DOUBLE HONOUR FOR PRIMARY CARE TRUST AT 'OSCARS OF THE NHS'

Walsall Teaching Primary Care Trust received double honour at last night's prestigious Health Service Journal awards, held at the Grosvenor Park Hotel, Park Lane, London, when it was Highly Commended in the Primary Care Organisation of the Year category, after earlier being placed second in the Chronic Disease Management Category. In awarding it Highly Commended status, making it the direct runner-up in the top category, the judges cited it as the most improved NHS organisation. The winner for Primary Care Organisation was Oldham PCT, and the other finalists were Tower Hamlets, East Lancashire and Birmingham East and North PCTs. South Sefton won the Chronic Disease Management award, with Walsall placed second for its work on diabetes, while other finalists were North East Lincolnshire PCT, Exeter PCT, and Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals Foundation Trust.Now in their 25th year, the Health Service Journal Awards are considered to be the 'Oscars of the NHS', and are hotly contested.  There were 920 entries this year in 18 categories, of which the most prestigious are Primary Care Organisation of the Year (for primary care trusts) and Acute Healthcare organisation of the Year (for acute hospitals). More than 1,000 people attended the 30 November ceremony.

Paul Jennings, Chief Executive of Walsall tPCT said today: "Three years ago we were described as a 'failing organisation'. Last night the judges described us as the most improved primary care organisation in the UK, and put us as overall second-best. This is a brilliant achievement. But we are not resting on our laurels. It's our aim to become the best Primary Care Trust in the country. That means being the best at providing services to patients, arranging services for patients, and promoting health to the people of Walsall, as well as being the best organisation for the way we treat our staff. For now, I want to give my heartfelt congratulations to every one of our 1500 staff and family of GPs, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists and partners. I especially want to the thank Education Walsall and Walsall Council. Our success is their success."

The full citation from the judges for Primary Care Organisation of the Year was: "Walsall Teaching PCT is no stranger to innovation - and the positive 

results are there for all to see. Buses, beer mats and mobile phones - are all used by Walsall Teaching PCT to push public health messages. It is that kind of creativity that has helped the trust transform its performance during 2005-06.

"The PCT made rapid progress in a busy year, which saw it revamp services for older people, achieve a good financial position, and implement innovative community schemes. It has performed particularly well around access to GP services.

"Another achievement has been a dramatic improvement in implementing choose and book. The trust went from 196th in the UK in February this 

year to 17th by July, The PCT and its partners have seen a huge drop in teenage pregnancy and the organisation has sought new ways to tackle other areas of public health, including a campaign on binge drinking.

"For 2006-07, the PCT has agreed a sponsorship deal with Walsall Football Club to reach 1 million visitors with public health messages. It includes a pioneering text service, which allows people to sign up for free health messages for a year.

"Obesity is another area where the PCT is leading the way. It has completed a joint pilot with education to gather information on children's height and weight measurements and subsequent recommendations went out to all schools."

The full citation from the judges for Chronic Disease Management was: "The Walsall diabetes project has committed itself to the early detection and diagnosis of diabetes, optimised care and treatment, improved self-management and a reduction in long-term complications.

"It originates from the Local Implementation Team in 2003, itself formed following the publication of the national service framework for diabetes. Prevalence of diabetes in Walsall is higher than the national average and the figure is set to rise steeply by 2010. The borough also has significant numbers of smokers, people with poor diet and exercise regimes, with rising obesity levels. There are also low levels of educational attainment, pockets of high ethnic minority population and a wider background of social deprivation.

"Emulating the approach taken in the NSF for coronary heart disease, the overall aim is to respond to demand, 'doing the important, simple things, right, all of the time'.

"Some of the key objectives in the strategy include improved glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring, practice-based pharmacists to improve prescribing and new roles such as a specialist diabetes nurse. The Local Implementation Team helps practices with direct support, facilitated training and education.

"A successful pilot scheme in a small number of practices was extended across the borough. Performance is measured against agreed objectives using prescribing data, run charts and other monitoring systems.

"Improvements have been achieved in all nationally targeted diabetes indicators. Prescribing performance has seen a sustained improvement across a range of drugs. More patients are now on disease registers and accessing systematic care. The approach is also demonstrating its ability to tackle health inequalities, with the greatest improvements achieved in areas of high deprivation and ethnic minority populations."