United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust director of medical education writes about achieving teaching hospital status
Achieving teaching hospital status is a real achievement for the trust, writes Dr Suresh Babu, director of medical education for United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Achieving teaching hospital status is a real achievement for United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust and the wider Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group that was formed earlier this year with Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS).
Research shows patients who are cared for in a teaching hospital have better outcomes. We are certain our inclusion in this prestigious category of hospitals will also help us to attract top-tier talent to our hospitals, the group and the wider NHS in Lincolnshire.
Teaching hospital status is awarded by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and is decided through a detailed application and portfolio of evidence demonstrating significant commitment to teaching and education.
It recognises the importance we place on the development of our workforce, providing training, learning and education opportunities for all our staff, including medical students and doctors in training. It speaks volumes to a culture that enables staff to be the best they can be in an environment that supports them to flourish.
We were proud to apply for teaching hospital status on a multi-professional platform. This meant we gave examples and evidence from across our medical, nursing and allied health professions across the trust.
Our application referenced how we already have several joint appointments with the University of Lincoln in both research and teaching at fellow and professorial level.
Achieving teaching hospital status is just part of our journey. We know that having a vibrant multi-professional workforce improves patient care and supports recruitment and retention. This is why we are very keen to develop clinical academics in nursing, the allied health care professions and clinical scientists.
It will also help us to engage in further ground-breaking research and innovation in collaboration with our university partners. Our application evidenced how colleagues from a wide range of specialisms and professions from across the trust, including consultants, nurses, physiotherapists and so many other areas, are already actively involved in research.
We would like to thank all our staff, current and those who have retired, for all of their help and commitment which has enabled us to achieve this special and prestigious status.
Being able to include ‘teaching’ in our title won’t change our approach, but we are proud to publicly share our commitment to research as well as teaching, educating and developing our colleagues, for the benefit of our local population.
Our vision is to now strive to achieve university hospital status.
