A team which has transformed the way care is provided for some of the most vulnerable patients staying in hospital has won a national patient safety award.

The patient at risk and resuscitation team (PARRT) collaborated with technology firm DeepMind Health to build an app, Streams, which alerts clinicians if a patient is at risk of developing a serious condition called acute kidney injury (AKI).

PARRT won the deteriorating patients and rapid response systems award at the Health Service Journal (HSJ) patient safety awards, which were held in Manchester on Tuesday evening.

AKI affects one in six in-patients and is often an indication that a patient is deteriorating and needs additional care. However, it can be difficult to detect and treat quickly. Streams uses a range of patient data to detect which patients are at risk of AKI and it sends an alert to a clinician, who can then provide appropriate care.

Dr Jenny Cross, consultant nephrologist and the clinical lead for the project, said she was absolutely delighted that the team had won. She said: “I’m so proud of this clinical team - this award is a testament to their hard work and innovation. We have worked alongside DeepMind Health to develop this app, which allows both doctors and nurses to do our jobs faster and more effectively for the benefit of patients.

“Streams enables us to spot AKI early and give patients the best chance of getting better and getting home.”

The HSJ patient safety award judges praised the work of the team and said: "This project is incredibly exciting. The forethought and preparation was impressive with robust quality improvement methods and research underpinning the work. The responsiveness and adaptability to making change was evident.”

You can read more about how Streams helps patients here.