The Birmingham Conference and Events Centre shone brightly on 19 October as the National Orthopaedic Alliance (NOA) celebrated outstanding achievements in orthopaedics at the NOA Excellence in Orthopaedics Awards 2023.
The annual event, held on the evening following the NOA Annual Members’ Conference, recognises the exemplary contributions and dedication of NOA member organisations, projects, and teams, across multiple disciplines, in their mission to transform orthopaedic services. The awards also serve as a platform for sharing best practices and fostering collaboration in the orthopaedic community.
A record attendance of 130 colleagues from NOA member organisations and partners graced the event, building on the success of last year’s inaugural awards. The evening was brilliantly hosted by compere, Adam Joyce and this year’s winners demonstrated exceptional dedication and innovation across various categories including:
- Equity, Diversity, Inclusion award presented by Samantha Tross, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Board Member of International Orthopaedic Diversity Alliance to: The British Hip Society (BHS), comprising members from various NOA organisations, for their efforts to improve culture and diversity at the BHS.
Joanna Maggs, Chair, British Hip Society Culture and Diversity Committee said, “Delighted that our amazing Culture & Diversity committee have won the NOA Excellence in Orthopaedics Award in the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion category. It’s fantastic recognition of our work in this area.”
- Supporting Patients On Their Pathway award presented by Richard Armstrong from awards sponsor, NEC Software Solutions to The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust (RNOH) for their work in developing Personalised Follow-up in the Sarcoma Pathway at RNOH.
Suzy Hudson, Macmillan Personalised Cancer Care Lead, RNOH said: “The Orthopaedic Oncology team at RNOH were absolutely delighted to receive the NOA award in the ‘Supporting Patients on Their Pathway’ category. The award recognised the whole multidisciplinary teams’ collaboration to enhance the patient pathway and provide more holistic support alongside required essential surveillance. Their hard work and determination is another example of the superb work RNOH does in supporting patients and delivering world class care.”
- Partnerships and Integration Initiative award presented by Simon Hodkinson, BOA President. The category had 3 joint winners including:
- The Wrightington Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS FT (WWL)for their Paediatric Hip Arthroplasty Service.
Louise Benson, Transformation Programme Manager, WWL said, “Celebrating excellence and innovation at the NOA Awards evening was unforgettable. After a lot of hard work from WWL to become finalists in two categories and winning in one was incredible. The whole conference day and awards evening is a testament to the brilliance and dedication shaping our industry’s future.”
- The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS FT (ROH) for their Royal Orthopaedic Hospital/University Hospitals Birmingham Mutual Aid Collaboration.
Coralie Duff, Associate Director of Operations – Operational Lead for System Integration at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, said: “We are thrilled to win an award in this Partnerships and Integration category! The aim of our Mutual Aid initiative was to reduce patient waiting time across the BSOL Integrated Care System, which had been exacerbated by the pandemic. With the consent of patients, the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital took cohorts of patients waiting over 52 weeks from University Hospitals Birmingham, so they could be treated quicker.
Colleagues at both trusts continue to go above and beyond, and in total, 2,000 orthopaedic patients have been transferred and treated at the ROH. Winning this award is amazing to recognise and showcase the brilliant work our colleagues do every day to significantly improve patient outcomes. The NOA awards are a wonderful platform to share best practice with orthopaedic colleagues and showcase the amazing, innovative work happening at the ROH.”
3. South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre for their SWLEOC and GIRFT Elective Hub Toolkit, a guide for setting up an efficient elective surgical hub.
- Innovation in Orthopaedics award presented by Christian Moroy from awards sponsor, Edge Health. This category had two joint winners including:
- South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre for their SWLEOC and GIRFT Elective Hub Toolkit, a guide for setting up an efficient elective surgical hub.
