Following an intensive judging process, Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) won the ‘Freedom To Speak Up Organisation of the Year’ accolade at this year’s Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards.
More than 1600 healthcare professionals gathered at Battersea Evolution Centre, London, for the (HSJ) Awards where there were more than 1000 entries, resulting in 160 finalists in 23 categories.
The Trust’s Freedom To Speak Up and Culture Team worked with other RDaSH staff and took an inclusive approach to promote and develop a ‘speak up’ culture across all teams in Rotherham, Doncaster and North Lincolnshire.
The award recognises the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire based NHS Trust’s outstanding contribution to healthcare; their ambition, visionary spirit and clearly defined positive impact on patient care and staff experiences were key reasons for their success.
Dr Judith Graham, RDaSH Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, said: “We are delighted to have won this award. It means a great deal for all our staff to be recognised in this way and we are confident that the positive impact of this award will help to create a long-lasting legacy.”
Kathryn Singh, RDaSH Chief Executive, said: “Receiving this national recognition demonstrates our commitment to continuing to provide high quality and safe care and I want to say thank you to everyone involved.”
HSJ editor Alistair McLellan, who hosted the awards ceremony, said: “Congratulations to RDaSH on winning this award. The entrants this year have been of incredible calibre, and each of the winners has been chosen based on their outstanding commitment to excellence in healthcare. The high quality and quantity of entrants in 2019 posed a challenge to our influential judging panel, who were impressed by the breadth of applications demonstrating significant improvements to patient care and staff support. We know that RDaSH is not alone in fostering a culture of excellence and hope that this award win will be a source of inspiration for like-minded teams across the country.”
This is the second national award that RDaSH has won in as many weeks. Its Grounded Research team picked up a Nursing Times Award in the Clinical Research Nursing category for their work to increase access to research for patients and carers, for the work with patient research ambassadors and for opening a clinical community research hub.