What makes Salford Royal Hospital 'outstanding'

Salford Royal is the first hospital trust to be rated as outstanding in the North and only the second in the country. This is gold standard in NHS treatment

The Care Quality Commission says it has a strong safety culture and a priority for all staff was to provide safe, harm- free care. Learning from incidents was widely shared across the trust and staff recognised the importance of reporting incidents to ensure patient safety.

Wards were well staffed and staff worked flexibly to cover shortages. Although agency staff were rarely employed, they received a thorough induction to ensure they were familiar with their working environment.

There was consistent evidence of innovative practice to meet the needs of their local population. With Age UK, it provides support for residents over the age of 60 when they were admitted to the emergency department. All patients discharged from Accident and Emergency are followed up by volunteers from Age UK to ensure they were managing with daily activities.

All wards have a dementia champion. A blue butterfly symbol identifies people with dementia who are visited by specialist nurses who also co-ordinated training for staff members on dementia awareness.

It's introduced 'always events' - things that patients should always expect from the trust - such as written bedside communication and the creation of a home from home environment.

Innovative and exceptional community end of life care was provided to care home residents by the trust's specialist Care Homes Medical Practice. The service was effective in reducing the number of admissions to the acute hospital and allowed frail elderly patients to remain in their preferred place of care until their death.

Outstanding practice included:* High level of transparency in relation to clinical performance.* Improvement initiatives led to reduction in hospital acquired ulcers* Bonus for staff ideas that save trust money.*Patients discharged from critical care - bleeps given to relatives so staff can contact them quickly.** Good service for diabetes outpatients especially young adults.*Daily safety huddles so important information is passed between teams and shifts

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust provides acute services to a population of 240,000 people across Salford and the surrounding areas of Greater Manchester