NHS BARNSLEY CCG WINS PRESTIGIOUS HSJ VALUE IN HEALTHCARE AWARD
NHS Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has won a national award in the clinical support services category at the 2016 Health Service Journal (HSJ) Value in Healthcare Awards.
RightCare Barnsley, which is a brokerage service for healthcare professionals aimed at preventing hospital admission when not clinically required, picked up the award for best clinical support service at the annual award ceremony hosted at Manchester Central on 24 May 2016.
The HSJ Value in Healthcare Awards recognises and rewards outstanding efficiency and improvement by the NHS. The awards continue to recognise excellent use of resources. But they also seek out examples of demonstrable improvement in outcomes, both within back office functions and clinical initiatives.
RightCare Barnsley, run in alliance with Barnsley CCG by Barnsley Hospital and South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, provides a one stop shop co-ordination service for GPs and other healthcare professionals, helping people get the treatment and care they need, so they can avoid being admitted to hospital if there are more suitable alternatives for their condition.
There is a wide range of services available to support people and they are all now linked into RightCare Barnsley, so when a GP calls up, the team can assess, against that persons clinical needs, what is available and get that organised for the patient, often meaning the person can stay at home, and freeing the GP up to care for other patients rather than be tied up to secure services.
Over 1000 patients whose care has been co-ordinated through RightCare Barnsley have avoided being admitted into hospital over the past 10 months since the service started.
Brigid Reid, Chief Nurse Barnsley CCG said: Brigid Reid, Chief Nurse Barnsley CCG said: “We’re extremely proud to receive this prestigious award for the work of our care brokerage centre, RightCare Barnsley, has achieved in its first year of operation, not least as this is making a real difference to Barnsley people – patients, relatives and healthcare staff. For many, hospitals are absolutely the right place for people to be treated but actually, as we’ve seen over the past year, there are also lots of times when people can be cared for more effectively by community services and social care and this service makes those arrangements for referring health care staff freeing them up to carry on caring for their patients.
RightCare Barnsley currently enables avoidance of a hospital admission 32% of the time and is now embarking on supporting Barnsley Hospital to ensure all services are in place for those who need them on discharge. Staffed by both Community and Hospital Nurses RightCare Barnsley is an excellent partnership service which has real value for patients and all services in the borough and to have this recognised with this award is fantastic and adds to our motivation to do more”
Karen Kelly, Director of Operations at Barnsley Hospital, said: “RightCare Barnsley ensures that patients are receiving the right care in the right setting for them, ultimately improving the overall patient journey. We are absolutely delighted that we have won this award and are very proud that the service is getting this public recognition, it is testament to the hard work of the staff involved.”
Sean Rayner, District Director for Services in Barnsley and Wakefield at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a great service that has really helped to improve the efficiency of care provided to the local community. We’re really pleased to see that it’s received the national recognition it truly deserves.”
The CCG demonstrated a continued endeavour to improve value and efficiency in healthcare and have been judged to be leading the way in this increasingly important area.