EHAAT receives pathology award for new case review model

The UK’s Essex & Herts Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT) has been awarded an RCPath Achievement Award from the Royal College of Pathologists for going “above and beyond” in the field of pathology.

The award was given to EHAAT to recognize the charity’s work developing a new model for patient case review, designed to ensure that it learns everything it can from every patient’s death.

The model was developed in partnership with forensic pathologist Dr Ben Swift, and sees the team routinely meet to discuss diagnoses, and debate what opportunities, if any, there are to make changes that might have benefited patients who sadly did not survive.

The RCPath awards are intended to celebrate excellence in the field of pathology practice, and to promote high standards of patient care.

“We’re so proud to be recognized for this important work,” said Dr Gareth Grier, Associate Medical Director at EHAAT. “When patients don’t survive, we are forever thinking about what we might be able to do differently and that’s what sparked this idea. Working with Ben means we can have sight of all aspects of the care and are able to make improvements for patients in the future’’.

Elsewhere in England, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance recently began operating from its new purpose-built air base at Southampton Airport, following its relocation from Thruxton.