A health trust is one of only five in Europe to receive an award for its commitment to creating a healthy work environment where nurses and midwives feel empowered and valued.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust was globally recognised with the Pathway to Excellence® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

The designation sets a worldwide quality standard and demonstrates the direct role that the trust’s nursing and midwifery staff have in influencing and enhancing both policy and practice for the benefit of patient care and outcomes, safety, and quality.

Staff at all levels across three hospitals — King’s Mill, Sutton; Mansfield Community; and Newark — have worked over the past two years to contribute towards the trust achieving Pathway to Excellence status.

The trust had to provide evidence that it met strict requirements in six key standards around shared decision making, leadership, safety, quality, wellbeing, and professional development. The process enabled the trust to identify areas of excellence and quality in nursing, midwifery and Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) teams, share best practice, and identify any gaps or improvements.

Phil Bolton, chief nurse, said: “Achieving this will showcase that the trust has among the highest standards in nursing and midwifery in the world, allowing us to recruit, develop, and retain the very best staff.

“It is important to us that we continually look to improve the quality of our services.

“Thank you to all our colleagues for embracing and contributing to our Pathway to Excellence success.”