Our Children’s Directorate is celebrating after being the first Paediatric service in the UK to be awarded the CHKS* accreditation. Official confirmation came recently after our inspection in April, and the accreditation is good until April 2021.

This means the way in which we deliver our services, and the processes and standards behind them, meet internationally-recognised best practice requirements for delivering outstanding services for children, young people and their families.

Achieving the accreditation demonstrates our commitment to delivering consistently high quality healthcare services, which in turn benefit children young and their families.

Examples of what the inspectors highlighted as good practice include:

  • 12 steps to theatre. Supporting the child and their family, by demystifying the different steps in a child’s journey to theatre for an operation.
  • Creating a new teenage room. We’re making sure we have the facilities not only for children who find themselves in hospital, but for teenagers too
  • We created a You Tube video with young actors looking at what happens in hospital through the eyes of children  https://youtu.be/yCveznVct24

Assistant Director of Quality and Safety, Anne Marie Henshaw,  at CHFT, said: "This is a real achievement for us and we are incredibly proud, particularly as at the time we were inspected, we were the first Children’s service to participate in this quality assurance programme. The accreditation is recognition of our aim to make a real difference to both the children in our care and their families”.

And  Associate Director, Assurance and Accreditation, Moyra Amess, CHKS said: “The accreditation process requires dedication and commitment. Every organisation we make this award to has proved to our external assessors that its standards and process meet international best practice standards. This is a significant achievement.”