South Sefton health commissioners came away with a top accolade from the 2017 North West Coast Research and Innovation Awards.

The work of NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on its Care Home Innovation Programme (CHIP) won the Best System Improvement award for its joined up approach.

The use of telehealth in most nursing homes in south Sefton avoids many residents having to be transferred to hospital should they become unwell. Since its launch it has also achieved over 30% reduction in both category 999 calls and related ambulance conveyances.

Dr Debbie Harvey, Macmillan GP and lead for the CHIP programme at NHS South Sefton CCG, said: “We are thrilled to have won the award for the care home programme, we have worked extremely hard to build it up and it is great to now see the results coming through and to be recognised for this with this award.

“It’s so important to us that people are given the best quality of care possible and with so many members of staff involved and providers, it is vital that we communicate with one another to improve services and shape care around each patient.”

The CHIP programme is also used as a shining example of integrated care for older people with frailty on page 26 of a recent report by the Royal College of GPs which can be viewed here: www.bgs.org.uk/pdfs/2016_rcgp_bgs_integration.pdf.

Jacqueline Pirmohamed, chief operating officer of the National Institute for Health Research – Clinical Research Network North West Coast, added: “This event was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the region’s achievements and success relating to research and innovation. Over 30,000 people took part in clinical research studies last year across NHS organisations on the North West Coast.

“I would like to say thank you to all of our 42 partner organisations who contributed to this, a number of whom were commended as part of the NWC Research and Innovation Awards 2017. Most importantly, this event was about the many patients and other individuals across the region who have given up their valuable time, at challenging times in their lives, to benefit our understanding of disease and its treatment. The awards ceremony was an opportunity to showcase what a difference their contribution has made to delivery of healthcare in this region.”

This year, over 120 entries were submitted across 15 different categories and the winners were announced at an event held at the Hilton Liverpool Hotel on 9 February which was hosted by medical journalist and broadcaster, Lawrence McGinty.

The awards were aimed at a variety of stakeholders including NHS and academic organisations, local authorities, charities and businesses. The aim was to celebrate success for the excellent work being undertaken across the region in clinical research and innovation in health.

For more information about the different categories and to view the full list of shortlisted entrants and winners, please visit www.nwcawards.co.uk

The North West Coast Research and Innovation Awards is a collaboration between the Innovation Agency, (the Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast), the NIHR Clinical Research Network North West Coast; and NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care North West Coast (CLAHRC NWC).