The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) has been sharing best practice with healthcare professionals from across Europe as part of an innovative programme designed to promote the exchange of experiences and ideas.

Three delegates from Finland, Germany and Austria have visited the hospital as part of the HOPE exchange programme, which aims to lead to better understanding of healthcare and hospital systems across the EU, by facilitating co-operation and exchange of best practices.

Kati Ojala is a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at a university hospital in Finland and is currently project managing the creation of a new hospital designed to provide specialist services for women and children.

During her time at NNUH, she has been particularly interested in learning about how patient experience is evaluated and feedback is used to enhance services.

She said: 'I've seen some fantastic examples of innovation where patient choice is central to delivering excellent care. I'm particularly interested in the work that has been done with regards to caring for carers and am very impressed by the volunteers who fulfil a variety of roles across the hospital.'

Another visitor, Andrea Wenighofer has a background in biomedical science and now works as a senior leader within the medical division at the General Hospital of Vienna.

Andrea has spent time with allied health professionals including occupational therapists and orthoptists over the course of her visit.

She added: 'It's great to be a part of the HOPE programme as it allows you to broaden your horizons and share new ways of doing things. I've really enjoyed my time at NNUH and am looking forward to taking back some great ideas to share with my colleagues in Austria.'

A third delegate, Reina Horton, is head nurse within the surgical intensive care unit at Mannheim Hospital in Germany.

Reina said spending time within the operations centre of the hospital was one of the highlights of her visit.

She said: 'It's been great to spend time within the epicentre of the hospital where everyone is working together to find solutions. We also had the opportunity to visit the new Older People's Emergency Department (OPED) which I thought was a really innovative idea.

'Thanks to everyone at NNUH who has helped to facilitate our visit, taking time to answer our questions. Everyone we've met has been so friendly and we're grateful to all the staff who made our visit very informative and useful.'

Amy Eagle, divisional operations director for women and children's services was instrumental in organising the visit to NNUH, having previously spent time at a hospital in Holland as part of the programme.

She said: 'This was a great opportunity for our teams to share the fantastic work they do for our patients everyday with international colleagues. We're also lucky to have benefited from our visitors sharing their experience and views from elsewhere with us, which we can utilise to make care even better at NNUH.'

Before returning to their home nations, the trio will head to Stockholm for the HOPE Agora 2018 which closes this year's programme. There they will join with five other participants who have been visiting hospitals across the UK, to share what they have learnt with colleagues visiting 27 other countries as part of the programme.