Five hospital wards receive the Elder Friendly Quality Mark

They are:

• Ward 46 - Manchester Royal Infirmary, Central Manchester University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Wards 2Y and 2X - Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Wards Wisley and Ewhurst - Royal Surrey County Hospital, Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The Quality Mark is run by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and was developed in partnership with organisations including Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Nursing and British Geriatrics Society.

It has been established to encourage hospital wards to become involved in improving the quality of essential care of older people and to recognise good care provision, as identified by patient feedback.

The initiative was set up in response to reports over several years, including the Francis Inquiry Report (2013), which have highlighted the need for improvements and the importance of avoiding adverse outcomes in older people’s care and variations in the quality of care among wards.

Patients over the age of 65 have been asked for their feedback about care, including their experiences of comfort, food and drink, support from staff, getting help when needed, and privacy and dignity. Patients have also been asked if they would be happy if a friend or family member was cared for on the ward.

To achieve the Quality Mark wards have:

• taken part in a two-stage assessment; stage I involves assessing quality of care, which includes identifying areas of achievement and what could be improved; stage II requires the ward to demonstrate continued focus on improving care for older people, and their progress
• collected information from patients, carers and visitors, ward staff and members of the multi-disciplinary team, the ward manager, a lead consultant working on the ward, hospital governors and the senior managers of the hospital/trust.

The Quality Mark is awarded to wards that have achieved high scores in stage II of the assessment.

Professor Mike Crawford, director of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Centre for Quality Improvement, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: 

At a time when many general hospitals are providing poor quality care to frail older people, it is great to see the work that staff have done on these five wards to make sure that they properly look after their most vulnerable patients. We hope that other teams will follow the excellent work being done on these wards and start to provide frail elderly patients with the high quality of care they deserve.

Dr Anita Donley, clinical vice president of the Royal College of Physicians, said:

Congratulations to the wards who are the first to achieve the Elder-Friendly Quality Ward Mark. The Elder-Friendly Quality Ward Mark measures aspects of care, such as comfort, nutrition and support given by staff. Participating in a scheme such as this shows commitment to the quality of care provided to patients. Wards achieving this quality ward mark are places where we listen to patients, carers and staff; actively encourage feedback, and act on the information in order to drive improvement.

The award is for 3 years with an interim review. Wards joining the quality ward mark scheme commit to continuous focus on improving essential care based on feedback from patients.

For more information, please contact Hannah Bristow, Clinical Standards communications officer, on +44 (0)20 3075 1447 / 07584 303 784 or email Hannah.Bristow@rcplondon.ac.uk