ACHS's 24th Annual Quality Improvement Award Winners Announced
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District in NSW and two metropolitan Sydney hospitals: Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool and Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick were the final winners in the annual ACHS Quality Improvement (QI) Awards announced tonight. Each submission demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting and developing innovation in different areas of healthcare that impacts on patient safety.
The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) CEO Dr Karen Luxford presented the Awards in three categories – Clinical Excellence and Patient Safety, Non-Clinical Service Delivery and Healthcare Measurement. A fourth category – open to international ACHS members – the ‘Global Quality Improvement Award’ was won jointly by Fresenius Medical Care Asia Pacific, Hong Kong SAR, and Hong Kong Baptist Hospital, Hong Kong SAR.
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District won the Clinical Excellence and Patient Safety Award for safer, better emergency nursing care with their HIRAID submission: ‘a proven, up-scalable emergency nursing framework’ aimed at ensuring Emergency nurses have an evidence base to their initial assessment and management of patients who enter Emergency.
Liverpool Hospital won the Non-Clinical Service Delivery Award for their submission, ‘12 Books for 12 Months: Enhancing Early Language and Literacy Environments’ – a preventative language and pre-literacy program.
The Healthcare Measurement Award was won by Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick NSW who undertook a clinical redesign of their clinical pharmacy services with their submission ‘Improving Access to Medication Review in High-Risk Inpatients’.
The two joint winners of the Global Quality Improvement Award this year were:
- Fresenius Medical Care Asia Pacific won for their ‘Implementation of an Electronic Auditing Program Across 10 Countries’ submission.
- Hong Kong Baptist Hospital won for their ‘Key to Combat COVID-19 in Hong Kong Baptist Hospital: Agility, Dedication and Passionate Support from All Staff Levels’ COVID-19 response submission.
This Award recognises organisations that use Australian healthcare standards to strengthen quality improvement frameworks internationally.
Dr Luxford said there were a strong number of entries this year, with a critical focus on patient safety and quality improvement during a pandemic. “For the second-year, many submissions have focused on COVID-19 response management and changing practices to meet new circumstances,” she said. “Health’s ongoing frontline response has shown that new innovations are essential to successfully adapting and leading.”
“ACHS is proud to host these Awards that celebrate timely innovations across the spectrum of health care, placing patients at the centre of care. Every submission seeks to improve on existing practices and address emerging issues,” Dr Luxford said.
The QI Awards 2021 were announced at the ACHS Virtual Awards Ceremony 2021 held on the evening of Thursday 25 November and can be viewed at https://youtu.be/4KuKL-zueWA from Friday 26 November.
Contact Communications Manager Ian McManus on (02) 8218 2743 or m 04111 59941 for more information
