A mental health team working to treat and improve the lives of individuals diagnosed with personality disorders has won a prestigious Health Service Journal (HSJ) Award.
The Personality Disorder Hub team at Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (NTW), a provider of mental health and disability services, was announced as the winner of the Patient Safety category at the HSJ Awards 2018.
The world’s largest healthcare awards programme, the HSJ Awards featured 1,500 entrants across 26 categories.
Following an exhaustive judging programme, the Hub team scooped one of the coveted prizes at a ceremony held on 21 November at the Intercontinental Hotel in London’s O2.
Dr Genevieve Quayle, the Personality Disorder Hub’s Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Lead, said: “I am delighted that our hard-working team have won this prestigious award. It provides acknowledgement of how an exceptional group of staff’s resilience, innovation and creativity shines through.”
“I would like to add an enormous thank you to our service users too, who through their bravery and collaboration have helped us to continually develop the team. It has been a joy to see people’s lives be turned around by both their own and the team’s hard work.”
Dr Stuart Mitchell, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Trust Lead for Personality Disorder, said: “I am inspired and proud to have been part of recruiting and developing such a great team. They have all worked tirelessly and with great compassion for our service users to help them develop better lives for themselves, free from self-harm and suicide. It is to them and the service users and families that this award belongs.”
John Lawlor, NTW Chief Executive, said: “I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to each and every member of the Personality Disorder Hub for this highly prestigious award. This is a huge accolade and I am delighted that our Trust’s constant commitment to patient safety is being recognised once again at a national level.”
The Personality Disorder Hub works across the North East of England and provides assessment and treatment for individuals over the age of 18 years who have personality difficulties and pose a high risk of self-harm or suicide.
The Hub’s approach places the experience of service users at the centre of everything it does, helping service users develop a ‘life worth living’. The team place an emphasis on increasing safety, and building a resilient, innovative and well-supported workforce.
The many positive outcomes of this approach have included reduced rates of suicide and high risk behaviours, reduced hospital admissions and length of stay, and reduced contact with other services such as A&E, crisis teams or the police.
After being announced as a finalist in early September following a rigorous shortlisting process, the Personality Disorder Hub team presented to a judging panel of senior and influential figures from the health sector who made the final decision.
The team’s HSJ Awards success comes after they were awarded the Clinical Team of the Year prize in NTW’s own annual Staff Excellence Awards earlier this year. The Hub has also received several visits from other NHS Trusts asking about its approach, and is preparing to publish a book about one of its treatment approaches.
HSJ editor Alastair McLellan said: “Congratulations to NTW on winning the Patient Safety award in the face of stiff competition from other entrants. In this historic year for the NHS we were inundated with applications demonstrating continued determination to deliver first class healthcare, harnessing the latest innovations while ensuring value for money. NTW’s Personality Disorder Hub impressed our judging panel with evidence of their enduring commitment to excellence in healthcare.”
The most coveted accolade in UK healthcare, the HSJ Awards is the largest annual benchmarking and recognition programme for the health sector. The finalists and winners represent the best in healthcare excellence.
The HSJ Awards celebrate those who continue to innovate and drive forward improvements in healthcare, delivering quality outcomes for patients, while ensuring the best in value and effectiveness.
More information on the Personality Disorder Hub team’s award entry can be found at: https://www.hsj.co.uk/the-hsj-awards/hsj-awards-2018-patient-safety/7023849.article
The full list of 2018’s winners can be found at: https://awards.hsj.co.uk/winners-2018.
For more information about the Personality Disorder Hub please click here.