The Department of Anaesthesia at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised for providing the highest quality care to patients, after formally being reaccredited with the Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) by the Royal College of Anaesthetists.
A benchmark in quality, the Trust received the prestigious award as a result of a painstaking process, in excess of 18 months, undertaken by the Department of Anaesthesia and Theatres, and the Trust’s ACSA lead for this cycle of reaccreditation, Dr Phillippa Shorrock, Consultant Anaesthetist with Special Interest in Obstetric and Paediatric Anaesthesia.
Dr Shorrock, with the support of her clinical director Dr Alison Waite, and alongside her fellow Associate clinical directors, spent that time driving the changes required to maintain accreditation, with the ACSA standards also aligning with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) mandate, sought as a seal of approval when accrediting Elective Surgical Hubs by the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme.
Dr Shorrock said: “It’s been a long slog, but I hope it is a standard of pride and a feather in the cap of the Department of Anaesthesia and Theatres here at LTHTR."
ACSA is the Royal College of Anaesthetists’ peer-reviewed scheme that promotes quality improvement and the highest standards of anaesthetic service. To receive accreditation, departments are expected to demonstrate a high standard in areas such as patient experience, patient safety and clinical leadership.
The reaccreditation lasts for three years, with a further visit from ACSA to follow after that time, but the Trust are required to submit annual self-assessments, making it is imperative to drive forward the improvements put in place.
Dr Shorrock added: “The Department of Anaesthesia and Theatres at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals is the largest Clinical Business Unit in the Trust, and our initial ACSA accreditation allowed benchmarking of our services and ensured our status as a safe and effective department that we could all, as anaesthetists and theatre practitioners, be proud of.
“Our re-accreditation process took place when morale, wellness and staffing were understandably stretched due to COVID, but re-accreditation gave us an opportunity to reset, re-evaluate and recalibrate.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and I don’t think there is an ACSA lead that wouldn’t agree that the process is challenging, and, at times, feels like a mammoth mountain to climb, but at its core, achieving reaccreditation is a sign of quality assurance, safety and service improvement. It has provided an opportunity for change and transformation that has consequently cultivated growth in our department and pride in what we have achieved together.”
The Trust is one of approximately 25 in the country that have gone through the ACSA process twice and been formally reaccredited. The process is extremely wide-ranging, with a plethora of standards created from the guidelines for provision of anaesthetic services, linking with all the processes of care which relate to anaesthesia, pre-op assessment, management of emergencies, elective surgery, anaesthesia work within critical care or the emergency department and the delivery suite.
Professor Andrew Smith, a member of the RCOA Council and also a Consultant Anaesthetist at Lancaster Infirmary, was present to formally award the Anaesthetic Department with their ACSA plaques, and he said: “Although it is about meeting a whole list of standards, this accreditation can’t happen without everyone taking part - if people don’t work together as part of the process, it’s not going to happen.
“The fact you have been reaccredited says your department really does work together, which you can be particularly proud of.
“Everything works well across the Trust’s sites, and there is great attention given to patients with particular needs, such as children, and access to care is really important. If your department is good, it lifts the whole Trust, and your reaccreditation demonstrates your work is of a high standard. Congratulations!"
Pictures: Trust colleagues celebrate the Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) reaccreditation by the Royal College of Anaesthetists with Professor Andrew Smith, a member of the RCOA Council; The celebration was marked by a special cake and refreshments.
