Patient Safety Awards 2016: Board Leadership

Winner: Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust

Five years ago Surrey and Sussex Healthcare was a failing organisation. A new chair, trust board and executive team chose a new and stronger cohort of clinical leaders and started a journey of improvement.

Every board meeting hears directly from patients and relatives with their stories used to learn lessons

Today, Trust is rated “good” by the Care Quality Commission in all five domains and has one of the best CQC risk profiles. It’s a place where people are proud to work and where the board members measure their performance against standards expected of them.

Every board meeting hears directly from patients and relatives with their stories used to learn lessons. The quality and safety committee regularly asks clinical teams to present their work and ideas.

The judges said: “This was a difficult category to judge as there was a really high standard. Our winner was selected due to the huge and significant journey of improvement created by strong values and impressive leadership.”

Highly commended: Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Foundation Trust