Two more of our wards have attained silver accreditation as part of our ongoing efforts to improve and standardise the quality of care given across our hospitals.

Ocean B and the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) both at Queen’s Hospital received their silver certificates this week, taking the number of silver wards to 13, on top of the 25 wards that have achieved bronze.

Our ward accreditation programme sees units assessed on patient experience and safety, staff experience, efficiency, and equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Wards are assessed by corporate nurses and subject matter experts, and are then given a report that highlights areas where they are excelling and also includes improvements needed to progress to the next level.

Ward manager Bridget Riordan, from CCU, said: “We’re absolutely delighted we’ve achieved silver. The staff put in a lot of hard work in the assessment, which took place during the first junior doctor strike and we’re happy that work paid off.”

Watch the moment CCU found out they had achieved silver in our video on YouTube.

Kemi Yusuf, ward manager on Ocean B, said: “I feel very pleased, the team worked so hard to go from bronze to silver. We’ve had challenges but everybody pulled together and this is a great achievement.”

You can watch our video from Ocean B's presentation on YouTube.

As well as presenting the two wards with their silver certificates, Chief Nurse Kathryn Halford paid a special visit to Iris ward at King George Hospital. Iris had already achieved silver and Kathryn visited to inform them that they’re the first ward to pass the threshold to be assessed for gold accreditation.

Kathryn said: “Iris ward has shown tremendous determination to meet the highest standards of care for our patients and I was delighted to share the good news with them.

“Congratulations also to CCU and Ocean B, who have both made the step up from bronze to silver. They’ve listened to our feedback and worked really hard to make the improvements to get to silver.”