The Marie Curie Responsive Emergency Assessment and Community Team (REACT) has been named one of the national winners at the inaugural NHS Excellence Awards for their work in Bradford.
Held on Wednesday (10, June) at NHS ConfedExpo in Manchester, the awards celebrated some of the most innovative and impactful healthcare initiatives from across England.
Marie Curie REACT picked up the national Working in Partnership award for their outstanding work and pioneering approach to urgent, palliative and end-of-life care, in collaboration with Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Working in the emergency department (ED) of the Bradford Royal Infirmary and in the local community, Marie Curie REACT works to identify people at the end of life earlier by working with the ED team to provide a specialist palliative care assessment and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions.
REACT aims to enable patients to receive high-quality end-of-life care in their usual place of residence, whilst avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions. This means patients can spend valuable time where they want to be and with those that matter most to them in their last year of life.
The scheme was instigated after data showed that patients spent an average of over a month in hospital in the last year of their life. Since the service launched in November 2022, it has reduced hospital bed days from 38 to 17, saved over 20,000 bed days, and improved fair access to care in Bradford and the surrounding area*.
Dr Sarah Holmes, Chief Medical Officer at Marie Curie said: “We have been working with Bradford Teaching Hospitals on the REACT service for four years now, and I am over the moon to see our partnership receive national recognition at the NHS Excellence awards.
“Currently, almost 1 in 3 people die without the care they need and one of the reasons REACT was developed was in recognition of the unmet palliative care needs across Bradford. This partnership has not only helped people at the end of life receive quality, joined-up care tailored to their need, but it has also reduced the time spent in hospital, often including crisis visits to the ED.”
“This award is a fantastic achievement and is a true testament to the incredible work of the Marie Curie team who deliver this service in the local community every day. A big congratulations to REACT and everyone involved in this partnership.”
Dr Clare Rayment, Consultant in Palliative Medicine in Bradford said: “We’re incredibly proud of the partnership and the important work REACT do in the Emergency Department at Bradford Royal Infirmary.
“We know that the majority of patients, at the end of their lives, would prefer to be cared for at home, rather than in hospital. REACT makes their wishes possible as the ‘virtual ward’ enables people to return home with care being provided by Marie Curie. This has halved the number of days patients spend in hospital in the last year of their life.
“Huge congratulations to REACT on this well-deserved award. We look forward to continuing the partnership and working together to ensure end of life patients in Bradford receive high-quality care tailored to individual needs.”
Alongside Marie Curie’s partnership with Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, REACT has also been supported by Social Finance with social investment from Macmillan Cancer Support, Big Society Capital and the Commissioning Better Outcomes Fund.
Marie Curie supports people with any illness they are likely to die from including Alzheimer’s (and other forms of dementia), heart, liver, kidney and lung disease, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s, and advanced cancer.
To find out more about REACT and the range of Marie Curie services available in Yorkshire, visit: mariecurie.org.uk/services/north-east-and-yorkshire
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- Responsive emergency assessment and community team: an acute palliative medicine virtual ward with emergency department in-reach