Kelly McGovern and James Thomas
West Herts Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is sharing its expertise with hospitals from across England by inviting them in to see first hand how they have delivered significant improvements in patient care and eliminated corridor care.
Staff at Watford General Hospital have welcomed teams from 25 Trusts in recent months to tour the hospital and hear from frontline staff about how they have successfully tackled A&E waiting times and hospital flow problems over the last few years.
In the latest visit last week, 13 Trusts came to Watford General to learn how West Herts had gone from being right near the bottom of the A&E league tables to constantly being in the Top 5, and eliminating corroder care.
The visitors toured the hospital's Emergency Department (ED), meeting consultants and nurses, as well as being shown around some of wards and clinical areas at West Herts.
Visitors also had the opportunity to see how data analysis has played a big part in their turnaround success, with the Trust's dedicated control room providing real time data on patient and bed availability.
The hope is that other Trusts will be able to adopt some of the practices West Herts have implemented and learn from their approach. Teams from West Herts will also head to other Trusts to learn from them about how and where they have made progress.
West Herts' Chief Nurse Kelly McGovern described the success of the event, saying: "It was fantastic to share our experiences, learning and expertise with so many Trusts.
"We want to support other organisations to eliminate corridor care and improve patient flow by sharing what we’ve learnt over the years – both good and bad.
"The NHS is one organisation and we’re all motivated by the same goal of doing everything we can to improve for our patients."
Jennifer Francis who is Head of Nursing at Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals said: "What really resonated with me today was the care and compassion in the teams. I spent a lot of time talking to the nursing team, and the matrons, and how the care and quality of care that they want to still provide their patients has been their focus for them."