WINNER

Northern Care Alliance

Strength in Partnership: A Salford‑Wide Nutrition & Hydration Approach to Preventing Frailty

In Salford, frailty prevalence among people aged 65+ is significant, with dehydration, malnutrition risk, falls, AKI, UTI’s and avoidable admissions all contributing to harm, prolonged length of stay, and poorer outcomes. Frontline feedback highlighted variation in N&H practice across settings and inconsistent use of MUST screening and care plans. The Salford Frailty Prevention Partnership (Acute, Community, primary care networks, Care Homes, Social Care, VCSE, Pharmacists, and Lived Experience representatives) co-designed and rolled out a unified Nutrition & Hydration Safety Programme to reduce harm by standardising early identification and consistent, person-centred support.

Read a detailed case study about this project at HSJ Best Practice.

Highly commended

Kidney Quality Improvement Partnership: Sustaining Improvement in Shared Haemodialysis Care – Daylife Mentoring Programme

Finalists

University Hospitals Birmingham FT: Chief Nurse Scholars, Digital Scholars and Fellows Programme

Gloucestershire Hospitals FT: Growing Safety From the Ground Up: Developing a Network of Patient Safety Associates

Immuno-Oncology Clinical Network: From Awareness to Action: Transforming Patient Safety Through Global Immunotherapy Education

Barts Health Trust: From Simulation to Safety: A Trust-Wide Human Factors Programme Co-Designed with Patients

Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care FT: Community QI Essentials Programme

Midlands Partnership University FT: Training on Neurodiversity in Health & Justice Services

University of Birmingham and NHS England: SCRIPT SafePrescriber

Topics

HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2026: Winners revealed

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The winners of the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2026 were announced last night, recognising outstanding efforts to make care safer.