Trust brings home two prestigious Digital innovation Awards

The Health Service Journal (HSJ) Digital awards ceremony held on Thursday 6 June 2024 in Manchester celebrates the outstanding contributions of staff and organisations working to improve patient care through innovations and digital technology. We are delighted to share that our Trust won the award in one category and received a Highly Commended award in a second category.

Our Neurodiversity diagnostic team and The Owl Therapy Centre have been awarded the Optimising Clinical Pathways through Digital Award for their Hybrid Neurodiversity Assessments project. This award recognises digitally-driven care pathways and where work in this area improves outcomes for patients, whilst also saving time for clinical and administrative teams.

The Hybrid Neurodiversity Assessments project was exemplar of this award’s criteria, thanks to how it acknowledges the high numbers of neurodevelopmental referrals for young people across NHS organisations. In response to this, the team developed new ways of working to effectively deal with this at a local level. Working in partnership with parents, the independent sector, and the Owl Therapy Centre, the team produced a unique digital diagnostic pathway which enabled paediatric autism assessments to be completed within our local communities.

Judges noted this project was an exemplary partnership that was clearly working to ensure that no child would be left behind.

Michelle Field, Neuro Diversity Transformation Lead at our Trust said, “To be recognised in this way for our work on Hybrid Neurodiversity Assessments is testament to the exceptional hard work and dedication of our neurodiversity diagnostic team. When developing and embedding the hybrid assessment model, the team demonstrated partnership working at its best, as well as essential innovative practice, which allowed us to face the unprecedented demand and continue to provide high standards of care to young people and their families locally.”

The Yorkshire & Humber Care Record (YHCR) was also Highly Commended in the Digital Clinical Safety Award. This category highlights where digital technologies are enhancing safety by ensuring that critical information is provided not only in a timely way, but also making them more efficient and reducing the risk for errors. The highly commended project showcased the importance of clinical risk management and safety culture, whilst optimising integration into regional Shared Care Records across Yorkshire and the Humber.

Lee Rickles, CIO at our Trust, said, “This is fantastic recognition of the team’s ongoing dedication to developing technologies and processes, which, in turn, support a variety of health and social care organisations to maintain high levels of quality care and patient safety. I’d like to congratulate everyone involved for their continued collaborative efforts and hard work.”

Michele Moran, our Chief Executive, said, “What a night, we are absolutely delighted to have been awarded two accolades at the HSJ Digital Awards. It truly recognises the diversity of innovation taking place across our Trust. Congratulations to our teams, and to all the other winners on the night”.