We are delighted that the Luton Integrated Discharge and GP Liaison Team have been recognised at the recent ‘Leading Healthcare Awards’ for their outstanding work:
- Staff and Patient Experience – Winner
- Improving Outcomes – Highly Commended
The team, which is based at the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, is part of Luton Adult Services run by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust. The work of the team was featured by the HSJ in November last year (to read the article, click here ). The team use Consultant Connect’s Phone Advice & Guidance to navigate patients to the right place first time. Amazingly, over 70% of calls from GPs result in the patient avoiding A&E.
“We take an average of 550 calls through the Consultant Connect phone line every month, and we answer those calls within 30 seconds on something like 97 per cent of patients.” Sally Shaw, Service Manager, GP Liaison Team.
You can watch our video which shows Sally and her team in action: Click here.
“Making the LDH the #1 A&E Department in England”
Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust have published more information about the awards on their website. We have replicated their article below:
Nursing team bring home a double win at healthcare awards
Luton Nurses who provide a fast and effective pathway for patients through hospital and back into the community have won two prestigious national awards.
The Luton Integrated Discharge and GP Liaison Team won one of the categories and were highly commended in another in the Leading Healthcare Awards recently.
They work with patients, often with highly complex needs, and the service is believed to be the only nurse-led one of its kind in the country.
The team was announced as the winner of the Staff and Patient Experience Category and received a highly commended in the Improving Outcomes category.
Sally Shaw, Service Manager for the Team, said: “We are very excited and surprised to win, but I feel it’s a true reflection of the positivity of the team in focussing at all times on the patient healthcare journey. Communication, written and verbal, is fundamental to the success of the team. Continuity of communication is vital when caring for complex patients, and being able to share information in a timely manner is essential for smooth, safe and appropriate discharge planning.”
The team, which is based at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital, is part of Luton Adult Services run by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust. This service streamlines the way GPs refer patients for same day hospital assessment in Luton, and provides a fast, effective patient pathway through the hospital and back into the community. Before the service was launched GP referrals for same day acute medicine and general surgical assessments would go through the main hospital switchboard. Now GPs are put through to the team directly, with connection taking just 16 seconds on average.
Matthew Winn, Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, said: “I am incredibly proud of the Luton GP Liaison Service, which has been rightly recognised for its great work. The nurse-led team deserves full recognition for this ground breaking service and should be really proud of all they have achieved.”
To view this article on the Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust website, click here.
Please get in touch with us on 01865 261467 or hello@consultantconnect.org.uk if you would like to discuss how Consultant Connect can improve communications between clinicians in your area.
