East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and OHK earn Gold recognition at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2024

OHK (formerly known as Oak House Kitchen) is proud to announce their collaboration with the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT) clinched the prestigious Gold Award for Patient Safety Collaboration of the Year at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2024. This achievement highlights the team’s commitment to enhancing the healthcare of patients living with dysphagia in our community and beyond.

OHK, led by local entrepreneurs Preston Walker and James Ball, teamed up with specialist Speech & Language Therapists from ESHT and the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapy (RCSLT) to launch an innovative e-learning programme. This programme, aimed at educating and raising awareness about dysphagia, equips caregivers with essential skills to effectively manage patients with the condition. Its introduction has significantly improved the quality of life for those affected since its launch.

The HSJ Awards, recognising excellence in healthcare and effective collaboration with the NHS, praised the ambition and potential future scope of the collaboration between OHK and ESHT. Both Walker and Ball are well known locally for their innovative approach to care catering, both previously working at Walker’s family-run Oak House Residential Home in Greetham, which earnt accolades of its own for the quality of care given to residents before it’s closure.

The awards ceremony, held at Evolution London celebrated the importance of partnerships in healthcare sustainability. Representatives from the NHS, private sector, and non-clinical backgrounds attended the event.

Established in 2020, the OHK and ESHT partnership aimed to enhance patient safety through an interactive e-learning program. This initiative resulted in significant improvements, with no 'never' events or near misses reported following its implementation.

James Ball, Director at OHK, expressed gratitude for the recognition, stating, “Winning 'gold' in the Patient Safety Collaboration of the Year category validates our efforts in implementing the successful e-learning program. Everyone deserves the right to safe nutrition, and we are delighted to continue to work with NHS teams across the country to push this agenda forward. We’re committed to improving the lives of as many dysphagia patients as possible with our specialist training and support, and with our NHS colleagues, help to make dysphagia everyone’s business.”

HSJ editor Alastair McLellan commended the winners, emphasising the crucial role of external suppliers in healthcare improvement: “This year’s awards demonstrate there is almost no NHS clinical or support service which does not rely – sometimes almost completely – on the efforts of external suppliers.

“Almost any attempt to improve NHS productivity – the service’s greatest challenge - without working in concert with suppliers starts at a major disadvantage. Indeed, many of the best ideas for improving productivity do and will come from suppliers. Every one of the businesses on the Partnership Awards shortlist has shown the kind of thinking and determination it takes to deliver change in healthcare services. They should all be very proud of the efforts, our 28 winners especially so.”

OHK looks forward to building on this success and continuing their mission to improve healthcare outcomes in collaboration with NHS partners.

For more information about the HSJ Partnership Awards 2024 and the winners, visit https://partnership.hsj.co.uk/winners-2024.

For more information about OHK please see www.oakhouse-kitchen.com