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An innovative method for preventing pneumonia in patients has been recognised at a national awards ceremony.

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust won Patient Safety prize at the Health Service Journal Awards, held at Grosvenor House Hotel in London on November 15, in recognition of its campaign to ensure all patients have their beds tilted by 30 degrees.

In October 2010, the patient safety team implemented the scheme across eight wards to see if it would reduce the number of patients who developed the illness during a hospital stay.

Staff found a reduction of up to 60 per cent in cases of pneumonia in those wards over a six-month period and beds are now tilted by 30 degrees across the whole of the hospital. Raising the patient’s head sligvhtly means any fluid in their lungs collects at the bottom rather than covering the whole lung.

Head of patient safety Hester Wain said: “We started doing work around it in October 2010 and, first of all, we were looking at how many people were having pneumonia in hospital.

“We then looked at what we could do to prevent that and, using other information about pneumonia, we decided to tilt the bed.”

Emma Vaux, a medical consultant who is leading the project, said: “We’re very proud of winning the award and I think it’s a reflection of all the hard work that not only the patient safety team have been doing but it’s very much a trust-wide project with contribution from everyone.

“We have made a difference to the quality of patient care and unnecessary chest infections, but it has also made a difference that staff across the trust can see.”