CLCH services shortlisted for two NHS Parliamentary Awards
The NHS Parliamentary Awards recognise outstanding teams, individuals and organisations who have innovated, impressed, and made a real difference to how the health and care system provides care for patients.
We are delighted that two CLCH services are up for awards this year, in collaboration with partners:
· The Virtual Hospital in Hertfordshire, delivered in partnership with West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, nominated by Oliver Dowden, MP for Hertsmere for the Excellence in Healthcare Award
· Better Health on your doorstep, delivered in partnership with Whittington Health and Brent Council, nominated by Tulip Siddiq, MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, for the Health Equalities Award
Virtual Hospital
The Virtual Hospital, run by West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (WHTH) and Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH), is a revolutionary model of out of hospital care.
WHTH and CLCH established the UK's first virtual hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and helped prevent Watford General Hospital from becoming overwhelmed.
Since then, the Virtual Hospital has evolved to offer heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) virtual wards, providing a safe alternative to inpatient care for over 5,000 patients and saving countless bed days.
Importantly, feedback from patients has been overwhelmingly positive. Patients feel safe and reassured through frequent calls, monitoring and holistic assessments from CLCH specialist community nurses and health visiting teams, which have provided companionship, compassion and care.
Dr Kevin Barrett, Divisional Medical Director for Hertfordshire at Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “It is fantastic that this innovative partnership initiative has been recognised in the NHS Parliamentary Awards. The virtual hospital has helped reduce the length of hospital stay for thousands of patients, meaning they can get home to their families, friends and familiar surroundings more quickly or avoid hospital admission altogether. The virtual hospital truly demonstrates the benefits of NHS organisations working together to improve care for patients.”
Watch this video to learn more about the Virtual Hospital.
Better health on your doorstep
The unique initiative ‘Better health on your doorstep’, based on the oral health mobile bus, was designed to improve education for parents about healthy eating and dental health. This project incorporated multi-agency working which included our Outer North West (ONW) Healthy Weight team (BrentHealth4life), alongside members from Whittington Health and Brent Council.
The pop-up bus model (previously used by CLCH for covid vaccinations) was adapted to allow two dentists to support and see children within the community. The team expanded on this fantastic approach to include health promotion stalls and activities outside of the bus to make it engaging and interactive for children. This included scanning popular snacks amongst the children to demonstrate the nutritional information using the NHS food scanner app.
Both parents and children expressed how useful this initiative was and how it would positively affect their decision making when choosing foods. In summer 2022, 395 children were seen at pop up sessions, with 158 children identified as having dental caries (tooth decay). Due to this initiative, these children were referred early and avoided urgent hospital treatment. BrentHealth4life have plans in place to offer the pop-up bus across Brent again this summer, with over 18 sessions currently planned from May to July 2023.
Rosie Hall, CLCH Weight Management Practitioner, said: “It is brilliant to see how working collaboratively can help to make a difference to the community we serve. The oral health bus was a great way to reach large numbers of families to educate them on the importance of good oral hygiene and was a fantastic opportunity to introduce healthy eating. The high demand was a great reflection of how valuable it was, and it really has the potential to educate more families in the future.”
View all shortlisted initiatives on the Parliamentary Awards website.
