Great Western Hospital staff are celebrating after winning the Infection Prevention and Control Award at the national HSJ Patient Safety Awards.

The award is for their work as part of the PreciSSIon Collaborative, which brings together all five hospital trusts in the region, supported by the West of England Academic Health Science Network.

GWH NHS Foundation Trust teamed up with Royal United Hospitals Bath, Gloucestershire Hospitals, North Bristol Trust, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston to work on the safety scheme, PreciSSIon.

PreciSSIon is helping to reduce surgery site infections following colorectal surgery. 

Since the project started in November 2019 the collaborative has nearly halved infections in the whole region, preventing an estimated 115 patients from developing an SSI, with an associated cost saving of over £500,000 as a result.

The group worked together to measure 30-day patient-reported SSI and introduce a locally developed four-point evidence-based care bundle, which was delivered in operating theatres to help reduce them. 

A number of other West of England collaborative projects were also commended or shortlisted in the Patient Safety Awards, held in Manchester on Monday night.

These include PReCePT and PERIPrem – both helping to improve outcomes for very premature babies and involving all maternity hospitals in the region, including Great Western.