We’re delighted to be joint winners, alongside the London Ambulance Service (LAS), of the Excellence in Urgent and Emergency Care category of the NHS Parliamentary Awards.

The award recognises our joint work to ensure patients are transferred from ambulance crews to our A&E team at King George Hospital within 45 minutes.

Together with LAS colleagues, we cut the average handover time from 50 minutes in early 2023 to 23 minutes by the end of the year. We also saw handovers of an hour plus drop significantly, from 38% to under 1% within less than a year.

As well as helping to improve patient care, experience and health outcomes, it also means ambulance crews are released from A&E to respond to patients in the community more quickly.

To win a Parliamentary Award, trusts are nominated by MPs. We were put forward by the Secretary of State for Health, Wes Streeting, MP for Iford North, Julia Lopez, MP for Hornchurch and Upminster, and Margaret Mullane, MP for Dagenham and Rainham.

Andrew Deaner, Site Medical Director at King George Hospital, and Emma Beard, A&E matron, attended the awards at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, Westminster, on Monday 14 October.

Andrew said:

I was delighted to be at the NHS Parliamentary Awards Ceremony where our joint nomination with LAS colleagues was chosen as one of two winning entries in the urgent and emergency care category.

This is deserved recognition of our A&E team working in collaboration with LAS to improve the handover process of sick patients arriving at King George Hospital. Congratulations to all involved!

Emma added:

We are so pleased our collaborative work has been recognised nationally. The entire team have worked so hard to improve patient experience, not only for patients in A&E but also those in the community waiting for an ambulance.

This award celebrates all the hard work and dedication of the A&E and LAS teams.

The project has also been shortlisted for Provider Collaboration of the Year in the HSJ Awards. Winners will be announced on Thursday 21 November.

Pictured top are Emma (centre) and Andrew (second right) with LAS collagues and the award.