University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) has been nationally commended for its work on improving the dignity and privacy of patients.

The "Dignity for All" initiative at UHB puts the dignity of patients at the heart of everything the Trust does. That has won it recognition in the "Patient Dignity" category at the finals of the annual Nursing Times Awards.

The project built on the existing "Older People's Champions" programme, providing monthly sessions for staff to improve their understanding of dignity issues.

A group of clinicians now forms a "Delirious about Dementia" group to discuss dementia issues, and the Dementia Cafe has been established to provide greater support for carers and patients.

Other elements of the project include "Ability, not Disability", which focuses on helping patients with physical or learning disabilities, and the move to entirely single-sex wards.

Margaret Harries, Lead Nurse for Older Adults, said she was delighted her team had been shortlisted alongside so many excellent projects to improve patient dignity: “It was a brilliant event, and it was particularly good to hear what good work is going on around the country.

"It is all about listening to patients and their families and responding to improve the way we look after people. We’re proud of the work we’ve done here and being highly commended by the Nursing Times is an honour.

“There were great things recognised in other categories as well, and it was reassuring to see that here at UHB we’re already doing some of those things very well ourselves.”