The Royal United Hospital in Bath has received one of the most prestigious awards in British healthcare.

Held jointly by the Health Service Journal (HSJ) and the Nursing Times, the Patient Safety and Care Awards celebrate excellent, safe and innovative care throughout the health service.

The awards seek to recognise those organisations proving successful at implementing initiatives whilst improving quality, clinical efficiency, effectiveness and safety at the same time.

The RUH was announced as the winner of the Safety in Surgical Recovery category for its work in reducing the incidence of Perioperative Hypothermia.

Dr Lesley Jordan, who leads the award-winning team, said: “Hypothermia following surgery can lead to increased complications such as wound infections but it can be quite difficult to keep patients warm during their surgery.

"Improving management of patients’ temperature during surgery has led to over 90% of our patients being warm in the post anaesthetic care unit and has increased safety of surgical patients at the RUH as well as improving patients’ experience.

"This has been achieved by the entire theatre team and was recognised as being ‘outstanding’ by the Patient Safety and Care Awards panel.

"The theatre team are often the ‘unsung heroes’ as much of the work occurs when patients are asleep.

“I am exceptionally proud of all the theatre teams at the RUH and absolutely delighted that their hard work and dedication to improving our patients’ care in the operating theatre has been recognised nationally. This is an amazing achievement and exceptionally well deserved.”

Dr Tim Craft, Medical Director at the RUH said: “For the past three years teams from the RUH have been finalists at these prestigious awards.

"This year we were represented by four separate entries in the finals and we are extremely proud to have won the award for Safety in Surgical Recovery.

"It is great to see our dedicated staff recognized for the work they do, and for the innovations they have developed – there’s a real spirit of innovative thinking at the RUH.

“Though it is good for us to take stock of our achievements, awards are not the motivating force behind our desire to deliver the best care – our patients always remain our top priority and an integral part of our team as we strive to continuously improve the care that we offer.”

The RUH was nominated for four awards across three categories, and staff from the nominated teams represented the hospital at a special awards ceremony in London.

Senior Sister Natasha Howard and her team were nominated in the Patient Safety in Hospital Care category of the awards for their work on improving hydration in an acute setting, and the Acute Diabetes Team, led by Dr Marc Atkin, were nominated in both the Diabetes Care and Patient Safety in Hospital Care categories.