Prof Richard Field, Irrum Afzal, Boudine Pearce and Polly Hyde, SWLEOC said, “The South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC) and GIRFT are over the moon to have won two prizes in the ‘Partnerships and Integration Initiative’ and the “Innovation in Orthopaedics’ categories at the NOA Excellence in Orthopaedics Awards . This innovative resource is the culmination of months of collaboration between our GIRFT team and SWLEOC team. The purpose of this toolkit is to show aspiring hubs a detailed study of processes, job roles and patient pathways within this well-established elective orthopaedic hub. South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre SWLEOC has had a lot of interest and visitors to their site, and this toolkit has been designed to ensure that we have captured the insight and support of a visit, without the need to travel.”
2. Greater Manchester Orthopaedic Alliance (GMOA) for their Trauma and orthopaedic care pathway optimisation using a digital platform. David Johnson, GMOA said, “Winning an NOA Excellence in Orthopaedics Award for Innovation in Orthopaedics has given the entire myrecovery project team a boost. The award has helped raised the profile of the project within Greater Manchester at a time we are looking to embed the system within routine care for our patients.”
- Working Towards Net Zero – Greener NHS award presented by Ann Hoey, NOA Programme Director to St George’s University Hospitals NHS FT was recognised for their sustainable initiative, the Sustainable Hand Hub. Sarah Abbott said: “The Hand Hub at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Trust has been a successful collaboration developed over the last year. Whilst still in its relative infancy the service is still evolving and improving. A huge thank you to all those involved for their persistence and dedication; clinicians, radiologists, managers, back-office teams and others. Fantastic to be recognised at the National Orthopaedic Alliance Excellence in Orthopaedics Awards 2023! ‘
- Workforce Retention Initiative award presented by Axel Sylvan from award sponsor, myrecovery.ai to The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS FT for their financial well-being initiatives.
Amanda Gaston, Deputy Director of Finance at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, said “The NOA conference and awards were fantastic, showcasing all the great work being done across NOA member organisations. It was a great opportunity to learn what others were doing as best practice and the networking opportunities are invaluable. Overall, wellbeing of our workforce is important to us, and financial strain has an effect on how our workforce feel when they come to work. We have a passion for making a difference, which is reflected in our Trust values. So, a multi-disciplinary team, with varying experience and expertise, came together with the support of our Royal Orthopaedic Charity (ROC) to develop a range of initiatives that would be meaningful for colleagues. It is incredible to have this hard work recognised by winning this award and to celebrate our achievements.”
- Workforce Recruitment Campaign award presented by Jo Williams, NOA Lead CEO and Chief Executive of the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to Belfast Health and Social Care Trust for their Elective Orthopaedic Rebuild campaign. Marion Mulholland, Belfast HSC said, “We are Incredibly proud for the staff who worked so hard to deliver the phenomenal recovery of elective orthopaedic services in Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast. The profound and prolonged downturn in activity and the widespread redeployment of staff had a devastating impact on patients and staff. We hope that receiving this recognition at last week’s NOA awards will have made their efforts feel worthwhile and will encourage future growth in orthopaedics. The team who attended the awards ceremony were overwhelmed by the support and positivity felt in the room and thoroughly enjoyed the whole conference.”
In addition, Irrum Afzal, Research & Outcomes Manager at SWLEOC was awarded the NOA Director’s Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the NOA values of support and collaboration.
Irrum, said: “It was wonderful to attend the NOA Annual Members’ Conference followed by the NOA Excellence in Orthopaedics Awards. The awards ceremony was beautifully executed from beautiful décor to great music. I am absolutely delighted and honoured to have won the NOA Director’s Award. It is a great pleasure to work with the NOA and I look forward to continuing to develop upon this work and have a positive impact on the NOA. Receiving the award has inspired me to strive for even greater achievements”.
The NOA Excellence in Orthopaedics Awards continue to be a testament to the dedication and collaboration within the orthopaedic community, highlighting remarkable achievements in orthopaedic care. The event’s sponsors, including myrecovery.ai, Edge Health, and NEC Software Solutions, have played a crucial role in making the awards ceremony possible.
