The James Paget University Hospital has won three top awards - in the space of just three weeks.

Earlier this month, the hospital won the Nursing Times Learning Disabilities Nursing category for its VIP Pathway “You are important to us” campaign, a bespoke service for the most vulnerable patients admitted to the hospital.

This week, staff travelled to the InterContinental O2 hotel in London for the Health Service Journal Awards on November 22.

And their campaign to raise awareness of a life-threatening condition, “Kissing Goodbye to Sepsis”, won the Patient Safety award, gathering national recognition at the ceremony, hosted by Sir Lenny Henry.

The hat-trick of top awards was completed oalso this week when the Paget picked up the Hartly Larkin Award at the Fab Awards for the hospital’s work with dementia patients – the blue zimmer project. The Fab Awards recognise people and teams bringing great innovation and best practice to the NHS.

The Kissing Goodbye to Sepsis campaign aims to raise awareness of this life-threatening condition to help identify and treat it quickly – which can be crucial to patient care and recovery.

Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. It can lead to shock, multiple organ failure and death if it not recognised early and treated promptly. Sepsis is one of the biggest killers. Every year there are 150,000 cases of sepsis in the UK resulting in 44,000 deaths - more than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined.

Since introducing the campaign, the Paget has seen a positive change in culture.

Clinical project manager and nurse Joan Pons-Laplana led the drive to help staff identify patients with sepsis quickly, as administering antibiotics within 60 minutes can save lives.

He said; “We’re so pleased this campaign has been recognised at a national level, as it is testament to the hard work of staff at the hospital.

The campaign saw an increase in the percentage of patients being treated promptly in both A&E and on hospital wards.

Joan added: “There’s nothing better than knowing this work is saving lives and we’re now sharing this good practice with other trusts.”