A trust-wide nursing project has been announced as a finalist in the prestigious Lean Healthcare Academy Awards, which brings together the most successful and pioneering health professionals from across the country.

The Releasing Time to Care (RTTC) project, by the Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Foundation Trust, has been running for more than 12 months and was shortlisted for the Productive Series England Award because of its trust-wide approach.

The project’s aims were to increase the direct care time value by at least 10 per cent and to improve patient and staff experience.

These have both been achieved and exceeded expectations.

As part of the project, nurses have been given red aprons to wear during drug rounds so they do not get disturbed when carrying out this important task.

Suzanne Rankin, chief nurse, said: “We have both generated huge improvements in direct patient time, about 25 per cent, which equates to three hours per 12-hour shift per nurse, which is an amazing achievement, and we have seen fantastic improvements in the quality of care.

“I am delighted that all of this hard work from our nurses and project management team has been recognised nationally.”

Winners will be announced on February 6 in Leeds.