Newcastle University in collaboration with partners Pennine MSK Partnership (PMSKP) and South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, is delighted to announce that RightPath: A model of paediatric musculoskeletal triage in the community has been shortlisted for the Community or Primary Care Service Redesign Initiative – North/Midlands/East at this year’s HSJ Awards, recognising their outstanding contribution to healthcare.
The judging panel, made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community, have shortlisted the RightPath Team from Newcastle University, PMSKP and South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, despite the tough competition from hundreds of excellent applicants. The RightPath Team have been selected based on their ambition, visionary spirit and the demonstrable positive impact that their project has had on patient and staff experiences within the health care sector.
Musculoskeletal presentations to primary care amongst children & young people are common. In most cases the underlying cause is not serious; explanation, advice and reassurance will often suffice and referral to specialist hospital-based care is not necessary. However, serious illness may be the underlying cause and it is important that those with potentially serious illness are identified and referred on quickly. The aim of RightPath is to provide rapid triage and facilitate referral to the ‘right care for the right child in the right place’.
RightPath is a model of care where children and young people with musculoskeletal complaints can be assessed in the community using triage guidance and expertise of paediatric physiotherapists. Those with potential serious illness are identified and referred promptly to hospital-based specialist care (orthopaedics or rheumatology or neurology or general paediatrics) pending the suspected diagnosis. Those deemed to have a non-serious disease are managed in the community by physiotherapists and/or podiatrists. The RightPath study has been piloted in two separate sites in England, UK – Pennine MSK Partnership, Oldham and South Tyneside. The pilot was completed in 2018 and essentially demonstrated that the model of care is feasible, safe and acceptable to families and clinicians involved (publication in progress following peer review). Recently the team have developed the RightPath website www.rightpath.solutions to support other organisations to implement the model. The RightPath team and the triage guidance has also informed recent NICE clinical advice for primary care to support cks.nice.org.uk.
Professor Helen Foster, Professor of Paediatric Rheumatology at Newcastle University and Project Lead for RightPath comments, “We are delighted to have been shortlisted for the HSJ Community or Primary Care Service Redesign award, recognising the collaborative efforts and dedication of our team members over the last 2 years to successfully implement RightPath. We are committed to delivering improved outcomes for patients, and to be
chosen among the other incredible nominees is a wonderful achievement. This nomination has been a tremendous boost to staff at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, Pennine MSK Partnership and here at Newcastle University and I am sure it will bolster our continued efforts to improve services for families and children.
HSJ editor Alistair Mclellan, comments “We would like to congratulate South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and their collaborators on being nominated in the category of Community or Primary Care Service Redesign – North/Midlands/East ahead of this year’s 2019 HSJ awards. We are looking forward to welcoming them to the ceremony in November, to join us in recognising the very best achievements and innovations in the healthcare sector. The entrants this year have been of incredible calibre, and each of the finalists in this category have been chosen based on their outstanding commitment to excellence in healthcare.”
The full list of nominees for the 2019 HSJ awards (partnered by GRI) can be found on https://awards.hsj.co.uk/2019-shortlist. Winners will be selected ahead of the 2019 HSJ awards ceremony, which is due to be held at the Battersea Evolution Centre, London on November 6th.