The SPRinT team (Simulated interPRofessional Team training) scooped an award for “Education and Training in Patient Safety” last night (Monday 6 July) at The Patient Safety Awards ahead of competition from nine other organisations shortlisted in the category, including Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The Patient Safety Awards, now in their seventh year, were established to celebrate individuals, whose innovative and creative initiatives have improved quality and made care safer for patients. This year’s awards attracted 750 submissions from 370 different organisations.
The judges at The Patient Safety Awards said: “This was a truly excellent presentation and was a pleasure to listen to. The training was innovative and out of that has come great improvements. It was simply outstanding!”
Commenting on the award, Dr Margarita Burmester ,consultant intensivist and director of SPRinT said: “We are so excited that our innovative Simulated interPRofessional Team Training (SPRinT) programme has been recognised as leading the way in education and training in patient safety by the national patient safety community.
“Winning this award would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of all SPRinT team members who are constantly striving to make a real difference to patient safety and care. My thanks and congratulations go to everyone involved.
Jenni Middleton, editor of Nursing Times, which runs the awards along with its sister publication, Health Service Journal said: “Our winners and finalists in The Patient Safety Awards aren’t just doing their day jobs, they are doing something exceptional. They are going out of their way to put patients first. … These projects prove how dynamic and proactive our healthcare organisations are …”
The SPRinT programme was founded in 2008 and is based in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). SPRinT uses in-situ simulation to provide the multidisciplinary team involved in patient care with insight into human factors that influence personal performance, and strategic crisis training.
The programme delivers regular training courses during worktime to all staff who would normally be involved in critical situations, using the most advanced simulation mannequins, and its own prototype and patented models, to recreate realistic life-threatening events. Crash trolleys, resuscitation equipment and real drugs are used to create time-critical scenarios that are as true to life as possible.
Last year the SPRinT team won funding to develop the programme into adult services. So far, SPRinT has delivered 170 courses to 1530 participants across 11 disciplines, and the programme has achieved fifty-one quality improvement initiatives since it was introduced in 2008.
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