Healthcare Inequalities Hero award announced

Published: 21 Jun 2023

The winner of the Clinical Audit Awareness Week 2023 Healthcare Inequalities award has been announced today; congratulations to:

WINNER: Isabel Cowling, Michelle Fleeman, Menik Upatissa and Indu Mahabeer, Acute Paediatric Team at Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust

This group of medics was recognised for a study to assess the health needs of Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children, in order to identify gaps in practice and seek opportunities for improvements for this group of disadvantaged children and young people. The project’s results highlighted significant rates of unmet physical, mental and emotional health needs, and resulted in patient communications, changes to pathways, and important information sharing, among other innovations.

The judges were impressed by the team’s focus on the need to capture information in a compassionate and sensitive way to, in particular, assess for a history of assault, sexual exploitation and trafficking risk; factors which all have a significant impact on mental and physical health. This work was presented at the Paediatric Sandwell & West Birmingham Quality Improvement event in February 2023.

COMMENDED: Mikaela Wardle, Senior House Officer at Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust, in partnership with the Homeless Patient Pathway and Alcohol Care teams

The judges were also pleased to commend Mikaela Wardle and the Homeless Patient Pathway and Alcohol Care teams, for an audit of homeless patients presenting to City Hospital Emergency Department – a population which has high rates of substance and alcohol dependence, hepatitis C and multiple morbidity, compared to the general population. This project identified multiple areas where changes to processes could significantly improve outcome including staff education, collaboration and resources.

The Clinical Audit Heroes Awards (part of Clinical Audit Awareness Week)

The Healthcare Inequalities award recognises clinical audits and projects that address inequalities in healthcare, and is one of five categories in this year’s Clinical Audit Heroes Awards. The winners of each award are announced at a series of daily Lunch & Learn events, hosted by N-QI-CAN, on each of the award topics from 19-23 June. Details of these events (and recordings for those who wish to listen again, once they have taken place) – in addition to news of all the winners – can be found on the Clinical Audit Awareness Week webpage.

And don’t forget to join in the fun by sharing online, using #CAAW23!

Further information: Clinical Audit Heroes awards.