NHS team in the pink after awards triumph

The closing date is approaching for the UK IT Industry Awards 2010. Due to popular demand, nominations have now been extended to 6 August.

The winners will be announced at a lavish prize-giving dinner, to be held at the Battersea Park Arena in London on Thursday 11 November 2010.

We have already had some great entries for this year. But to support you in compiling your own entry for one of our prestigious awards, we’re profiling some of last year’s winners.

For the full run-down of this year’s award categories and details on how to enter, go to www.computing.co.uk/awards.

Public Sector Project of the Year 2009 was won by Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust for BloodTrack, an electronic blood transfusion system that improves patient safety while saving money for the hospitals.

Project leader Professor Mike Murphy is no stranger to the awards process – as well as regional awards, BloodTrack has scooped the Guardian’s Public Service Award and a gong from the Health Service Journal.

“It didn’t occur to me at the beginning of our work that entering awards was important,” he says. “But it has raised the profile of our work locally, nationally and internationally and helped us make the case for continued funding. I believe we have a great story to tell about the system we’ve developed and we’re keen for others to learn from us and implement similar systems.”

Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust has 30,000 units of blood transfused each year, at £130 per unit, equalling £3.9m per annum. The BloodTrack project was implemented across 80 clinical areas on budget and within 13 months, using Prince project management techniques.

The system includes kiosks that secure and track blood in and out of refrigerators; a mobile bedside point-of-care transfusion safety system; and computer-controlled locking refrigerators that automatically allocate and dispense blood on demand.

Murphy thought BloodTrack was in with a good chance of winning the Computing and BCS award when his team was among the shortlist chosen to present to the judges at Reading FC’s ground. “The presentation was a very positive experience,” he says. “The judges understood what the process was about and the methodology we’d used and asked probing questions.”

Then came the elation of the announcement at the prize-giving dinner.

“Winning was hugely uplifting and very exciting,” says Murphy. “We knew the award would be very positively received in the Trust and was recognition for all the hard work everyone had put in – far more people than were there on the night.”

The win was publicised locally and Murphy wrote an article for the Royal College of Pathologists Journal. BloodTrack was also picked up by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement as one of seven interventions featured in its quality, innovation, productivity and prevention programme.

“We’re applying for Strategic Health Authority funding to implement the BloodTrack system end to end in all Thames Valley hospitals,” says Murphy. “It’s too difficult to do anything in the NHS in one go; you have to do it in stages. But if we can demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of the system regionally, then this builds a strong case for national rollout.”

With BloodTrack well established, Murphy’s team is now developing clinical applications to exploit the new infrastructure in the Trust’s hospitals, including barcoded wristbands worn by all the patients, bedside handhelds and a wireless network.

So until those are ready for public showing, there’s a chance for other public sector project teams to show off their talents.

“I strongly encourage anyone considering entering,” says Murphy. “The experience is very positive.”