The AHSN Network celebrated a win at the prestigious HSJ Awards ceremony in London on 18 November.

The AHSN Network was successful in the patient safety category for the significant support Patient Safety Collaboratives and AHSNs, including Health Innovation Manchester, provided to implement COVID Oximetry @home and virtual wards. The programme was delivered in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHS Digital and NHSX, and helped thousands of people most at risk from COVID-19 to be safely supported at home, through remote self-monitoring of their oxygen saturation levels.

The judges said: “This was an outstanding example of a true system wide collaboration. This project not only touched the UK but positively impacted people’s lives across the world. The outcomes were positively overwhelming in relation to lives saved, bed day reduction and early admissions which improved mortality and morbidity rates. It was clear that this approach contributed heavily to the prevention of the NHS becoming overwhelmed during the pandemic. The patient testimonial demonstrated the real impact to individuals and added value to the presentation coupled with the passion and authenticity of the presenters.”

Cheryl Crocker, AHSN Network Patient Safety Director, said: “We entered this award to showcase the extraordinary achievement of multiple partners, supported by regional Patient Safety Collaboratives, who came together to respond to the pandemic and keep patients safe. This national programme is estimated to have benefitted in excess of 40,000 people.”

Natasha Swinscoe, Chief Officer at West of England AHSN and national patient safety lead for the AHSN Network said: “We are delighted to receive this award on behalf of all our partners, frontline staff and patients. The AHSN Network was proud to lead the rapid implementation of the COVID Oximetry @home and COVID virtual ward programmes during the coronavirus pandemic. Success would not have been possible without our partners NHSX, NHS Digital and sponsors NHS England and NHS Improvement, who fully supported this innovative and novel pathway of care. This award recognises collaborative working across health and care systems and we share this with NHS England and NHS Improvement, particularly the NHS@home team, regional and local CCG teams, NHSX, NHS Digital, our Patient Safety Collaboratives and clinical leads. Learning from this innovative pathway has led to the development of other pathways such as a blood pressure at home initiative, part of our cardiovascular disease management portfolio of programmes in the AHSN Network.”

Find out more how Health Innovation Manchester supported the COVID Oximetry @home and virtual wards programme in Greater Manchester and East Cheshire.

Health Innovation Manchester was also shortlisted for the Connecting Services and Information award in recognition of the digital smokefree pregnancy platform work. HInM worked with Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership to develop the digital platform to support specialist midwives working on the Greater Manchester Smokefree Pregnancy Programme. The platform aims to reduce the amount of time spent inputting and collating data, creating more time for midwives to provide care.