been available throughout the Trust since October 2011. The new documentation significantly improves the administration of oxygen to hospital in-patients which will improve overall clinical outcomes.

Dr Ramsay, consultant chest physician said: “we hope that use of the new oxygen charts will result in safer and more appropriate oxygen administration for our in-patients.”

Representatives from several other NHS trusts at the BTS meeting expressed an interest in using the NNUH charts in their hospitals.