Croydon’s trailblazing elective care centre shortlisted for top health award
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust has been shortlisted in the country’s top healthcare awards for its trailblazing work to keep planned surgery and elective procedures running for patients, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Health Service Journal Awards today (Monday 8 August) announced the Trust as one of its finalists, recognising the extraordinary efforts of clinical and operational teams to create the Croydon Elective Centre (CEC), a COVID-19 protected zone to allow surgery and other planned procedures to continue during the second and third waves of the pandemic, as well as helping to clear backlogs across the region.
Since its opening in July 2020, the CEC has helped to safely care for 26,000 patients and is helping as many patients as possible have access to the care they need, without lengthy waits, delivering 10% more surgery and 30% more diagnostic imaging such as x-rays and MRIs, than even before the pandemic.
Stella Vig, Consultant Surgeon and Clinical Director for Recovery, said:
“We’re absolutely delighted to be a finalist in the Performance Recovery category and this nomination really pays tribute to the work of our teams who, from the very beginning, have championed the Croydon Elective Centre and our plans to continue to deliver planned care, despite the significant challenges facing the NHS over the past two years.
“Within six weeks of launching, we’d returned to the same levels as before the pandemic, making Croydon one of the best performing Trusts in London for planned care recovery. Our teams really deserve this and I’m proud of all that we have – and continue – to achieve.”
The Trust is a finalist in the Performance Recovery Award category of the HSJ Awards 2022, which take place on 17 November 2022.
Matthew Kershaw, the Trust’s Chief Executive and Croydon’s Place-Based Leader for Health, said:
“From the beginning, this initiative has been clinically led and really championed by the teams involved, from our surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre, pre-assessment and ward staff through to our estates and IT teams. The results speak for themselves and this initiative shows the incredible difference we can make to the lives of local people when we put the needs of our patients and the ambitions of our clinical teams at the forefront of our plans.
“I’m incredibly proud of everyone involved in the development of our elective centre and in our wider expansion of planned care, which is allowing us to support not only patients in Croydon but those across south west London.”
Alastair McLellan, HSJ Editor, added:
“On behalf of all my colleagues, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate the teams behind the Croydon Elective Centre on being shortlisted as a finalist in the category of Performance Recovery Award. All of the applications represent the ‘very best of the NHS’ and often leave our esteemed panel of judges with an impossible choice!
“We’re all very much looking forward to welcoming our finalists to the awards ceremony in November, celebrating their impressive achievements and jointly acknowledging our values of sharing best practice, improving patient outcomes and continuously driving for better service.”
ENDS
Background:
- Now it their 42nd year, the HSJ Awards are the most coveted accolade in UK healthcare and the largest annual benchmarking and recognition programme for the health sector. Over the last 40 years the awards have been celebrating healthcare excellence through huge political, technological and financial challenges within the sector. They are run by the UK’s top healthcare magazine HSJ (previously Health Service Journal).