In case you missed it last Thursday - great news for our colleagues in The Health Informatics Service (THIS), who have been revealed as finalists in a whopping four categories of the HSJ Digital Awards 2023.

Two of the categories are linked to the work that THIS colleagues have supported alongside Nurse Consultant for Learning Disabilities, Amanda Mckie.

The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted several of the inequalities in health outcomes, experience and access, so the Reducing Health Inequalities Through Digital and Generating Impact in Population Health Through categories recognise the work to prioritise waiting lists, specifically for our learning disability patients – which resulted in them all being prioritised, with none left waiting for treatment or care.

The Supporting Elective Recovery Through Digital nomination came about from the work the EPR team did to build information in Cerner to support the prioritisation of waiting lists – and is no doubt part of the reason we were recently accredited as one of eight surgical hubs in the UK.

And the fourth category Optimising Clinical Pathways Through Digital, showcases the work to link Cerner EPR to the Pharmacy EMIS system. It’s saved roughly 59 days a year for the pharmacy team who no longer need to follow a manual process, it’s easier for our nursing teams and there are fewer transcription errors.

Chief Digital and Information Officer, Rob Birkett, found out about the finals on his holidays and said: “Being shortlisted in so many categories demonstrates the huge contribution that The Heath Informatics Service can bring to healthcare improvements for both patients and colleagues.

“To see our hard-working colleagues get this acknowledgment from such a prestigious awards programme is absolutely deserved, and I’m sure the colleagues they’ve worked with throughout CHFT will agree.

“The exposure from the HSJ Digital Awards programme will allow us to continue to share our success and learning with other NHS Trusts, and we’re looking forward to celebrating the finals on the 22 June. Let’s hope we can bring all four awards back to CHFT!”

There were 314 entries in total for this year’s awards, from across 120 organisations.  The high volume – and exceptional quality – of applications reflects the breadth of innovation and care across the UK’s health and care systems.

Pictured back row left to right: Calum MacIver, James (Jim) Harris, Julian Bates and Peter Howson. Front row: Matthew Griffiths, Amanda Mckie and Michelle Smith

Colleagues who also contributed, but aren’t pictured include: Neil Staniforth, Shirley Haywood, Ian Holloway, Rob Cox, CHFT Pharmacy team, Philip Hughes, Katharine Fletcher, Katy Goodall and Alix Pilling.