A team from Fleetwood Hall Care Home has won an award in conjunction with Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Staff from the care home were involved with a winning project called ‘Giving back the gift of time – improving the last 1,000 days of life’.

The HSJ Patient Safety Award for Best Use of Integrated Care and Partnership Working in Patient Safety Award was presented at a ceremony earlier this week in Manchester.

Anna Dallow, clinical improvement and effectiveness manager at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, invited Fleetwood Hall and two other care homes to take part in the project. Working together virtually and in-person, the project teams looked at ways of reducing the number of falls, avoiding fractured necks and femurs, within a care home setting.

The project led to a reduction in falls and a reduction in hospital admissions from when data started being collected at Fleetwood Hall in October 2021 and the project ending in August 2022.

Lexie Smith, deputy manager of Fleetwood Hall Care Home, who attended the event, said: “We were proud to be part of the team working with Blackpool Teaching Hospitals on such an important project. Our work has already led to a reduction in the number of falls. To be one of seven finalists nationally was great, but to win the award was amazing. As a home, we look forward to future collaborations between us and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals.”

Katharine Goldthorpe, associate director of quality improvement at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are so proud that our hospital and care home teams worked together and were announced winners of this prestigious award. Our work shows the power of collaboration with the use of QI methods to drive safer outcomes for residents of local care homes. Some of those people could be in the last 1,000 days of life, so this project has meant less unnecessary attendances to hospital so people are able to stay in the place they love, with the people they love, for longer.

“This first group of care homes have been brilliant to work with and we can’t wait to get started with scaling this work up.”

Dallow added: “It has been an absolute pleasure working with Fleetwood Hall Care Home over the last year. The hard work of the whole team has positively impacted the lives of their residents.”