King’s Palliative Care team shortlisted for HSJ award
08 August 2022 - Team recognised in the NHS Race Equality Award category
The Palliative Care team at King’s has been shortlisted at the upcoming Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards.
The team has been shortlisted in the NHS Race Equality Award category for their ‘Equitable Care for All Ethnicities at the end-of-life’ project.
Recognising that more could be done to measure and reduce health inequalities for those from ethnic minority groups, our palliative care team launched several initiatives. These initiatives include leading a UK audit on the validity of ethnicity documentation and mobilising a Trust-wide ‘Racial Bias of Pulse Oximetry’ group to reduce the risk associated with pulse oximetry, which measures the oxygen level in blood, for patients of colour.
The team also developed COVID-19 factsheets at the height of the first wave of the pandemic, and engaged translation companies to translate information into 25 languages (including the top 10 UK ethnic minority languages).
Initiatives such as these, alongside the team’s “one size does not fit all” approach to patient care, have helped to improve end-of-life care for patients from ethnic minority groups locally and nationally.
Dr Sabrina Bajwah, Consultant in Palliative Medicine and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion lead for the team, said: “We have fostered an environment where the ethos of delivering equitable care to all is at the core of everything we do. We are delighted that the importance of our racial equality work and its meaningful impact has been acknowledged through shortlisting for this competitive and prestigious award.
“We look forward to continuing to be national leaders in race equality through the development of a digital dashboard examining and reducing health inequality at the end of life for those from ethnic minority groups. We are grateful to the Trust for supporting this pioneering work.”
The Trust has also been shortlisted in the NHS Communications Initiative of the Year category for our ‘Maternity Parent Education Online’ project, and in the Primary and Community Care Innovation of the Year category for our role in the Children & Young People’s Health Partnership. Further information on these awards will follow soon.
The winners of the awards will be announced at the HSJ Awards on Thursday 17 November.