Sarah Willis’ improvement project wins Patient Safety Award at Clinical Audit Heroes Awards
Last week, Sarah Willis, Advanced Neonatal Occupational Therapist, was announced as the winner in the Patient Safety category of the Clinical Audit Heroes Awards, for leading a project that introduced therapeutic input to neonatal care at George Elliot Hospital.
The improvement project specifically focussed on improving positioning practices within CWPT's services to increase the effectiveness of neonatal care. Sarah undertook the project in George Elliot Hospital's Special Care Baby Unit, where she introduced developmental therapy for the first time in the service. Therapeutic positioning involves placing babies in different positions to support development. Through regular audits and training of staff, the need for major repositioning in neonatal patients was reduced from 100% in the first months to 0% in month 9 of the project.
Sarah presented her quality improvement project at the national online lunch and learn event, as part of National Clinical Audit Awareness Week.
Upon winning, Sarah said: It is always lovely to have your hard work recognised, especially at a national level. This award created a good opportunity to look back at just how far we've come in CWPT in providing care for neonates within allied health professions.
The Improvement Team added: It's been inspiring to see how this project has transformed neonatal care by embedding safe, therapeutic positioning into everyday practice. As a team, we're privileged to have supported a change that's made such a lasting difference for babies, families and staff across the region. We're beyond proud of Sarah for her dedication to the project and pleased to see her recognised on a national level for her positive improvement work.
Congratulations to Sarah, and all of those involved in rolling out the project!