A TEAM caring for people having surgery at Torbay Hospital has been shortlisted for a national award for their innovative work.

The Post Anaesthetic Care Unit (PACU) has been shortlisted for ‘acuity-based patient allocation’ in the Theatre and Surgical Nursing category of the Nursing Times Awards 2023.

PACU is a 14-bed unit that cares for everyone that goes through the inpatient theatre suite and cares for more than 50 people a day, with the team made up of nursing staff and operating department practitioners.

They team have been nominated for the new ways of working they have developed following the pandemic.

This means 85per cent of cases are now day surgeries, which means that the flow of people through the unit has increased.

They have had to adapt to new ways of working without additional capacity or resource, which has seen the team take on a more flexible, considered approach.

People also stay in the unit overnight in a range of cases.

Anaesthesia colleagues have praised the team for the reduction of handover time, which makes more efficient use of theatre space.

Donna Salter, senior sister and PACU manager, said: ‘I’m incredibly proud of the entire team for being shortlisted for this award.

‘We have had to really adapt to new ways of working with a strong sense of teamwork, commitment to quality and safety and pride in our work.

‘It has been challenging at times but it is great to see our hard work recognised and achieve demonstrable benefits; both for performance and the people we care for.’

As part of the shortlist, the team will present to the judging panel in September before the awards ceremony is held in London in October 2023.