Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust anaesthetists rewarded for high quality patient care 

Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust has been 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.  

ACSA lead at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust Dr Suzanne Taylor said:   

“As a Department, we were both proud and delighted to receive the prestigious ACSA accreditation from the Royal College of Anaesthetists. It has been a huge team effort in the three and a half years leading up to success in November 2023. ACSA was surprisingly far reaching, involving people and processes well beyond the day-to-day anaesthesia delivered across the Trust’s three sites.   

During the project, new working relationships were forged within the Department.  As the ACSA Lead, I was welcomed into the Directorate’s clinical management group, keeping the senior leadership team informed of progress and being supported through challenges. Anaesthetic doctors of every grade had the opportunity to be involved; developing guidance, updating existing policy, delivering training or auditing outcomes as some examples. The standards that required collaboration with other specialities led to improvements in patient safety and team working outside the theatre environment.    

The review team were experienced and courteous listening to so many staff groups during the visit. The report reflected this and the feedback helped with the cycle of continued improvement thereafter.   

Gaining accreditation is a fantastic achievement for the Department but the ultimate beneficiaries will be the patients of Mid-Yorkshire.” 

Dr Chris Taylor, Royal College of Anaesthetists Council Member, 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.”