Lancashire Care receives prestigious North West Financial Award

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust was recently recognised for its dedication to providing excellent services at the prestigious Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) North West Awards.

The HFMA North West Awards are a way of saying thank you for a job well done and publicly celebrating the dedication of the best in healthcare finance in the region. This year, the Trust came Highly Commended in the Innovation category in recognition of the work it has undertaken to make measureable improvements in the quality of services it provides.

The Trust received the award for working collaboratively with local NHS and public sector partners to improve the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) across the Lancashire Integrated Care System. The HSCN is a new data network that allows health and care organisations to access and exchange electronic information, helping clinicians to deliver more timely care and a better patient experience.

The project has not only created considerable savings for the NHS, but has also included Lancashire Fire & Rescue, connecting nearly 400 sites across Lancashire with improved network performance, speed and security. The new network underpins the healthcare systems that doctors and nurses use and delivers important improvements in performance as well as securing against future malware and cyber-attacks.

Stephen McGarry, Head of Procurement and Commercial Finance at Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, said:

“It is humbling to receive this award which comes with the added bonus of being from our NHS Finance family in the Northwest. I know I speak for colleagues at the Northwest Shared Infrastructure Services, who invested a great deal of time and effort in this project, when I say it is extremely gratifying to receive a pat on the back for recognition of the innovative approach we undertook to achieving significant improvements in performance and value of this important network.”

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony held on 27 and 28 June at The Grand Hotel in Blackpool. For more information please visit www.hfma.org.uk/our-networks/branches/north-west.