RBWH shines a light on safety and quality

Each year, the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) recognises individual staff and teams who are delivering consistently high patient care, outcomes and improvements at the annual Quality Awards Recognising Remarkable Initiative and Excellence in Service (QuARRIES Awards).

The awards have been running since 1997, with the name inspired by the original quarry site on which the hospital is built.

RBWH has a proud tradition of delivering consistently high standards of patient outcomes, and the staff are passionate about identifying areas for improvement and innovation and making positive change.

The awards are one of the many ways RBWH encourages and highlights these staff who go above and beyond to make the experience of coming to hospital better for patients.

Past winners of the QuARRIES Awards have included improvements to consumer feedback processes, implementation of a virtual interpreter service, maximising mother’s own milk in premature infants, and a telehealth service for burns patients.

This year, 42 nominations were received from across the hospital, with the award ceremony held on Thursday 30 November.

RBWH Engagement and Patient Experience Lead Meredith Kropp said the high standard of nominations received this year made it very difficult for the independent judging panel to select a winner from each of the six categories.

“Every year, I am delighted to see how our staff partner with our consumers to go above and beyond everyday business and turn their ideas for quality improvement into reality. The ideas for these initiatives often come directly from the patient feedback we receive so we know these initiatives are making a difference where it matters most,” she said.

“Some of the winning ideas this year included helping to reduce patient attendance time in the Nuclear Medicine Department, the first robotic bronchoscopy service in Australia, early neonatal discharge and home visiting program, NeoHOME, and the Emergency Department Patient Information Portal, along with many others.

“We always have the patient experience at the heart of everything we do here at RBWH, and the nominations and winners from the QuARRIES Awards this year are a testament to that.”

RBWH QuARRIES Award winners

• Consumer focus – Winner, Optimising the Nuclear medicine Lymphoscintigraphy Service, Critical care & Clinical Support Services
• Consumer Focus Project, Winner, Difficult Access Requires: Thought, Training, Technology (DARTTT), Executive Services/Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre
• Fostering Innovation, Winner, Quality Improvement (QI) Concepts, Medical Services
• Fostering Innovation Project, Winner, Improving 9BN’s Care of the Dying, Internal Medicine Services
• Excellence in Performance and Leadership, Winner, IMS Insulin Practice Focus Month, Internal Medicine Services
• Excellence in Performance and Leadership Project, Winner, First Robotic Bronchoscopy Service in Australia, Internal Medicine Services
• Overall Superior Quality Achiever 2023, Winner, HepatoCare-Palliative Care in Advanced Cirrhosis, Internal Medicine Services

Winners of the Service line awards are:

• Nursing and Midwifery: ID Band Initiative
• Internal Medicine Services: Adolescent and Young Adult Kidney Clinic
• Cancer Care Services: Breast Screen Queensland, Sista’s Shawl project
• Women’s and Newborn Services: Early Neonatal Discharge and Home Visiting (NeoHome)
• Medical Services: Coffee With Mob
• Executive Services: Creating a Dementia Friendly Local Community
• Critical Care & Clinical Support Services: RBWH ED Patient Information Portal
• Surgical and Perioperative Services: Spinal Anaesthesia Alert Bracelet