Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (BSMHFT) has dominated the shortlist at this year’s Leading Healthcare Awards. The Trust and its partners have been recognised in six of the eight award categories – more than any organisation has ever been shortlisted for.
The Leading Healthcare Awards celebrate digital innovation across the health sector and highlight the organisations that are using technology to improve patient care and working practice.
BSMHFT has already been recognised for its innovative approach to technology. In 2017, the Trust was named as a ‘Global Digital Exemplar’ in recognition of its status as one of the most advanced IT organisations in the NHS. Projects include introducing thousands of digital observations on wards and a ground breaking Avatar Relationship Training Tool for clinicians.
The winners will be announced at 7pm on Wednesday 6 March when the Leading Healthcare Awards are broadcast live through the organisations website, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.
James Reed, Chief Clinical Information Officer at BSMHFT, said ‘We work hard to improve our use of technology so that our service users get the best care, so it’s a real honour for our Trust to have received this level of recognition at these prestigious awards.”
The projects shortlisted and their categories are as follows:-
Efficiency Savings of the Year
Avatar Relationship Tool – encourages service users to engage in their therapeutic work through a virtual world. It combines avatar technology and Mentalization Based Therapy.
Hybrid Mail – at the touch of a button, medical correspondence is processed offsite, printed, folded, put in an envelope (with any attachments necessary) and posted from a central location and delivered to patients. It also allows for correspondence to be diverted to entirely electronic transmission if appropriate which saves further time and money.
Innovation of the Year
The Digital Ward project has introduced mobile technology and digital working to BSMHFT to transform the way healthcare professionals capture and access clinical information.
Patient Safety
The Physical Observation “App” – is the second phase of the Digital Ward project, enabling clinicians to record physical observations at the point of care and for a service user’s observation history to be accessible to all health professionals involved in their care.
Improving Outcomes
Reach Out is a partnership of NHS Trusts and a private provider. Together they have implemented a new care model that reduces the amount of service users in secure care who are placed outside of the West Midlands away from loved ones, which impacts on their recovery journey.
Case Study of the Year
The MERIT programme – has developed technology that allows clinicians at four NHS trusts in the West Midlands to access to service users mental health records, make more efficient use of inpatient beds and reduce the incidence of out-of-area placements.
