National recognition for Dudley Group anaesthetics

Anaesthetists at Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust have been recognised for providing the highest quality care to their patients by achieving the prestigious Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) from the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA).

ACSA promotes quality improvement and the highest standards of anaesthetic service. To receive accreditation, departments demonstrate high standards in areas such as patient experience, patient safety and clinical leadership, meeting 100% in all areas.

It means patients at The Dudley Group can be assured they are receiving outstanding service. Dudley is the first Trust in the West Midlands to become accredited, and only the 33rd in the UK.

Dr Adrian Jennings, ACSA lead for The Dudley Group, said: “In challenging times for the NHS and NHS staff, ACSA has given us something very positive to pursue.

“It offered an opportunity to galvanise the department towards a shared goal, generating some positive feedback and reward.

“Finally achieving ACSA has been an amazing success for the Trust and we all feel immensely proud. We have had lots of congratulations from colleagues across the Trust.

“We can now clearly evidence our care is of a high standard and hope this will bring further benefits in terms of recruitment and staff retention’.

Trust chief executive Diane Wake said: “We are delighted that the hard work of this team to provide the best possible care for patients has been recognised. It’s great news for people coming in to our Trust for operations, which can naturally be a worrying time. This shows how much care we put in to looking after them at every stage.”

Professor Ravi Mahajan, President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, said:  “I would like to offer my personal congratulations to the entire anaesthetic department on achieving ACSA accreditation. It is richly deserved and demonstrates their commitment to providing the best possible care for their patients.

“Patient engagement is a key focus of what we do as a medical Royal College and it was impressive to see the integration of services from doctors to support staff developing and enhancing the quality of care they provide across the hospital.

“As well as meeting the standards, the department demonstrated many areas of excellent innovative practice that have now been highlighted for sharing throughout the ACSA network.”

Dr Kate Glennon, ACSA lead reviewer, added: “Heartfelt congratulations go to this hardworking team of doctors and support staff and services.

“Some notable areas included the imaginative use of IT systems to improve process and the patient journey, the familiarisation of staff to the department and particularly remote site anaesthesia and the complete overhaul of the pre-operative pathway.

“The high regard afforded by the rest of the hospital for the anaesthetic body was evident throughout the visit. There is much excellent practice to commend Dudley for, and to share with others.”