Anita Smith, Consultant Speech and Language Therapist for the Trust has won a major UK award for her work to introduce a One Stop Swallow Disorder Clinic which has reduced treatment time from 24 to 5 weeks and improved patient safety and satisfaction.
Anita won the Advancing Practice Award for Collaborative Work, part of the prestigious Advancing Healthcare awards programme. Anita collected the award with fellow Speech and Language Therapist Karen McInally.
Anita Smith, Consultant Speech and Language Therapist (second right) and Karen McInally, Speech and Language Therapist (second left) at the awards ceremony
The judges commented: “The team saw the vision for the future and transformed the service so that instead of the patient needing to attend five appointments, they had simply to attend one clinic. Already this is being adopted elsewhere.”
Anita Smith, Consultant Speech and Language Therapist, said: “I am delighted our One Stop Swallow Disorder Clinic has been recognised with a national award for the improvements it has made to patient care, safety and experience. This shows how different professional groups working together can really make a difference. We have significantly reduced waiting times and the number of appointments that patients have traditionally attended to get answers to their difficulties. Our patients tell us they have benefited from the clinic and it gives us great satisfaction to provide an excellent service, a win-win all round.”
Karen Poole, Interim Allied Health Professional Lead, said: “Congratulations to Anita and her colleagues in the One Stop Swallow Disorder Clinic for the award. It is recognition of the tremendous innovative work being undertaken here in East Sussex and the progress we are making as an organisation to develop services for local people.”
The Trust was the only one in the country to have been shortlisted for two of the Advancing Healthcare Awards.