WHIPPS Cross University Hospital has become one of the first in the country to appoint a deputy director in charge of care, safety and quality.

In a bit to lead the way in patient care, the hospital has appointed Nancy Fontaine as the deputy director of nursing for patient safety and care quality.

One of the first roles of its kind in the UK, Miss Fontaine's role will be to focus on improvements to safety and quality of care.

She said: “I was one of the first consultant nurses in emergency medicine in 1999 – the first in London and the second in the country.

“I came to Whipps Cross to do that job in emergency care in 2002. I was instrumental in the changes that were made in the emergency and urgent care centre.”

The role will also see Miss Fontaine becoming clinical professor of nursing with London South Bank University.

“It's about making sure patients benefit from research. There's a lot of research in medicine and in nursing, what research doesn't do is have an impact on patient care,” Miss Fontaine said.

“It's on the back of Lord Darzi's work on modernising nursing careers – we make sure nurses stay in the workforce.”

One of the first initiatives launched at the Whipps Cross is the Executive Team Patient Safety ‘walk-a-round’. The exercise takes place fortnightly on two wards and the team speaks to staff and patients to look at patient safety and infection control issues.

The aim is to allow face-to-face contact, highlighting areas of concern, which can then be addressed more formally.

Miss Fontaine is also part of the project team for the new Whipps Cross Patient Experience Revolution campaign, launched last month.

Patients were given the opportunity to meet nurses, doctors, managers and other trust staff and tell them about their experiences.

Miss Fontaine said: “When patients come to Whipps Cross, they will feel much safer and receive high quality care.

“We want to improve the profile of the hospital to work towards our aim of foundation status.”