Luton Nurses who provide a fast and effective pathway for patients through hospital and back into the community have won two prestigious national awards.

The Luton Integrated Discharge and GP Liaison Team won one of the categories and were highly commended in another in the digital Leading Healthcare Awards recently.  

They work with patients, mainly with highly complex needs, and the service is believed to be the only nurse-led one of its kind in the country.

The team was announced as the winner of the Staff and Patient Experience Category, and received a highly commended in the Improving Outcomes category.

Sally Shaw, Service Manager for the Team, said:  “We are very excited and surprised to win, but I feel it’s a true reflection of the positivity of the team in focussing at all times on the patient healthcare journey.

“Communication is fundamental to the success of the team, written and verbal, and the team can certainly talk; GP's, consultants, specialist nurses, receptionists, radiographers, A&E, families and patients etc.  Continuity of communication is vital when caring for complex patients, and being able to share the information in a timely manner is essential for smooth, safe and appropriate discharge planning.”

The team, which is based at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital, is part of Luton Adult Services run by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust.  This service streamlines the way GPs refer patients for same day hospital assessment in Luton, and provide a fast, effective patient pathway through the hospital and back into the community.   Before the service was launched GP referrals for same day acute medicine and general surgical assessments would go through the main hospital switchboard and were discussed and accepted by the hospital ward staff.

Matthew Winn, Chief Executive, said:  “I am incredibly proud of the Luton GP Liaison Service who have been rightly recognised for their great work and won these awards.  The nurse led team deserves full recognition for this ground breaking service and should be really proud of all they have achieved.”

The Digital Healthcare Awards took place on Wednesday 6 March 2019.  More information can be found here: www.leadinghealthcare.co.uk/2019/03/07/leading-healthcare-awards-winners-revealed