AQuA Poster Wins National Prize at Patient Safety Congress

The Advancing Quality Alliance's (AQuA) work to improve Alcohol Related Liver Disease (ARLD) care, in collaboration with North West Trusts, has received national recognition, after its poster was selected as one of the winning entries ahead of this year’s annual Patient Safety Congress; taking place in Manchester on 4-5 July.

Winning the prize for the Improving Processes and Outcomes category, the poster details the work of our Advancing Quality (AQ) programme, which supports the delivery of high quality and reliable care; ensuring ARLD patients across the region receive critical clinical interventions across their care pathway, which are proven to lead to better outcomes.

Click here to download

Nadine Boczkowski, AQ Programme Director, said:
“We’re delighted to have won this award and for our work with dedicated Trusts to be recognised on a national level. This really does show the great progress made across the North West to improve the quality and safety of care for patients with Alcohol Related Liver Disease.

“Nationally, ARLD accounts for over a third of liver disease deaths. Administration of the drug Pabrinex within 6 hours of hospital arrival is proven (through evidence based research) to increase the patient’s chance of survival. Since the AQ ARLD condition area was launched in 2015, all participating Trusts have demonstrated improved compliance in this area.”

The Patient Safety Congress and Awards bring together health and care leaders and practitioners from across the UK, to celebrate best practice and leading developments in safety, quality and clinical excellence.

The submission was put together by AQ’s Project Manager, Claire Geoghegan and Principal Business Intelligence Analyst, Nancy Prospero, alongside our two member Clinical Leads Dr Richardson, of Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Dr Ramakrishnan, of Warrington & Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

An overall winner across all categories of the poster competition will also be announced at the conference.

The team will also be showcasing two further posters around Hip Fracture and Acute Kidney Injury (AKI).

In addition, AQuA have also been nominated for the Patient Safety Awards for our work in reducing restraint in mental health, alongside the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), whilst a fantastic 16 of our members have also made the shortlist across a number of categories.

Awards winners will be announced during the evening ceremony on Tuesday 4 July.

For full information about the conference, including a full awards shortlist, please visit the Patient Safety Congress website, or follow updates on Twitter @PSafety4All.

Three More AQuA Staff Selected for Health Foundation Q Community

The Advancing Quality Alliance (AQuA) is pleased to announce three of our staff are among the latest selected to join The Health Foundation’s prestigious Q Community.

(L-R) Cathryn Sloan, Wendy Lewis, and Wendy Stobbs

Cathryn Sloan, Wendy Lewis, and Wendy Stobbs join the exciting community, which aims to bring together improvement practitioners from across the UK to share ideas, learning and best practice to support improvement projects and innovation.

Speaking on the announcement, Lesley Massey, Director, said:

“Q is a fantastic initiative and I’m delighted to see three more of my colleagues join the community. We now have eight staff within their ranks, and this is a real testament to their knowledge and experience within the quality improvement landscape.

“We were also pleased to see a number of our members across the North West in this latest intake, and I think this just shows the drive and skill for improving health and care across the region.

“AQuA work closely with The Health Foundation on a number of initiatives. We’re thrilled to support Q in creating a national movement for quality improvement, and I look forward to seeing it grow in the future.”

Cathryn Sloan, Head of System Transformation, said:

“It’s great to be a part of Q and to be joining so many talented colleagues within health and social care across the country. Q now has over 1000 members and I’m looking forward to the chance to meet other members, and to share new ideas and perspectives on how we can make care better for patients.”

The three join Elizabeth Bradbury, Emma Walker, Amanda Huddleston, Liz Kanwar who were in last year’s intake, as well as founding member Andrea McGuinness.

This most recent intake was for the Innovation Agency (formerly North West Coast Academic Health Science Network) footprint, and their ranks are expected to grow further when the Greater Manchester AHSN intake is announced in August.

For more information about Q, including a full directory of members, visit the Q Community website. You can also follow updates on Twitter via @theQCommunity.