Nurses shortlisted for national award

Sarah Critchley: award nominee

AN Oldham nursing team is celebrating after its rheumatology service was shortlisted for a prestigious national award.

The team, which runs the nurse-led service, is a finalist in the All Bran Community Award category of the Nursing Standard Nurse Awards. They will find out if they have won at a ceremony in London on Friday.

The service, made up of a team of rheumatology specialist nurses, infusion nurses, an outpatient nurse and healthcare assistants, was set up in response to increasing waiting times for rheumatology patients at the Royal Oldham Hospital in 2011.

Sarah Critchley, a rheumatology specialist nurse who leads the team, said: “The care of patients with chronic diseases was reactive, unplanned and episodic. Under the system, the team aims to give patients an appointment within a week of referral and to ensure patients with inflammatory arthritis have rapid access to care.

Patients are reviewed every four to six weeks until the disease is well controlled and, if the patient is stable for 12 months, they are placed on annual review, with access to the team if needed.

Sarah added: “We also devised a more holistic approach to health with other NHS services and voluntary organisations. Our patients are able to see many different professionals and they have longer appointment times.”

The service won an award at last year’s British Society of Rheumatology awards and the Nursing Standard awards judges have also been impressed.