The team at Riverside Surgery in Brigg have been recognised nationally as runners up for the Team of the Year award in the Professor Keri Thomas Awards, run by the Gold Standards Framework (GSF).

This recognition was based on important work to improve end of life care for Riverside patients, such as becoming the first surgery pilot site for the System Led Interoperability Project (SLIP). SLIP allows real time visibility of patient entries between two systems, which has since been rolled out nationally.

Their nomination also referred to their heavy involvement in the roll out of the Electronic Palliative Care Coordination System (EPaCCS), with Dr Avinash Pillai, a GP at Riverside Surgery, being part of the clinical design team of the EPaCCS project. EPaCCS is a palliative care shared record, which enables different health and care organisations to share information about a patient’s end of life preferences and care plans. The blueprints of the EPaCCS system have been shared online as best practice, as part of the Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) Blueprinting programme, you can read more about this here.

Dr Pillai is also a supporter and clinical representative of the Humber CCGs’ Local Digital Roadmap Board, the strategic group which steers large scale IT developments across the area.

The GSF commented that: “Your obvious passion, commitment, IT innovation and effective communication were particularly noted, plus the spreading of your innovation beyond your borders. It’s good to hear how you shared the digital developments as an example of best practice with others, including the SLIP and global digital examples, thereby supporting many more practices to improve their communication.

You are a great exemplar as an innovative compassionate team, striving for the best for your patients, working as one unit, and I hope you continue to thrive and flourish. Well done to all your staff – they are all frontrunners and you all should be greatly applauded for the high quality of your work.”

The team were named joint-runners up for the Team of the Year award, alongside a team in Northamptonshire. Congratulations for this national recognition, and thank you to the team at Riverside for your continued hard work to support patients in North Lincolnshire.