Team WAST announced as Digital Health Award finalist
THE WELSH Ambulance Service announced as finalists in prestigious nursing awards ceremony.
The Emergency Communication Nurse System (ECNS) implementation team, which comprises of multiple disciplines across the organisation, including ICT colleagues, Project and Planning, Quality Safety Patient Experience, Operations, Finance, Clinical and Communications were awarded a grant of £2500 after being announced as finalists in the Burdett Nursing Awards 2023.
The ECNS team were nominated for the award by Dr Mike Brady, Consultant Paramedic for NHS 111 Wales, after the team implemented a new digital 999 clinical decision support software to clinical contact centres in Wales.
He said: “The implementation of the new system has dramatically modernised and made the method of remote consultation safer.
“The team has introduced further technology, enabling care through video consultation and Computer-Aided Dispatch integration, and improved how clinicians are audited, tutored, and feedback is developed and delivered to staff through further digitally enabled themes, trends and threshold reports.
“Whilst the team was multidisciplinary, I wanted to call out the role nursing played in its success specifically.
“Most, if not all ambulance services learned how to undertake remote consultation from the nursing profession – many having learned from the well-established NHS Direct Service.
“People do not always automatically think about nursing when referring to 999 call centres or ambulance services; however, nurses continue to play an ever-increasingly critical role in the success of UK ambulance services.
“The nomination was one way to call out and recognise their unique and ongoing contribution to the ambulance service in Wales.”
The £2500 will be used to purchase new equipment to enable the Clinical Support Desk to create more immersive continuing professional development opportunities, utilising simulation and mixed media to deliver education specific training to aid remote clinical decision making.
Ellen Edwards, Clinical Support Desk Senior Professional Practice Educator, said: “The team were honoured to be named as a finalist in the Burdett Nursing Awards.
“These awards showcase the best nurse lead projects in the UK and for the WAST ECNS implementation team to be included in this, is phenomenal.
“It was so great to have the opportunity to showcase the amazing role nurses play in pre-hospital care, alongside paramedics, and also how the Clinical Support Desk are delivering high quality, evidence-based care for the people of Wales.”
The Burdett Nursing Awards 2023 were announced at a prestigious event that took place at the Waldorf Hotel in London and rewarded nursing teams for their sustained commitment to providing high-quality care.
Editor’s Notes
For more information, please call Communications Officer Beth Eales on 07870 383209 or email Beth.Eales@wales.nhs.uk