Division of Primary Care regional champions for NHS70 Awards

An entry from the Division of Primary Care has been chosen as Midlands and East regional champions for the prestigious NHS70 Parliamentary Awards.

Many congratulations go to the Medicine Safety Research Group in the Division of Primary Care at the University of Nottingham, which been chosen from hundreds of applicants to represent the Midlands and East region in the competition marking the 70^th birthday of the NHS. The competition saw English MPs put forward individuals and teams serving their constituencies for national recognition within ten categories.

A presentation ceremony (Friday 15^th June) marked the achievements of the seven nominees put forward from the South Nottingham area by local MP Lilian Greenwood. Lilian presented certificates to the successful nominees, which included both teams and individuals. Dr Sarah Rodgers, Principal Research Fellow, and Kerry Oliver, Managing Director of PRIMIS represented the Division of Primary Care’s successful team within the category of ‘Excellence in Primary Care’.

Lilian commented “I was absolutely delighted to meet with such a fantastic, dedicated group of nominees for the NHS70 Awards. It was a privilege to present the certificates this morning.”

As regional champion in the ‘Excellence in Primary Care’ category, the Division of Primary Care’s Medicine Safety Research Group will now vie with nominees from other regions within England for the national award, with all national winners for the seven categories announced in a ceremony at the Palace of Westminster on the 4^th July (the day before the NHS’ official 70^th anniversary). 

Led by Professor Tony Avery, the team’s successful nomination in the ‘Excellence in Primary Care’ category was for making safety improvements to the way medicines have been prescribed by GPs over the past 20 years. 

The Team’s achievements include: 

• Creating PINCER – an IT-based improvement tool that has been implemented in more than 350 surgeries across the East Midlands to prescribe medicines safely
• Creating a Patient Safety Toolkit that’s hosted on the website of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and has been accessed more than 10,000 times since 2015
• Working with RCGP to ensure there’s a greater focus on safe prescribing during GP training and assessment. 

PRIMIS is proud to have been instrumental in developing the PINCER tools which have enabled the successful rollout of this proven intervention across the East Midlands and other parts of the country.

See the full story and image on the University of Nottingham website

Image shows Kerry Oliver, Managing Director at PRIMIS, MP Lilian Greenwood and Dr Sarah Rodgers, Senior Research Fellow, Division of Primary Care, the University of Nottingham (left to right).

The six other South Nottingham nominees were:

The Excellence in Mental Health Care Award, sponsored by Wesleyan: Dr Jo Tedstone, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Notts Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - for achievement in integration and acceptance of psychological support within the field of physical healthcare.

The Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care Award: Pharmacy ED Team, Professor Mojgan Sani, Chief Pharmacist, NUHT - for achievement in integrating a clinical pharmacy service in the Emergency Dept., at NUHT.

Healthier Communities Award: Oral Health Promotion Team, Julia Wilkinson, Notts Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – for Brushing Buddies, a supervised tooth brushing programme targeted at the most vulnerable primary schools in the City and County.

The Person-Centred Care Champion Award: Harvey 2 Ward Team, Mrs Fay Allen, Ward Sister, NUHT- to acknowledge the critical part that emergency admission areas play in reducing pressures in the Emergency Departments.

The Care and Compassion Award: Emma Anderson, Community Support Worker, County Dementia Outreach Service. Notts Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - to recognise her achievement in developing a concept of peer supervision for the community support workers, looking at the service development and learning opportunities.

The Patient and Public Involvement Award: Eric Wilson, Involvement Volunteer, Notts Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – for his tireless and innovative work partnering with the Involvement Team, making a difference to the lives of service users, patients, carers, staff and volunteers. He is highly valued as a volunteer and highly regarded by staff and his peers.