UNIVERSITY Hospital Dorset’s outpatient assessment clinic has been selected as a finalist in three categories in the Patient Experience Network National Awards.

The clinic, based in Beales in Poole’s Dolphin Shopping Centre, opened last year in response to the long waiting lists caused by the pandemic and is helping to reduce waiting times and increase the accessibility to life-saving screening.

It is one of a number of clinics across the county that make up the Dorset Health Village – the other in South Walks House, Dorchester – together they give patients the opportunity to also access free health and wellbeing support from LiveWell and Active Dorset in a community setting.

Since opening, as well as delivering thousands of Covid vaccinations, the clinics have seen over 10,000 patients and received a number of high profile visits to see how the model could be adopted elsewhere across the country, including from Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the NHS.

The clinic has been shortlisted in the following PENNA categories: Partnership working to improve the experience, Integration and Continuity of Care, and Using Insight for Improvement. The winners will be announced in September 2022.