Double recognition at the RLDatix Awards 2026
Barts Health received double recognition at the RLDatix Awards 2026, winning the Improving Care Through Data and Insight Award and achieving highly commended for our submission to the Learning and Improvement Through Reporting and Safety Insight Award.
The awards, celebrated on 9 July, brought together more than 500 health and social care professionals from across the UK and Ireland to celebrate innovation, collaboration and excellence in improving care.
Our winning project, Using Datix Data to Support Proactive Perioperative Safety, has transformed how Datix incident data is used to improve perioperative safety. By redesigning Datix reporting to capture patterns across all invasive procedures and linking this with NatSSIPs 2 standards, the team created a clearer, earlier view of how risks develop.
Combined with observational "Work as Done" reviews, incident reporting has moved from a retrospective compliance process into a practical safety improvement tool that helps identify vulnerabilities before serious harm occurs.
Dr Annie Hunningher, consultant in anaesthesia, group patient safety lead and NatSSIPs2 clinical lead, Barts Health said:
"We are delighted to receive the RLDatix Award for Improving Care Through Data and Insight. This recognition reflects our vision and intent in the Group NatSSIPs committee to go beyond measuring never events, to measure safety in invasive areas in a more proactive way."
Barts Health was also highly commended for our From Learning from Incidents to PSIRF-Driven Quality Improvement project, which introduced a structured, clinically grounded way of turning incident learning into practical quality improvement.
Each month, closed investigations and near misses were triaged against Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) priorities, with ward leaders sharing learnings through a dedicated forum. Reoccurring themes were then translated into teaching and improvement projects, creating a clear link between patient safety incidents, organisational learning and action.
Mark Elliott, associate director of nursing, Whipps Cross Hospital said:
"This recognition is a testament to the measurable improvements our teams have achieved in patient safety and quality improvement. It shows how learning, innovation and collaboration are helping us progress towards our divisional ambition of becoming outstanding while delivering safer, better care for our patients."