Published on: 11 August 2025
Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is pleased to announce that an innovative project which improves the efficiency and person-centredness of occupational therapy input into care-plans in a forensic mental health and rehabilitation service, has been shortlisted for a national Health Service Journal (HSJ) Award. 
The award recognises the work of trusts across the country who have provided excellent patient-centred care through strong engagement between clinicians within and outside of an organisation.
Led by Dr Joshua Ige, Divisional Lead Occupational Therapist for inpatient services at the Trust, the initiative represents a transformative leap in care planning. Through embedding quality improvement methodology and co-producing tools with service users, the project has significantly enhanced both the efficiency and quality of occupational therapy input into care plans.
Key achievements include:
- A rise in person-centredness scores from 63.64% to 84.34% in rehabilitation services, and from 65.15% to 95.45% in forensic services
- The successful implementation of the Goal Directed Care Plan (GDCP) audit tool
- Improved patient experience through meaningful engagement and streamlined processes
- Sustainability gains through reduced paper use and digital collaboration.
The project has already been published in British Medical Journal’s Open Quality – a peer reviewed, open access journal covering all content in healthcare improvement work, reinforcing its credibility and potential for replication across other mental health services.
Mark Powell, Chief Executive at the Trust, said: “This submission reflects the Trust’s commitment to innovation, co-production, and excellence in mental health care. The Occupational Therapy team that led this project have done remarkably well to highlight the key improvements made to our forensic and rehabilitation services. On behalf of the Trust, we all look forward to hearing the outcome at the award ceremony in November.”
A full list of shortlisted nominees for the HSJ Awards 2025 can be found on the HSJ website. Winners are expected to be announced during a ceremony on 20 November.
