Acknowledging Continuing Excellence (ACE) was first introduced in the 2019 Annual SHOT Report and as a reporting category in 2021, with the dual aim of recognising exceptional practice by teams or departments and innovative solutions to previous adverse events.
ACE Definition
Exceptional transfusion practice by a team or department, that was above and beyond routine practice and has widespread learning opportunities.
- Please do not name individuals within reports, the staff group (e.g., BMS, or Transfusion Practitioner) should be used where required.
- All reports should have been discussed and agreed at the Hospital Transfusion Team/Committee (HTT/HTC) level before submitting to SHOT.
NB – SHOT encourage local processes to be put in place to recognise excellent contributions by individuals and sharing best practices between teams. Please focus on team or departmental excellence and avoid individual compliments unless they have widespread learning opportunities.
Guide to reporting an ACE case
See the guide on how to report ACE cases. (172kB pdf)
See more information on the importance of learning from excellence.
Click here to view SHOT Bite Acknowledging Continuing Excellence (ACE)Reporting in this category will not be included in participation data for Serious Adverse Events (SAE) and Serious Adverse Reactions (SAR). All SAE/SAR must also be reported to SABRE and SHOT as normal.
What to report
This category currently includes excellence within:
- Transfusion Practice – Clinical
- Transfusion Practice – Laboratory
- Educational and Research
- Audit
- Patient or public engagement
- Teamwork and collaboration
Examples include:
- Innovative solutions to previous adverse events (all SAE/SAR must also be reported to SABRE and SHOT as normal)
- Implementation of new procedures with positive patient outcomes
- Multidisciplinary collaboration and communication
- Patient involvement in agreeing individual transfusion treatment plans
Example ACE cases
See examples of ACE cases (196kB pdf)
Optimising learning from excellence and everyday events
This document supports teams in capturing meaningful learning from both exceptional practice and routine clinical and laboratory care. Through structured reflection, it highlights what works, explains why, and promotes consistent sharing of good practice.
The reflective questions encourage insight, continuous improvement, and a safety culture that values positive performance alongside incident-based learning. Embedding this approach helps organisations build resilience, reinforce effective practices, and sustain improvements in patient care.
Click here to access the document.
ACE Annual Report Chapters
