The Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has won the Golden Hip Award in recognition of significant and sustained improvements in hip fracture care.

The win follows GWH taking part in project based around scaling up hip quality improvements,whichwas based on prize-winning improvement work of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and implemented across six trusts in England and Scotland.

It involved giving older patients with hip fractures additional nutrition, in the form of an extra meal a day, along with other interventions such as early mobilisation, prompt surgery, consistent pain relief and standardisation of care.The pilot scheme supported a reduction in mortality rates for patients with hip fractures, dropping from 11.5 percent, to 5.4 percent.

As a result of this award, the trust is now considered an exemplar hospital with regards to hip fracture care. GWH held an open event in December which other trusts attended to learn more about the positive results of the hip fracture quality improvement project.

Rebecca Watkins, head of service for trauma and orthopaedics, said: “This pilot has been incredibly successful for elderly patients spending time in our trust.

“We've seen a morale boost, with patients feeling more positive, stronger and recovering quicker with fewer deaths in hip fracture patients."

“We are proud to have been a part of this successful project, and that the team’s achievements have been recognised by receiving the Golden Hip Award. We are always looking for ways to improve the quality of patient care that we provide, and will definitely be continuing with the initiatives we have implemented as part of this project.”