Posted on: 19 September 2023
CNWL’s Sexual Health Service in north central London (pictured left) won a HSJ Patient Safety Award last night for its Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Programme. It was the first award of the evening at a ceremony in central Manchester where the team were nominated under the Early-Stage Patient Safety Innovation of the Year category.
Two other services from CNWL were also shortlisted for awards at the same event; the Community Paediatrics Team in Milton Keynes and the Urgent Community Response Service in Camden. Milton Keynes received a 'highly commended' award as runners up in the Quality Improvement Initiative of the Year category. Well done to you all. You can read more about why they were nominated here (for Milton Keynes) and here (for Camden)
A record-breaking 515 entries were received for the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2023, with 209 organisations, projects and individuals making it to the final shortlist.
Following a thorough judging process, CNWL’s North Central London (NCL) PrEP Programme received the official award. The Awards are a highlight of the HSJ’s annual 2-day Patient Safety Congress (taking place on 18 & 19 September), where delegates working at the forefront of safety, quality and clinical excellence come together to join in with open and honest discussions about the current reality of safety.
The NCL PrEP Programme was established in November 2021 to support the routine rollout of HIV PrEP on the NHS in Barnet, Camden, Haringey and Islington. The programme adopted a health-inequities-informed approach that prioritises target audiences on the basis of PrEP need (the gap between new HIV transmission risk and PrEP uptake among a given demographic), adopting a bespoke approach to PrEP promotion for each group. The programme also works on the basis of patient involvement principles, with materials and service design co-produced with staff and patients. Programme activities have included a new ‘Be PrEPared’ PrEP promotion campaign designed with and for young gay and bi men and gay and bi men of colour; ongoing community outreach and PrEP promotion; a ‘PrEP for Black Africans’ engagement exercise run with Umoja Health Forum & Embrace UK; and ensuring that patient voices have been at the heart of the development of CNWL’s PrEP service.
Dominic Reilly, CNWL's PrEP Programme Lead, said
“I’m really pleased our PrEP Programme won tonight as it gives us the opportunity to highlight an approach to health promotion that is targeted, bespoke, and always informed by patient perspectives. Our success to date in growing our PrEP patient cohort reflects the support the work has received from the wider sexual health services at CNWL and the enthusiastic efforts of our PrEP Community Outreach Team.”
Our Milton Keynes Community Paediatrics Team (pictured left) and below the Urgent Community Response Team