Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) has been presented with three Innovation and Best Practice awards by the Community Hospital Association (CHA)

The CHA is a membership organisation which supports community hospitals in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and is dedicated to sharing knowledge and experience on the role, function and potential of community hospitals

The CHA runs annual Innovation and Best Practice Awards to showcase its member’s excellent examples of community hospital services

The three awards were for staff support sessions, bereavement packs and the use of social media

Staff who run Scotter Ward’s support sessions, at John Coupland Hospital, Gainsborough, achieved an award for developing a new way of supporting staff They run support sessions which include, clinical supervision, mandatory training and provides a forum to feedback and discuss updates from the clinical systems staff use These sessions are more efficient for all involved and save precious time

Donna Phillips, Clinical Team Lead on Scotter Ward and her colleague developed bereavement packs for families following the death of their loved ones Staff on the wards make bereavement sleeves with a small gift in side for relatives that house leaflets relatives need following a patient’s death

Scotter Ward staff use social media to increase the profile of the ward in the wider community, demonstrating a vision to embrace different ways of staff and public engagement, share good news, benchmark good practice and show how they support staff and patients through education

Donna Phillips, Clinical Team Lead on Scotter Ward said: “We are overwhelmed to win not one but three CHA Innovation and Best Practice Awards

“It’s great that the hard work of the staff has been recognised on a national platform and I am extremely proud of what we do, here on Scotter Ward”

Dr Helen Tucker, president and Suzanne Jones, Chief Executive of the Community Hospitals Association said: “We have been very impressed with all these initiatives from LCHS staff

The bereavement sleeves innovation is a highly sensitive and appropriate way of supporting bereaved families The staff have worked together to make sure that they share information in a sensitively, caring way

“We were moved that staff created personal sleeves, in their own time and recognised that this extra touch, at this difficult time could help families”

The Community Hospital Association presented these awards to staff on Scotter Ward on Friday, 20 September at John Coupland Hospital