Publish date: 10 September 2024

NHS trust lands string of nominations in national patient experience awards

A female ward manager with patient

A North East NHS trust has been shortlisted for six awards in a national awards scheme to recognise best practice in patient experience.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has been nominated for five different projects across six categories in the Patient Experience Network National Awards 2024.

The trust’s school-aged immunisation service, which provides vaccinations to children and young people across Northumberland, North Tyneside, Newcastle and Gateshead, is in the running for an award for its work to involve communities in how it delivers services.

This includes changing when and where it holds vaccination clinics as well as targeted work with the Jewish community in Gateshead.

Elsewhere, the care of the elderly team at the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington has been recognised for its efforts to improve the ward environment and introduce activities that benefit patients with dementia, delirium and complex needs.

Plus, the MHSOP (mental health services for older people) team has been nominated for its project to ensure that its patients have a voice, in a service where patient feedback cannot be collected in the traditional way. The project is shortlisted in two categories.

In the partnership working category, the trust’s BSL Navigators project is up for the prize. Working with North East charity Deaflink, this scheme provides health navigators to support British Sign Language (BSL) users when they go to hospital.

The navigators help patients understand letters and information, liaise with health staff regarding interpreter bookings and work with ward staff to ensure inpatients have the right communication support and information.

Finally, the trust’s patient experience team has been shortlisted for its introduction of lay representatives as part of a patient and people perspective group. The lay representatives act as a critical friend and bring their perspective from lived experience to a range of projects.

Jo Mackintosh, Northumbria Healthcare’s chief experience officer, said: “We are passionate about ensuring our patients have the best experience possible while they are with us, and that they feel valued and listened to, so we are delighted to be in the running for these awards.

“It is really pleasing to see staff-led improvement projects leading the way, which shows how our commitment to patient experience is embedded at all levels of the organisation. Plus, a number of the projects seek to address health inequalities in our communities, making sure the care we provide is fair and equitable.”

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the University of Birmingham on Thursday, October 3.

Last month, the positive experience of patients in Northumbria Healthcare’s hospitals was highlighted, as the results of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) 2023 Adult Inpatients Survey were published.

Based on feedback from almost 500 of its patients, the trust was highlighted in an outliers report for performing ‘better than expected’ – with positive patient responses across the survey being ‘significantly above the trust average’.


Here is the full list of award categories and shortlisted projects:

  • Communicating effectively with patients and families: Tackling health inequalities when delivering school aged immunisation programmes through co-design
  • Engaging and championing the public: Using the patient and public voice strategically to contribute to the quality improvement of trust services
  • Environment of care: Improving the experience of our patients with dementia, delirium and complex needs
  • Measuring, reporting and acting - using insight for improvement: Giving voice to patients and staff in an out-of-view service – a relational approach
  • Partnership working to improve the experience: Working in partnership to transform healthcare experiences and outcomes for d/deaf people
  • Staff engagement and improving staff experience: Giving voice to patients and staff in an out-of-view service – a relational approach

Media contact

Ben O’Connell, external communications manager, Northumbria Healthcare

Benjamin.O'Connell@northumbria-healthcare.nhs.ukor 07833 046680.