Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals are delighted to share that the colorectal nursing team have won the Patient Safety Improvement Award at the 2025 Nursing Times Awards, held in London on Wednesday 22 October.
The team won the award for the early optimisation and ultra-enhanced recovery pathway in elective colorectal surgery. This holistic nurse-led initiative takes a comprehensive and inclusive approach with simple and effective improvements to the pathway. By proactively advancing pre-assessment and medical optimisation, often before diagnosis, the team eliminated delays, uncovered hidden risks early and accelerated vital referrals. This approach, including innovative joint clinics and a cutting-edge virtual ward, has driven improvements in 62-day targets, on-the-day cancellations, shorter stays with low readmission rates, and excellent patient experience.
The judges were impressed by the innovative approach of reviewing the entire pathway and adopting a learning approach throughout. They were praised as being a passionate and proactive team who invested in transformation of the care model, with patient safety at its core. The collaboration between different nursing teams, and the drive for constant improvement has led to a groundbreaking approach to improving outcomes and reducing risk. It is a whole-pathway, nurse-led redesign that makes patient safety and timeliness the default in colorectal surgery.
Rana Madani, Consultant Colorectal and General Surgeon, Colorectal Cancer and Enhanced Recovery Lead at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals said: "I am immensely proud of our colorectal nurses, whose hard work has been recognised through this outstanding achievement. Winning the prestigious Nursing Times Award, especially when up against exceptional teams from across the country, is a true reflection of their nursing excellence. They have gone above and beyond, pushed boundaries, worked collaboratively, and made a significant improvement to our patients' care. An amazing achievement and a truly well-deserved award!”
Jay Dungeni, Chief Nurse at Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals said: “I’d like to extend huge congratulations to the team on this outstanding achievement. It’s a true testament to the innovation, commitment, and collaborative work of all our senior specialist nurses, the entire clinical and non-clinical colorectal team, including the admin and management team, pathway co-ordinator and booking team. This initiative has made a meaningful difference to patient care, and it’s wonderful to see that impact recognised so widely.”
Picture Credit: Nursing Times
