Gwent Liver Unit Win Prestigious UK National Liver Award for End Stage Liver Care Project

Thursday 19th October 2023

‘The Award will be used to support further education for myself and team members in palliative care. It will also fund equipment for patients with end stage liver disease in the community.’
Team Leader CNS Karrina Goodwin.

The Gwent Liver Unit, based at the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board has gained a top prize in the inaugural Dr Falk UK/BASL/BLT Awards. Team leader Consultant Nurse Specialist Karrina Goodwin received the 2023 Quality & Service Improvement Award on behalf of the team for their project, ‘Exploring the effectiveness of CNS hepatology home care for end stage liver disease patients’.

Other members of the winning team were CNS Joanne Hughes, HCSW Sarah Thomas and Dr Andrew Yeoman. Dr Fidan Yousef was the team mentor.

The Gwent Liver Unit initiative allowed for Mrs Goodwin and her colleagues to monitor end stage liver patients in their own home, assessing their physical condition and managing complications and palliative care. This reduced the need for patients to be admitted to hospital, greatly improving their quality of life and that of their families.

Mrs Goodwin (left in photograph with team member CNS Joanne Hughes) was presented with the award, which includes financial support for the project, by Dr Rebecca Jones, President of BASL, at a ceremony at the BASL Annual Meeting in Brighton on September 21^st.

Mrs Goodwin explains: ‘Since the service began in 2019, there have been 249 home visits by myself and team member Joanne Hughes, which has resulted in a reduction of liver-related admissions of 68% and bed days of 70%.

‘Patients and their families greatly benefitted from having support and treatment in their home rather than in hospital. The service has reduced hospital attendance for patients in the final months of their life and we have had much positive feedback from both the patients and their families with one patient noting: ‘I’m thankful for this service and that it exists for me and my family.’ Additionally, there have been benefits to other services including increased capacity for hospital beds and reduced waiting times at clinics.’ 

This is the first year of the Dr Falk Pharma/BASL/BLT Awards, which are dedicated to encouraging innovation and promoting patient care in the field of hepatology. The Awards, entry for which will open in spring every year, have two categories. The first, with a value of up to £2,000 is given to a project currently about to begin, and which is to be completed within the next 12–24 months.

The second award, which will see two winning teams awarded up to £1,000 each, will recognise projects already started or completed within the previous three years which have already resulted in service improvement benefits. In both categories, the lead applicant/s must be a member of BASL or an affiliated group and in accordance with the BASL Inclusiveness Policy, all team members are encouraged to apply for membership.

President of BASL, Dr Rebecca Jones comments:

‘Liver Disease is a rapidly changing and expanding area of medicine and we at BASL place great value on high-quality research and innovation in the management of treatment within our speciality. Our new collaboration with Dr Falk Pharma UK (education) and the British Liver Trust will encourage and recognise the many service developments and improvements that have been achieved in the liver community.’

For more information on the Dr Falk Pharma/BASL/BLT Awards please contact:
Isla Whitcroft 07768661189