The Trust’s Moving and Handling Team is celebrating after scooping a national innovation award for improving its service throughout the pandemic.
Heather McKinlay and Carrie-Ann Squires picked up the award from the National Back Exchange (NBE) after switching to online mandatory training which has freed up their time for tailored sessions with individual pieces of equipment and to work with other clinicians on bespoke solutions for patients.
They were taken by surprise at ‘Back Together’ – the two-day NBE annual conference at the end of September – when their names were read out during an evening reception at the end of the first day.
Heather said: “When we signed up for the conference our new moving and handling specialist Lisa Allen nominated us. But we didn’t ever contemplate that we would win it. It wasn’t until they read our entry that we realised we had won the award – and it took a moment to sink in!
“That was an exciting moment and it’s given us a boost ever since.”
To make mandatory training more accessible, they created videos, picture guides and written resources as well as offering on-line sessions if required. Compliance has gone from 65% to 90%.
As well as improved engagement, the online resourced have freed up time to spend with clinical colleagues, either on individual pieces of equipment or working with their patients.
Heather added: “We recently carried out a great piece of joint working with an unusually complex case with the acute trust’s occupational therapists, physiotherapists and Moving and Enabling team and our own Integrated Community Teams to help discharge a patient back home.
“We were able to support the acute therapists with the knowledge of community equipment to ensure that the patient was discharge with the correct equipment, reducing the likelihood of readmission and improving their comfort at home.
“The case lead to a gap in knowledge and we’re now providing training to occupational therapist and physiotherapists within the acute trust to ensure they are kept up-to-date with moving and handling equipment supplied in the community and associated techniques and deliver this to the other therapists. This should help provide a timely and more effective discharge”
Heather and Carrie-Ann are also running small bespoke training sessions (for up to five colleagues) on slide sheets, pat slides and in-bed systems, powered and non-powered stand aids, hoists and slings and problem-solving.
Heather said: “Rather than spending time delivering the same training to everyone year on year, colleagues are able to practice the skills they need and with the equipment they use.
“Everyone always has access to moving and handling resources and so are more likely to use the correct techniques or equipment rather than needing to remember skills from a yearly update.
“Service delivery seems a lot more effective, and we’re really proud of that.”
