BCHC is shortlisted in four categories at the 2026 HSJ Patient Safety Awards
Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's (BCHC) Patient Safety team, Rukaiya Bhanji and West Birmingham Neighbourhood team (Birmingham and Solihull Community Care Collaborative) have been shortlisted at the HSJ Patient Safety Awards 2026.
The awards celebrate outstanding contributions to patient safety and recognise organisations that are delivering safer care despite increasing complexity, ongoing pressures, and significant change across the healthcare system.
Patient Safety team - Patient Safety Team of the Year Award
The Patient Safety team was shortlisted in the Patient Safety Team of the Year category. Their entry, 'Transforming Patient Safety: From Insight to Organisation-Wide Impact', was selected following a rigorous judging process. It was recognised as a compelling example of how patient safety extends beyond clinical excellence to create a culture of openness, learning, and collaboration, while harnessing innovation and technology to build safer, more resilient healthcare systems.
BCHC's Patient Safety team is focused on transforming care through culture, innovation, and partnership working. Key achievements include the development of the organisation's first-ever Patient Safety Blueprint, setting out a five-year vision for safer care, inclusive of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), Huddling Up for Safer Healthcare (HUSH) safety huddles, Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation, and Decision (SBARD) communication tools, and values-based recruitment.
Working closely with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and local partners, the team has strengthened reporting, assurance processes, and system-wide learning. This work has delivered measurable improvements through targeted Safety Improvement Plans, harm-reduction initiatives, and the establishment of an annual Patient Safety Summit.
The active involvement of colleagues, patients and Patient Safety Partners has been central to this success, helping to embed a culture of continuous learning, empowering teams to drive improvement and ensure patient safety remains at the heart of decision-making. Together, these initiatives are delivering safer, higher-quality and more patient-centred care across both organisational and system-wide levels.
Amar Iqbal, Head of Patient Safety and Quality, said: "We are incredibly proud to be shortlisted for the HSJ Patient Safety Awards. This recognition reflects the dedication, expertise, and commitment of colleagues across our organisation and our partners, who work every day to make care safer for our patients. It is a testament to the culture of safety, learning, collaboration and continuous improvement that we are building together."
Rukaiya Bhanji - Improving Medicines Safety Award
Rukaiya Bhanji, Lead Pharmacist Medicines Safety Officer and Epilepsy Team Pharmacist was shortlisted in the 'Improving Medicines Safety Award' for her project titled 'Eliminating risk through design: A digital solution for Sodium Valproate in community learning disability services'.
Rukaiya led a project that transformed a paper-based monitoring process into a fully auditable, closed-loop digital system within a community learning disability service. Working closely with colleagues across the Integrated Care Board (ICB), local providers and learning disability services, Rukaiya and her team redesigned the pathway to improve safety, reliability and oversight.
A key part of the work was introducing automated traffic-light alerts within the patient record, enabling earlier identification of risk and supporting timely intervention. Rather than relying on individuals to remember or identify issues, the system was designed to make the safest, easiest action. This reflects a Safety-II approach, focusing on designing processes that support people to do the right thing consistently and proactively, rather than simply responding when things go wrong.
Rukaiya shared:
"While I led the project, it was very much a collaborative effort, and its success is a testament to the commitment and expertise of everyone involved. I am incredibly proud of what we achieved together and the positive impact it has had for people with learning disabilities.
"Being shortlisted for an HSJ Award is both a privilege and a humbling experience. It is particularly meaningful to see pharmacy recognised at the forefront of service improvement, patient safety and system transformation. To have this work acknowledged on such a prestigious platform is something I am extremely proud of."
West Birmingham Neighbourhood team (Birmingham and Solihull Community Care Collaborative) -Neighbourhood and Community Health Safety Initiative of the Year and Primary Care Safety Initiative of the Year Award
West Birmingham Neighbourhood team (Birmingham and Solihull Community Care Collaborative) was shortlisted for both the Neighbourhood and Community Health Safety Initiative Award and the Primary Care Safety Initiative of the Year Award for their 'Little Lungs - Shaping Healthier Futures' (Paediatric Spirometry) project.
Traditionally, asthma diagnosis has been delivered through a reactive, hospital-led pathway characterised by fragmented referrals, long outpatient waiting times, and limited ability to proactively identify high-risk children.
The Pharmacist-led Children and Young People's Asthma Diagnostic Hub is a neighbourhood-based model that shifts asthma diagnosis and management from fragmented hospital pathways into GP practices through pharmacist-led specialist assessment, population health risk stratification, and proactive outreach to high-risk children.
Developed in response to significant health inequalities in West Birmingham, the service combines culturally competent care, multidisciplinary collaboration, and proactive engagement to improve access and trust among underserved communities.
Referral-to-treatment times reduced from over 26 weeks to under four weeks, 82% of children received a confirmed diagnosis, and families reported significantly improved confidence managing asthma at home.
The new model aligns directly with national NHS priorities to shift care out of hospital, reduce unwarranted variation, improve early diagnosis and prevention, and address health inequalities. It also supports the NHS neighbourhood health agenda by embedding specialist capability within primary care and expanding advanced pharmacist roles.
Effectiveness is assessed across access, clinical outcomes, patient/carer experience, and equity, supported by real time population health analytics and continuous improvement cycles.
The event celebrates the outstanding teams and individuals making a significant difference to patient safety across health and care services.
The 2026 judging panel includes some of the most influential figures in healthcare and winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on 28 September 2026 at the Telford International Centre.
For more information about the 2026 HSJ Patient Safety Awards shortlist, visit the HSJ Patient Safety Awards shortlist.