Hertfordshire mental health trust wins prestigious Health Service Journal Award

Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (HPFT) has been awarded the Mental Health Trust of the Year Award at the 40th Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards.

The HSJ Awards is revered for its role in shedding light on these important qualities and their value in 'opening doors' to wider opportunities and funding within the healthcare sector today.

Following an extensive judging process, HPFT has been awarded this prestigious award in recognition of their outstanding contribution to healthcare over the past 12 months – a year which has undoubtedly been one of the most demanding on record for the NHS.

The judges said of the Trust: They were “blown away” by its entry. They recognised that HPFT always have service users at the heart of everything that they do, and they commented on the Trust’s continuous innovation and partnership working to improve care and outcomes, even throughout the pandemic.

They were also highly impressed with the Trust's culture of keeping everyone safe from harm, and saw that it was at the core of the organisation.

The Trust, which provides health and social care for over 400,000 people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Norfolk and North Essex, employs nearly 4,000 staff who deliver these services within the community as well as inpatient settings.

Tom Cahill, chief executive of Hertfordshire Partnership University Foundation Trust, said: “Winning the Mental Health Trust of the Year award recognises the tremendous hard work of all our amazing staff, not just for 2020, but every day in every week and in every year, making a difference to the lives of our service users and carers.

"For example, during the pandemic we made sure that anyone in mental health crisis came directly to us, diverted from A&E departments.

"We are also very proud that all of our inpatient services remained open throughout a very difficult year.

“We will keep learning with and from others to ensure we continue building on our success and improving the experiences and lives of the people who need our care and support.”

HSJ Editor, Alistair McLellan, offered his congratulations to HPFT for its success.

He said: “The entrants this year have been of incredible calibre, and each of the Winners at the Awards has been chosen based on their outstanding commitment to excellence in healthcare, I’d like to offer my congratulations to Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust on winning the Mental Health Trust of the Year award at this year’s 40th HSJ

Awards."

Winners were announced during the virtual ceremony attended by over 4500 health and social care staff from across the country on March 17, - rescheduled from November 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The awards celebrated the excellence of the healthcare industry whilst giving every outstanding individual the praise, support and recognition they deserve after a year like no other.