Integrated Care Northamptonshire shortlisted for three prestigious 2022 HSJ Awards
Integrated Care Northamptonshire (ICN) is thrilled to announce that it has been shortlisted for three prestigious awards at this year’s HSJ Awards.
Our COVID-19 vaccination programme has been named as a finalist for the 'Covid Vaccination Programme Award', while our iCAN Programme is a finalist in the 'Provider Collaboration of the Year' category. NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), meanwhile, was shortlisted in the ‘Driving Efficiency through Technology’ category for Point of Care Testing.
The HSJ Awards recognises outstanding contribution to healthcare and gives the impressive Northamptonshire programmes an opportunity to showcase their achievements on a national platform.
The Northamptonshire COVID-19 Vaccination Programme has delivered more than 1.5 million vaccinations across the county since its launch in December 2020, with particular care taken to work with communities to increase understanding about vaccination and to ensure everyone has had the opportunity to benefit.
Chris Pallot, Director of Northamptonshire’s COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, said:
“What an absolute honour it is to be shortlisted for the Covid Vaccination Programme of the Year Award, a new HSJ category that reflects the recent challenges and triumphs within the NHS.
“Being a finalist for such an important award is a real testament to the hard work of every single person that has worked on the Northamptonshire COVID-19 Vaccination Programme. Through our perseverance and collaboration, we have shown that working together and building trust with our communities has brought real benefits to our county. Together we have overcome challenges and helped to protect the people of Northamptonshire.
“Everyone from across the county has worked tirelessly to deliver this programme, this nomination is hugely appreciated by everybody in our team. I am sure it will bolster our continued efforts to improve and deliver the programme successfully to the people of Northamptonshire.”
The other shortlisted category for ICN was for Provider Collaboration of the Year for the county’s iCAN Programme. This major transformation project is helping Northamptonshire’s elderly and frail residents aged over 65 live well and stay well in the community.
Anna Earnshaw, CEO of West Northamptonshire Council and iCAN Lead said:
“When we reviewed our health and social care system in 2020 and asked our older residents to tell us about their experiences of care in our county, we recognised that it needed to improve. This was important not just to improve outcomes for our over 65s but because as an area our over 75 population growth has been significantly higher than national averages.
"We are now in the second year of our five-year iCAN roadmap, and I am incredibly proud of how well our health and social care teams have taken on this challenge together.
"The impact of iCAN can be seen in our communities with more residents feeling like they are supported to manage their health well at home and in our hospitals where we are working on improving patient flow and getting people home sooner. It also includes digital innovations with widescale remote monitoring, supporting carers, launching long-term health condition community workshops, and much more.
"The news of this shortlisting recognises everyone’s hard work and commitment across our health and social care system. We are looking forward to empowering residents further and delivering more positive changes to improve the lives of older people in Northamptonshire through iCAN.”
Point of Care Testing is a new initiative across Northamptonshire and has been run as a pilot, with the key aims of providing patient care closer to home, allowing patients to stay in their home environment where clinically safe, and reducing admissions to hospital through effective community management.
This was an innovative scheme supporting all sectors in our integrated care system and with a system-wide impact. Utilising diagnostic advances, paramedics hosted by primary care have been able to complete key blood tests at patients’ homes to empower clinicians to make informed and appropriate decisions about their ongoing care.
The outcomes of the project have been very positive, demonstrating both patient and clinician satisfaction. The pilot is also performing against key indicators such as wait times and is actively avoiding hospital admissions where possible and appropriate.
Dr Adam Nawaz, Clinical Lead for Point of Care Testing, said:
"We are incredibly pleased to see our collaborative efforts recognised by the nomination as finalists. What started out as a simple conversation has flourished into a project that keeps unwell patients in the comfort of their own home instead of on the way to A&E. Projects such as this remind us of how great the NHS can be and how it fosters world-leading methods of care."
Further to these shortlisted entries within ICN, a key partner organisation of iCAN, Northamptonshire Carers, has been shortlisted for the System Led Support for Carers Award.
Recently, the HSJ Patient Safety Awards shortlist was also announced and iCAN colleagues from University Hospitals of Northamptonshire are in the running to win the Digital System and Process Development Award. This is for the programme’s work to implement digital tools to help staff assess and treat frail patients.