A Wirral hospital trust's "world-class health and safety practice" has been recognised with a top achievement award for the fifth year running.

By attaining five consecutive Gold Awards, Wirral University Teaching Hospital (WUTH) Trust has received a Gold Medal Award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) at the 2024 Health and Safety Awards.

The awards recognise teams and projects for their "unwavering commitment to protecting lives".

Julia Small, RoSPA’s achievements director, said: "Workplace accidents don't just pose financial risks and operational disruptions; they significantly impact the quality of life for individuals.

"This is why acknowledging and rewarding excellent safety performance is vital.

"We congratulate Wirral University Teaching Hospital for winning a prestigious RoSPA Award and showing an unwavering commitment to preventing accidental harm and injury."

Janelle Holmes, chief executive at WUTH said: "The safety of everyone - patients, staff and visitors - is of the upmost importance to us, so it’s fantastic to have this recognised with the Gold Medal Award.

"We take our responsibilities very seriously, and achieving this award demonstrates the Trust’s ongoing commitment to health and safety." 

The trust employs more than 6,700 staff, and last year had around 109,000 inpatient stays and 516,000 outpatient appointments.

Andre Haynes, health and safety manager, said: "As part of the awards application process, we were able to demonstrate the continuous improvement approach we adopt at WUTH for managing health and safety.

"This includes ensuring policies and processes are in place, and where accidents occur, these are thoroughly investigated to ensure we put changes in place to reduce the risk of them reoccurring."

For more information about the RoSPA Awards go to: https://www.rospa.com/awards/2024-winners