St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust anaesthetists rewarded for high quality patient care

Anaesthetists at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust have been re-accredited under the prestigious Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) demonstrating their commitment to patient safety and excellence of care.

ACSA is the RCoA’s peer-reviewed scheme that promotes quality improvement and the highest standards of anaesthetic service. To receive accreditation, departments are expected to demonstrate high standards in areas such as patient experience, patient safety and clinical leadership.

Rowan Pritchard Jones, Medical Director at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: 

“We are absolutely delighted to see the anaesthetic service at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust once again recognised by the Royal College of Anaesthetists. To achieve accreditation in the first place is a great accomplishment, to maintain those excellent standards is extremely impressive and a testament to the commitment and hard work of all staff in the department. It is richly deserved.”

Dr Fiona Donald, President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, said:

“It is very impressive to see the commitment and approach of the whole department to sustaining their standards and being re-accredited. They have demonstrated their ability and passion for providing the best possible care for their patients.

“Patient safety is at the heart of what we do as a Medical Royal College. The quality improvement demonstrated during the accreditation process has helped the department manage the immense tasks presented to them by COVID-19 and the resumption of normal services.

“It was impressive to see the innovative practices taking place at the hospital, and the excellent commitment from all staff during the process. As well as meeting the standards, the department demonstrated many areas of excellent advanced practice that have now been highlighted for sharing through the ACSA network.”

Dr Sade Okutubo, Lead ACSA Reviewer said:  

“Congratulations to St Helen and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on their re-accreditation. The review team were impressed by the full engagement with the process observed from the entire clinical and management team. It was very heartening to see ACSA accreditation status celebrated across the entire Trust. St Helens and Knowsley demonstrated a clear commitment to continuous development and delivery of the highest quality patient care across its anaesthetic service.”