UHS shortlisted for HSJ Patient Safety Awards for using Infinity for staff COVID-19 testing
We are delighted to announce that University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) has been shortlisted for their work with Infinity Health in the Covid-19 Infection Prevention and Control category at this year’s HSJ Patient Safety Awards, recognising outstanding contributions to healthcare. Following one of the toughest years in the health and social care sector, UHS continues to champion patient safety amidst challenges that the health and social care sector is facing.
UHS has been shortlisted despite the tough competition from hundreds of applicants. Its project with Infinity Health to ensure staff could quickly and easily submit COVID-19 test results has been selected based on its ambition, visionary spirit and the demonstrable positive impact that the project is having on staff experience.
The judging panel is made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community including Sue Smith OBE (Executive Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive Officer, University Hospitals Morecambe Bay FT), Rachel Power (Chief Executive, The Patients Association), Dr Hester Wain (Head of Patient Safety Policy, NHS England and NHS Improvement).
In response to NHS England requirements, UHS introduced a lateral flow testing programme for staff so they could regularly test for COVID-19. This involved collaborating with multiple teams and resulted in the successful roll out of over 9,500 lateral flow tests in three weeks.
Working with Infinity Health, UHS implemented a digital platform to support the programme. The uptake was high and this has supported the effective identification of asymptomatic cases, with the platform providing UHS with real-time data reporting.
UHS now has a future-proof, cost-effective solution, allowing it to manage possible outbreaks, protecting the lives of staff and patients.
“Having a digital platform has allowed us to manage large amounts of data in a sophisticated way and this has absolutely supported us to identify and manage staff with COVID who otherwise wouldn’t have known. The platform is easy to use for the user and we’ve made changes to it over time when our requirements have changed. We’ve also benefited from new initiatives on Infinity such as weekly reports of staff who have not reported results, allowing us to engage directly with these groups and increase compliance.”
— Ruth Sadler
Project Officer charged with the roll out of the programme
NHS staff COVID-19 testing using Infinity
Infinity was implemented as a secure time-saving solution to support test result collection and reporting at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
The full list of finalists for the 2021 HSJ Patient Safety Awards can be found on https://awards.patientsafetycongress.co.uk/2021-shortlist.
Winners will be selected ahead of the ceremony, which will take place as part of the Patient Safety Congress and Awards in Manchester in September 2021.
Notes to editors
For more information/media enquiries relating to the 2021 HSJ Patient Safety Awards, please contact Honey de Gracia via [email protected]
The Patient Safety Awards help drive improvements in culture and quality across the NHS by celebrating the teams and the people putting safety first
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