NNUH shortlisted for HSJ Patient Safety Award

Fiona Springall, Children and Young People’s Learning Disability Specialist Nurse

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) has been shortlisted for a national award for helping to improve care for children and young people with learning disabilities.

The Trust has been shortlisted for the Learning Disabilities Initiative of the Year award at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Awards 2020, thanks to the work of specialist nurse Fiona Springall.

Fiona has been Children and Young People’s Learning Disability Specialist Nurse at NNUH since January 2019 and has implemented a series of quality improvement initiatives to help improve patient safety and experience.

More than 300 children with learning disabilities have been supported by Fiona over the last 18 months, with bespoke care planning for inpatient stays and outpatient appointments.

Since the introduction of the Children and Young People’s Learning Disability Nurse role, NNUH paediatric staff have received learning disabilities and autism training and LD link practitioners have been identified across Children and Young People’s departments in the hospital.

A rapid risk assessment tool has also been rolled out for emergency and elective areas so that appropriate adjustments can be put in place to improve patient safety.

Fiona, who trained at University of East Anglia and is the first children and young people’s learning disabilities specialist nurse in the East of England, said: “I am thrilled that we have been shortlisted for this quality improvement initiative and it is wonderful to have the role of learning disability nurse at the forefront to help to raise the profile of this role and service. We are very lucky to have three learning disabilities nurses at NNUH to support the trust to provide safe and high quality care.”

Nancy Fontaine, NNUH Chief Nurse, said: “Congratulations to Fiona and the Learning Disabilities team for this well-deserved award nomination. This specialist nursing role has been embraced by the teams across NNUH and has already made a huge difference to patients and their families/carers to ensure the best possible health outcomes.”

The HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2020 are due to be held virtually in November.