01/09/2023
Congratulations to all staff involved in the South West Acute Hospital’s Elective Overnight Stay Centre, having been chosen by the Department of Health’s Permanent Secretary Peter May to receive an award for high performance.
The Elective Care Management in the Department of Health initiated a monthly award for teams who have delivered outstanding results.
The Elective Overnight Stay Centre (EOSC) at SWAH was nominated by the Trust and was selected for a high-performance award because this team has demonstrated excellence in patient care at all stages of establishing and developing the EOSC at SWAH. This excellence has been seen at every step of the patient journey from identifying patients to come to the EOSC and conducting their pre-assessment processes, right through to their safe discharge home.
Since January 2023, the Trust has been incrementally building the capacity for elective operating lists in SWAH theatres to help reduce waiting lists and we have seen 164 patients operated on at the EOSC.
The Department of Health’s Permanent Secretary Peter May said:
“Throughout Health and Social Care, we continuously strive to maximise the resources available to us by identifying potential areas to deliver more efficient and better services for our patients within the system. By innovating, working smarter and using our resources in better ways, we can make positive improvements even in very difficult times.
“I want to take this opportunity to recognise the invaluable role played by the team at the Elective Overnight Stay Centre at SWAH in working collaboratively to reduce surgical waiting times regionally for long waiting patients, with a focus on theatre optimisation and performance.
“Video diaries from surgeons and patients regarding the new service are hugely positive and this echoes the feedback that the staff and management have consistently received about the team. The building of relationships as well as developing new, safe pathways of care is to be commended.”
Neil Guckian, Western Trust Chief Executive met with staff to congratulate them on receiving this award. Neil said:
“I am thrilled that our EOSC team at SWAH has been acknowledged for their tireless work to provide first class patient care to those in Fermanagh, West Tyrone and throughout Northern Ireland. The EOSC team have demonstrated that they are a highly professional and committed group of staff who work to ensure a safe environment for staff, visiting surgeons and patients alike.
“The staff should be very proud of this award and all that they have achieved.”
Mark Gillespie, Interim Director of Planned Care Services added:
“Our staff have been flexible and have created a highly supportive work environment where they put their all into making sure every patient journey is planned and conducted to the highest of standards. The EOSC team have embodied collaborative leadership, at all levels, to optimise theatre capacity and reduce surgical waiting times regionally for patients who have been waiting a long time for their routine elective surgery.
“They have paid scrupulous attention to detail and built an ethos of continuous improvement into their work at each step of the process. Well done to everyone involved.”