Alliances with experts from around the world are helping the NHS in the North of England make big improvements in all kinds of healthcare.
Throughout the North of England, work with hospitals and community health organisations in nations from Switzerland to Zambia have resulted in a huge range of improvements:
· A new electronic information system, coupled with an Advanced Training Programme developed in partnership with a Utah community health service, has reduced time spent in hospital from more than 12 hours to less than two and a half hours for Trafford patients assessed for DVT. The programme is now being rolled out to the NHS nationwide.
· A partnership with John Hopkins International Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, which for 20 years has been voted America’s safest hospital, has helped Aintree University Hospitals NHS Trust save 300 additional lives, and resulted in a 20% reduction in patient harms.
· Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals’ work with Stanford University began back in 1996, with the Yorkshire hospital learning more about the then-new intensity-modulated radiotherapy technique (IMRT). The English hospital introduced the technique in 2002, and the simulation-training programme they developed together with Stanford is now used around the world.
· Learning from Jönköping County Council in Sweden has helped Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust place improvement and innovation at the centre of everything it does, resulting in £4.7 million savings.
· New management systems at the North East Ambulance Service and North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust are derived from the Toyota Production System, with the help of the Virginia Mason Healthcare Institute, which first adapted the carmaker’s processes for healthcare settings. The system easily identifies and reduces waste, helps redesign services, and assesses the impact on other parts of the system from any proposed new practices.
At a conference attended by clinical and executive leaders from throughout the North of England to share and celebrate the best of international working, Professor Stephen Singleton OBE, Medical Director for NHS North of England said: “Technology is constantly making it easier and cheaper to work closely with people from all over the world.
“Healthcare techniques, management systems and health programmes are developing all the time, and to get the very best out of the NHS we need to draw on the very best from around the world. International alliances allow healthcare organisations all over the globe learn from one another, and become more than the sum of their parts.
“We have already seen some fantastic results, and by exploring these opportunities further, we can see many more.”
Notes to Editors:
The attached photograph shows Professor Stephen Singleton OBE, at the conference.
For further information contact:
Carl Jessop
NHS Yorkshire and the Humber, part of NHS North of England
0113 2952111
1. NHS North of England brings together NHS North East, NHS North West and NHS Yorkshire and the Humber. It is one of four Strategic Health Authority clusters across England.
2. The NHS North of England region covers 126 NHS organisations, 50 Local Authorities, and provides health and social care to over 14.7million residents.
3. The role of NHS North of England is to ensure the delivery of safe, high-quality services with excellent patient experience and strong clinical outcomes during organisational changes in the NHS.
