This is a global accreditation programme which recognises nursing and midwifery excellence. It aims to create a positive work environment for nursing and midwifery staff, improving their job satisfaction and retention rates.
The Pathway programme focusses on transformational leadership, quality, safety, professional development and staff wellbeing. The programme also supports the shared governance through collective leadership model.
It is delivered by the American Nurses Credentialing Centre (ANCC).
The Trust has now become the eighth NHS Trust in England and the first in the North East to gain Pathway to Excellence designation.
It has also broken ground by being the biggest nursing and midwifery workforce to achieve designation so far.
It is the only Trust in England to include midwives and to involve all nurses and midwives from both hospital and community services.
Members of the West – South Tyneside Integrated Community Nursing Teams with their survey station.
The Trust started its preparation for designation in 2019, but then faced the global Covid-19 pandemic, but re-launched work on the programme in 2022.
Following news of the designation, the Trust has received congratulations from David Purdue, Regional Chief Nurse for NHS England in the North East and North Yorkshire, and Duncan Burton, Chief Nursing Officer for England.
Melanie Johnson is Executive Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals.
She said: “We are delighted to have achieved this international accreditation.
“Achieving designation is testament to our incredible teams who have embraced the concept of collective leadership and the standards set out by the ANCC.
“This is reflected in the excellent standard of care they give to our patients, day in, day out.
“The accreditation highlights the positive environment of our organisation, as well as our commitment to the Trust’s vision to deliver ‘Excellence in all that we do.”
Sharon McDowell, Assistant Director of Nursing (Collective Leadership) led the Trust’s work on the submission.
She said: “The Pathway to Excellence® programme highlights best practice that can be shared far and wide.
“The programme also helps us to identify any improvements needed so we can continue to strive for the best experience possible for both our staff and patients.”
The ANCC sets out the Pathway as a commitment to creating a healthy work environment, where nurses and midwives feel empowered and have a voice in both policy and practice.
Successful accreditation is based on written evidence to meet the six pathway standards.
The Trust was then required to validate the evidence through a survey which looked at:
- professional development
- shared decision making
- leadership
- safety
- quality
- wellbeing
The accreditation looked for a response rate of 60%, with the Trust hitting a response rate of 75% and excelling in the number of positive responses received.
The ANCC congratulated STSFT on the achievement of their high scores in the validation survey.
For more information on the Pathway to Excellence programme visit https://www.nursingworld.org/pathway
