Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust named as 
champion organisation again

STAFF at Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust are celebrating being the winners of a national award that recognises energy, leadership and vision in healthcare; the trust has been crowned Fab Change Champion Organisation – for the second year in succession!

Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust (PAHT) won the accolade from the Academy of Fabulous stuff – a social movement for sharing health and social care ideas, services and solutions that work. The Fab Change Champion Organisation title was an especially momentous success in the NHS 70th anniversary year.

Living up to the Fab Change 70 challenge, the trust met the NHS 70 landmark by showcasing a tremendous 70 improvement projects taking place around the trust which are making a difference to patients and their families.

These range across all service areas of the hospital and were showcased to the public at the trust’s AGM in September. Now staff have received recognition by the Academy, whose aim is to encourage organisations to make changes that together create a momentum for improved healthcare.

The diverse range of projects across the trust has an impact for the youngest through to the oldest patients. A poll within the trust for top projects resulted in five winners. These included an App to help children overcome anxiety at having to come to hospital, through to a dementia garden near to a ward dedicated to frail elderly patients and those at the end of their lives.

Staff who attended a presentation ceremony were particularly honoured to receive the award from the chief executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, as well as the co-founders of the Academy of Fabulous Stuff, Roy Lilley and Dr Terri Porrett.

Mr Stevens stated: “This award is presented to the trust whose energy, leadership and vision has empowered staff to put their ideas into action and have embedded quality improvement as ‘the norm’ throughout their organisation.”

Chief Executive of Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust, Lance McCarthy, praised staff for their consistent hard work in achieving the success for the second time. He said: “To win once was fantastic but a second win shows the tremendous depth of the commitment of all our staff to ongoing improvements in our services for all of our patients.”