Newport News, VA, September 26, 2025 – Health Service Journal, the leading publication for healthcare leaders in the United Kingdom, recently presented Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust Hospital with an HSJ Patient Safety Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements and innovations in improving patient safety across the UK healthcare sector. The award honored the hospital’s pilot use of ivWatch’s patented technology, led by noted vascular access expert Andrew Barton, Chairman of the National Infusion and Vascular Access Society (NIVAS) and creator of the NIVAS Extravasation Toolkit, which is preventing devastating severe IV injuries in the UK and around the globe.
The HSJ Patient Safety Awards are among the most respected accolades in the healthcare community, celebrating teams and organizations that go above and beyond to protect patients and improve safety standards. This year, the Awards received 456 entries, with 216 projects shortlisted, and just 25 winners selected by a panel of expert judges.
Frimley Hospital won in the category of Patient Safety Pilot Project of the Year, in recognition of its successful implementation of ivWatch’s proprietary technology to prevent extravasation injuries. Commonly linked to systemic anti-cancer therapy, extravasation can cause serious and often life-changing injuries, but non-chemotherapy drugs have been found to carry a higher risk of severe complications. The project represented the first UK infusion unit evaluation of the ivWatch infusion monitoring device. Among 2,254 monitored infusions, ivWatch prevented 122 cases of infiltration and extravasation from causing patient harm, achieving a 5.4% ‘check IV’ extravasation notification rate.
“Andrew Barton is one of the most vocal proponents of eradicating preventable IV injuries in patient populations in the UK and elsewhere, and we are so pleased to see him honored for his flawless implementation of our monitoring devices at Frimley Hospital,” says ivWatch vice president of international sales Helen Stephens. “This award will bring greater awareness among the global medical community that this technology exists and can considerably improve patient safety outcomes in any clinical environment in which it is implemented.”
Notes Barton: “To receive this award for the work we have done with ivWatch is extremely gratifying, as, since implementing the technology, we have had no injuries due to infiltration or extravasation. This was simply not possible prior to adopting ivWatch.”
Now in its 15th year, the HSJ Patient Safety Awards shine a spotlight on organizations driving forward patient safety and fostering a culture of continuous improvement across the NHS and independent healthcare providers.
To learn more about ivWatch and its mission of ending the epidemic of preventable IV injuries in clinical settings worldwide, visit www.ivwatch.com. For more information about the HSJ Patient Safety Awards and the full list of winners, visit: https://awards.patientsafetycongress.co.uk.