Awards reward teams' year of valued service.

Byline: By Jane Picken

Every year dedicated health and social care teams from across the North East are honoured for their work at the Strategic Health Authority's Innovation and Improvement Awards. Jane Picken went along this year to find out about the winning workers

From helping students with learning difficulties to developing services for people with sight problems, the Innovation and Improvement awards covered almost every area of patient care.

With awards for six categories up for grabs the competition was tough and this year's ceremony, held at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead on Thursday night, attracted 70 entries from teams across Northumberland, Tyne and Wear.

Organised for the third year by Northumberland, Tyne and Wear Strategic Health Authority, the awards recognise work carried out in hospitals and the community which delivers benefits for patients, families, carers and staff.

Before the awards got under way guests were entertained by Paralympic champion Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson's stories of her experiences both on the track and off as an athlete, mother and sports personality.

The first award of the evening, for Improving the Experiences of People Using NHS Services, went to the Gateshead Integrated Low Vision Service, run by Gateshead Primary Care Trust.

Working in partnership with Gateshead Council, Gateshead Sight Service and the RNIB, the service offers vision assessments, rehabilitation and support, reducing the need for people to use hospital-based eye facilities outside the area.

Improving the Experiences of Staff was the second award, and it went to the Nursing Skills Escalator, providing by Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust.

This project was introduced to provide work-related opportunities of learning to fit in with the changing face of modern nursing.

An award for Innovation and Learning went to a project run by Newcastle Primary Care Trust on teaching nursing and residential home care staff in basic management of swallowing problems.

The Trust's speech and language therapy team trained care home workers in practical skills and information on coping with patients who have difficulties in swallowing.

The fourth award of the evening was for Working as an Effective Team, and was handed to the Community Resource Team for Older People, run by Newcastle Primary Care Trust.

This project involves three community teams working together to tackle health and social issues among pensioners, with the aim of giving patients more independence to prevent avoidable hospital admissions.

The Improving Healthy Living Award went to a project run by City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust aimed at inclusion for students with profound learning disabilities.

Students work in a healthcare establishment and experience life beyond the special needs school environment. The final award of the evening, for Improving Quality and Effectiveness, went to the Independent Visitor Scheme, managed by the social care and health directorate at South Tyneside Council.

This scheme trains volunteers to visit care homes on a regular basis, where they discuss with residents how they feel about the services they are receiving.

Each winning team received pounds 3,000 to develop their work and share their good practice in the area.

Peter Carr, chairman of the Strategic Health Authority, said: "The winners represent the very best of the many improvements taking place in health and social care across Northumberland Tyne and Wear.

"Staff at all levels are finding new ways of working to provide better services and to respond to the needs and wishes of local people.

"They are managing to do this at the same time as meeting national requirements for improving the overall performance and standards of the NHS.

"Our local awards are held to recognise and reward some of this innovation and also to share good practice so that others can learn from it.

"Many of the applicants showed an extraordinary level of commitment and hard work from health and social care staff who go the extra mile to change systems and services from within to ensure the people using them benefit as much as possible."