Award-winning patient-centred care

Our Day of Surgery Admission (DOSA) teams across the clinical group have recently been awarded for their work to transform patient care.

The DOSA team at Harefield Hospital won Cardiac Team of the Year at the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Great Britain and Ireland for their commitment to improving how patients are admitted for cardiac surgery. Approximately 90% of cardiac surgery patients are now admitted through the DOSA pathway, giving Harefield one of the highest DOSA admission rates in the country.

Meanwhile, the team on Evan Jones Ward at St Thomas’ won the Trust’s first Future Ready Award for transforming two inpatient beds into four DOSA lounge chairs. The award marks the culmination of two years of work led by Paul Randall, deputy director of nursing at Guy’s and St Thomas and Matthew Parkin, deputy head of nursing for the cardiovascular directorate.

Inspired by the success of the Harefield DOSA service, they identified an opportunity to introduce a similar model for cardiovascular patients at St Thomas’ - an analysis showed that around 1,600 cardiovascular patients each year could be managed through a DOSA pathway, potentially releasing 1,600 bed days. The DOSA service was launched in April and has capacity for up to 40 patients a week; the team has already cared for 36 patients in a single week, making a significant contribution to patient flow across St Thomas’.