Life-saving physios nominated for HSJ awards

The Children’s Community Respiratory Physiotherapy Team, including Rapid Response, at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, is in the running for two honours - Respiratory Care Initiative of the Year and Paediatric Care Initiative of the Year.

The team supports children with complex neuro-disabilities and severe respiratory difficulties, providing specialist, rapid assessment and treatment in the community.

The children they work with have life-limiting conditions and are at risk of life-threatening chest infections. The team has been recognised for their work to improve quality of life, reduce hospital admissions and emergency department attendances, and reduce the lengths of stays in hospital.

Continuous positive airway pressure

Meanwhile, a team at Bradford Royal Infirmary, part of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, has been nominated for the HSJ’s Post-Covid Sustainable Transformation Award.

Over the last year, the team has used continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy to treat and save the lives of hundreds of patients on its Covid-19 wards. This is a treatment where a stream of oxygenated air is delivered into the airways through a mask and a tube.

Tom Lawton, an ICU anaesthetist at the trust, nominated the team.

He said: ‘The idea behind the project was to prevent ICU from being overwhelmed with patients and so we looked at stepping up the provision of CPAP therapy on the wards.

This is a relatively complicated treatment, but the physiotherapists stepped in and supported nursing staff with teaching and training around how it was delivered

Specialist respiratory physiotherapist Liz Newton led the project along with fellow physiotherapist, Karen Boden.

Ms Boden said: ‘We started out with seven of us delivering the CPAP therapy and ended up with a team of 17.

‘The respiratory physiotherapists were joined by the MSK physiotherapists. Everyone was keen to help so it has truly been a team effort.

Obviously there have been times of great sadness but it has been exhilarating to see people made better through the use of CPAP and to see them go home

‘It is lovely to be recognised by this nomination and I feel very privileged to have worked with such dedicated colleagues and know that we have saved so many lives.’

More than 2,600 Covid patients were successfully treated at the hospital, including hundreds who received CPAP.

A historically challenging year

HSJ editor Alastair McLellan said: ‘This year’s finalists have not only contributed to the continued fight against the Covid-19 pandemic within the NHS but have also been exceptionally dedicated to enhancing healthcare across the UK.

‘We are honoured to be recognising and celebrating their outstanding work after what is, no doubt, the most challenging year in the history of the NHS.’

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in June.

More information on the awards can be found here