Harrogate District Hospital anaesthetists rewarded for high quality patient care 

Harrogate District Hospital has been re-accredited under the prestigious Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation (ACSA) demonstrating their commitment to patient safety and excellence of care.   

ACSA is the RCoA’s peer-reviewed scheme that promotes quality improvement and the highest standards of anaesthetic service. To receive accreditation, departments are expected to demonstrate high standards in areas such as patient experience, patient safety and clinical leadership.  

Dr Melanie Dakin, ACSA lead Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said:   

“Harrogate Anaesthetic Department are delighted to have been awarded our 3rd Accreditation. The process is a robust benchmarking process and takes commitment from the department, but it ensures that we continue to deliver a high quality service with ongoing reflection and improvement where required. We found the visit and discussions to be very sensible and pragmatic and it is valuable to get perspectives from colleagues working in different Hospitals in different areas of the country.”

Dr Fiona Donald, President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, said:   

“I would like to offer my personal congratulations to the entire anaesthetic department on achieving ACSA accreditation. It is very impressive to see the commitment and approach of the whole department to sustaining their standards. They have demonstrated their ability and passion for providing the best possible care for their patients.  

“Patient safety is at the heart of what we do as a Medical Royal College. The quality improvement demonstrated during the accreditation process has helped the department manage the immense tasks presented to them by COVID-19 and the resumption of normal services.     

“It was impressive to see the innovative practices taking place at the hospital, and the excellent commitment from all staff during the process. As well as meeting the standards, the department demonstrated many areas of excellent advanced practice that have now been highlighted for sharing through the ACSA network.”