Three teams shortlisted for NHS Wales Awards 2024

25 June 2024

Three Health Board teams have been shortlisted for this year’s prestigious NHS Wales Awards.

The Welsh Language Team have been shortlisted in the NHS Wales Equitable Care Award category for their work promoting bilingual services on hospital wards.

Their Welsh Language Choice Scheme gives staff the tools to identify patients and visitors who prefer to communicate in Welsh.

Upon arriving to inpatient care in the hospitals, patients are asked what language they prefer to communicate in. Orange magnets and stickers are then used in patients’ notes and on bedside boards to help identify people who would prefer to talk in Welsh.

Eleri Hughes Jones, Head of Welsh Language Services at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “We are delighted to be shortlisted for this award. The scheme was put in place to actively offer services to patients in their language of choice, and it has led to normalising language appropriate care across the Health Board. It is encouraging that the efforts of staff to bring this scheme to fruition is being acknowledged and commended on a national level.”

Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeons, Mr Edwin Jesudason from Ysbyty Gwynedd and Mr Preetham Kodumuri from Wrexham Maelor Hospital have been shortlisted in the NHS Wales Efficient Care Award category for their work to relocate minor day case surgeries to a dedicated outpatient area in the hospitals.

The Minor Operating Rooms have helped towards reducing the number of people waiting for hand surgery, which has grown considerably since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Preethan Kodumuri, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Wrexham Maelor Hospital said: “By moving minor hand surgical procedures outside main theatres, we have successfully increased theatre productivity, improved patient satisfaction, reduced waiting times within our orthopaedic department. We wish to thank the Bevan Commission and Centre for Sustainable Healthcare for their support."

Mr Edwin Jesudason, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Ysbyty Gwynedd, added: “It is a great honour for our team to be shortlisted for this award. Moving operations out of the theatre environment into an outpatient facility uses less resources, reduces stress our patients and improves productivity, without compromising patient safety. We have also demonstrated an enormous reduction in the carbon footprint of minor hand operations. This is helping us reduce waiting times”

“This is just the start of working towards a comprehensive decarbonisation strategy for surgical care in Wales, I’d like to thank many other colleagues who contributed to this important work, and to our local hospital Green groups for their support.”

A joint initiative between the Health Board, Public Health Wales and the charity Hepatitis C Trust is also nominated for the NHS Team Culture Award.

In a recent programme earlier this year, 100 per cent of prisoners were offered a test, 90 per cent of men were tested, and 90 per cent of those diagnosed with hepatitis C started treatment. This is known as micro-elimination, meaning that within a particular environment, in this case HMP Berwyn, certain requirements for hepatitis C testing and treatment have been reached.

This was achieved through making testing routine, with prisoners being offered a rapid test within days of arriving at the prison, and treatment being quickly provided for those who need it.

Elizabeth Hurry, Pharmacist at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: “Hepatitis C is easily cured by 8-12 weeks of oral treatment, and cure prevents future complications such as cirrhosis. For this reason we want to make sure that every single prisoner gets the chance to be tested and, where necessary, to be treated.

“This was a fantastic team effort from pharmacists, nurses, Hepatitis C Trust peers, Public Health Wales, and also involved prisoner peers. HMP Berwyn is the UK's largest prison so presented unique challenges. The team has worked tirelessly over the past few years educating to raise awareness and reduce stigma, and testing and treating using a streamlined pathway. We are very proud to have been shortlisted for this award."

The winners will be announced at the NHS Wales Awards 2024 ceremony on 24 October.