The winners of the Royal College of Physicians' (RCP's) Excellence in Patient Care Awards 2018 have been revealed at a dedicated ceremony held in the RCP's Dorchester Library.
This year's ceremony celebrated and honoured the remarkable work and initiatives put forward by both winners and finalists. Winners received a plaque and £1,000 from RCP registrar and president-elect Dr Andrew Goddard.
The RCP thanks everyone who took the time to enter or nominate for the 2018 awards, and congratulates all of those teams and individuals who were shortlisted across the eight categories.
It is always humbling to hear from our members and fellows about how they are striving to improve care for their patients. Once again, I have been blown away by the many impressive examples of doctors at all levels working together to champion excellent patient care, both in the UK and internationally.
The winners
Innovation
National Neonatal Research Database Team
The team has created the National Neonatal Research Database (NNRD), a powerful, unique resource for improving healthcare. This has achieved high impact as a single source of high-quality data, reducing burdens and costs by eliminating multiple collections.
International
Professor David Raymond Owens
Professor Owens supported the establishment of diabetes care services in Mauritius, Trinidad and Peru. This included forming diabetic retinopathy screening programmes and foot care services as well as initiating training for retinal screeners and new specialist nurses.
Medical education and training
Making Insulin Treatment Safer (MITS) Team
The MITS team prototyped, piloted and implemented a reflective tool to help FDs to involve patients, be situationally aware and ask for help appropriately. FDs chose educationally significant prescribing experiences and debriefed on them in supportive case-based discussions (CBDs). They trained 58 diabetic patients, pharmacists, doctors and nurses to conduct CBDs.
Patient-centred care
Sandwell and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS Trust DiCE Team
Traditionally, individualised diabetes management has been disjointed, with service gaps and duplication, and a lack of seamless care between the community and hospitals for a variety of reasons. The Diabetes in Community Care Extension (DiCE) team aimed to address some of the above unmet needs, devolve diabetes care into the community, and up-skill and give ownership to patients and carers in order to increase hospital clinic capacity and improve the overall quality of diabetes patients’ care.
Quality improvement
Acute Frailty Network
The Acute Frailty Network (AFN) supports the timely delivery of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) for frail older people in urgent care settings. The aim is to get older people home sooner and healthier. The AFN has demonstrated that it is possible to run a large-scale improvement collaborative that improves outcomes for older people with frailty and urgent care needs.
The Lancet research award
REDUCe Study Team
The REDUCe study aims to improve end-of-life care in end-stage liver disease by conducting a feasibility randomised controlled trial comparing recurrent large-volume paracentesis with long-term abdominal drains in refractory ascites where transplant is deemed to not be an option.
Contribution to the profession – consultant
Dr Nick Levell
As a clinical director for 13 of his 22 years as a consultant dermatologist at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Levell transformed a small department into one of the largest and most innovative units in the country.
Contribution to the profession – trainee or SAS doctor
Dr Amar Puttanna
Dr Puttanna is a dedicated specialty trainee who managed to significantly contribute to the areas of clinical service, medical education and pastoral care.
The Excellence in Patient Care Awards 2019 will open later this year. All enquires should be sent to awards@rcplondon.ac.uk.