GOBOWEN’S specialist orthopaedic hospital has won an award for its high quality standards relating to patient safety and care.

The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) has picked up the award from the National Joint Registry (NJR) for the second year running.

The hospital has been named as a Quality Data Provider by the NJR – certifying that it has achieved standards related to patient safety and met registry targets, after completing a national programme of local data audits.

RJAH medical director, Steve White, insists patient safety is among the hospital’s top priorities.

He said: “Improving patient safety is of the upmost importance and something all our staff take very seriously.

“I would particularly like to pay tribute to Jo Bidmead, pre-op unit manager; and Fiona MacDonald, theatres receptionist; who see the process through form start to finish.

“We fully support the NJR’s work in facilitating improvement in clinical outcomes and governance for the benefit of joint replacement patients and we’re delighted to be awarded as a NJR Quality Data Provider for the second year running.”

The NJR monitors the performance of hip, knee, ankle, elbow and shoulder joint replacement operations to improve clinical outcomes for the benefit of patients, clinicians and industry.

The registry also collects high quality orthopaedic data, in order to provide evidence to support patient safety, standards in quality of care, and overall cost effectiveness in joint replacement surgery.

News of the Trust receiving the Quality Data Award came just before the country went into lockdown.

As part of assessments for the Quality Data Provider Award, national quality audits by NJR are undertaken.

These monitor the data completeness and quality within the registry and scored RJAH at 98 per cent, which is seen as an excellent result and well above the 85 per cent target.

Tim Wilton, NJR medical director, said: “Congratulations to colleagues at RJAH. The Quality Data Provider Award demonstrates the high standards being met towards ensuring compliance with the NJR and is often a reflection of strong departmental efforts to achieve such status.

“Registry data now provides an important source of evidence for regulators, such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC), to inform their judgements about services, as well as being a fundamental driver to inform improved quality of care for patients.”