The Cancer Services Team at Medway NHS Foundation Trust has been named south-east regional winner at the NHS Parliamentary Awards 2022 in the ‘excellence in healthcare’ category.
Based at Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, the team scooped the award after being nominated by local MP Rehman Chishti, following significant improvements that saw the trust achieve the national standard in four key areas of cancer care in December 2021 (two-week wait, 31-day wait, 62-day GP referral and 28-day faster diagnosis) for the first time in its history.
The hard work of the team also led to national recognition, by taking the trust from 128th to eighth in the country for cancer performance.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, team members have worked hard to improve the service provided for patients with cancer, or suspected cancer, by strengthening the leadership within the team and having a stronger focus on collaborative working with other departments in the trust and with external partners, such as Macmillan. The team implemented a robust set of actions that changed the way it managed cancer within the trust, ensuring the longest waiting patients were treated in order and as fast and safely as possible.
Trust interim chief executive Jayne Black commented: “Despite the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, staff at the trust have been working hard to not only maintain our normal services but actively improve the care that we provide to our community.
“This has meant that cancer patients in Medway and Swale have had an earlier diagnosis, faster treatment, a lower risk of complications, a better experience of care and improved outcomes.”
Published on page 7 of the July 2022 issue of RAD Magazine.