staff magazine | Autumn 2015
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust @LTHTrust
Contents
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Humanist chaplain joins LTHT
8 New counselling room for cancer patients 9 Equipment donated to eye department 11 Yorkshire Air Ambulance Chair visits MTC 12 Flashback Friday brings history to life 16 Back to the future for former nurse 18 Special donation for neonatal ward 19 4 Nursing and Midwifery Conference 2015
10 Police and Crime Commissioner visits
6 SDR Success
13 Dr Jess Morgan scoops Award
New pacemaker a success at LGI
20 Leeds Sexual Health service launched 22
Farewell
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60 Seconds: Hamish Glencross
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My Job: Vicky Taylor
Front cover - Keeping patients safe: Dr Ali Cracknell and Dr Graham Sutton are leading on efforts to prevent harm
Bulletin is produced quarterly by the Communications Department. Photography by Medical Illustration Design by Octagon Design & Marketing Ltd Send your feedback, ideas and suggestions for the next edition to communications.lth@nhs.net or call exts. 67381/66494/66244. Copy deadline is 5 November 2015 14
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Keeping patients safe
#BeAHero campaign
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Sharing world-class care Teams across LTHT aspire to provide truly world-class healthcare and that means we share good practice and expertise with colleagues from around the world. One of our furthest-travelled visitors this year was Paula Scanlon, Lead Nurse from a fertility clinic in Adelaide, South Australia. Paula visited the Reproductive Medicine Unit at Seacroft Hospital, spending the day with our specialist nurses, consultants and embryologists, and also had a tour of the Women’s Health Unit at St James’s.
Paula met the reproductive medicine team
The purpose of her visit was to learn more about women’s services here in Leeds and return to Australia to share her new-found knowledge and understanding.
Benvenuti nella Gran Bretagna! Following a rigorous approval process the nurses started working across the hospitals in in-patient areas providing high-quality care for our patients.
Project Nurse Tracy Dowson, who has led on the recruitment of the nurses, said: “It’s been great to welcome the nurses to the UK, to the NHS and to LTHT. It took a while to make sure that the nurses are both proficient in English and meet the high standards of training as required by the NHS, but I’m delighted that now they can make a positive contribution to patient care in the Trust.
Each nurse is registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and has a degreelevel education and training equivalent to that of nurses in the UK.
“Our new Italian colleagues will make improvements to staffing levels across the Trust, integrating themselves into our teams out on the wards.”
LTHT welcomed a new cohort of Italian nurses to the Trust to help improve the staff to patient ratio within the hospitals.
Baked surprise: the cake was delivered just in time
Leeds Cancer Support go all out for ward wedding Staff and volunteers at the Sir Robert Ogden Macmillan Cancer Support Centre recently lived up to the values of the Trust, #TheLeedsWay, when they went above and beyond the call of duty for a patient. The team were approached by Kath Gibson, a Palliative Care nurse, with a request to help a lady nearing end of life who wanted to renew her wedding vows. The lady wanted a pink heart-shaped wedding cake for after the ceremony. Following a quick phone call to one of LTHT’s fantastic volunteers, Monica Hines, and the cake was organised and a day and a half later was ready! It was delivered to the ward early in the morning in time for the lady’s vowel renewal. Another one of the Trust’s volunteers, Fran Duffy, who helps runs the ‘Look Good Feel Better’ workshops, also kindly offered to provide her services to the lady by coming in early to help with make-up and preparation. Hairdresser, Marie Nebard, helped style the lady’s hair, while the Palliative Care team provided balloons and decorations and the ward team pulled the whole thing together for this lady.
Welcome to our new Italian colleagues
Business Manager Judy Turley said “It’s wonderful to see so many people around the Trust pull together to make that patient’s special day just that bit more special.”
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Great success at Nursing a
Ward C1 at Chapel Allerton were awarded the Sustained Excellence award
Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals from Leeds Teaching Hospitals came together for the Trust’s annual Nursing and Midwifery Conference. The conference focused around promoting integrated care within the city, looking at working with other professions, partner organisations such as the universities, charities and other healthcare organisations, to improve health outcomes and care for people across Leeds.
Sir Alan Langlands, Vice Chancellor of the University of Leeds was one of the keynote speakers
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Presentations were delivered by speakers from the Trust, allowing staff the opportunity to share ideas and discuss good practice within the NHS across Leeds. Also present at the conference, which took place at the Royal Armouries, were many Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), recognising the role of Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and other support staff within the Trust and the importance of the work they do. Neil Churchill, Director for Patient Experience at NHS England, and Sir Alan Langlands, Vice-Chancellor at the University of Leeds, were the key speakers for the conference, both considering aspects of patient care and how teams within the NHS can work with partner organisations and commissioners to improve the quality of care and accessibility to services. Neil, who has an extensive background in the charitable sector, discussed the importance of listening to patient stories in order to help improve both learning within hospitals and the future experiences of people admitted to secondary care. He also shared his thoughts on how commissioners and care organisations needed to work more coherently to improve services and support for carers to alleviate pressure on the NHS.
There were lots of opportunities to find out more about
Former Chief Executive of the NHS in England, Sir Alan Langlands explained his vision for the NHS, expressing the need for closer integrated working between health and higher education within Leeds and the wider UK to improve research and the types of care that the NHS provides. The highlight of the day was the awards ceremony, which celebrated those teams and individuals who go the extra mile to improve care within our hospitals. The prestigious Hilda Knowles award for innovation and excellence in caring for patients was won by the Renal Transplant team, based at St James’s. Emergency Department Staff Nurse James Fitzgerald was named the Janet Whitaker Award winner for excellence in demonstrating compassion in practice. This award is specifically aimed at nurses who have been qualified for less than two years. While Ward C1 at Chapel Allerton won the award for excellence in ward leadership in the Sustained Excellence category and L15 at the LGI won the award for excellence in ward leadership in the category of demonstrating the greatest improvement. Attendees were also treated to the Laughter Club designed to help people feel more relaxed and run by LEEP1, an organisation that helps raise awareness
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and Midwifery Conference
the professions on the day
around learning disabilities in Leeds. Professor Suzanne Hinchliffe, Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said: “The conference was an excellent opportunity to recognise the hard work of our nurses, midwives and support staff here in Leeds. I am incredibly proud of all of our fantastic teams here at the Trust and am delighted to have had this opportunity to say thank you for their efforts.’’ “It is important to reflect on how far we’ve come over the past year, despite the challenges that the Trust and wider NHS have faced, and to look to the future and how we can move forward to improve care through integration of services and wider collaboration with partners.
LEEP1 came along to treat attendees to the Laughter Club
Winners in full Posters: 1st: It’s Time to Shout Out – Andrea Galley 2nd: Our Role Within the Trust Clinical Support Team 3rd: Building a Network of the Clinical Champions to Deliver Quality and Compassionate Individualised care for all Patients at the End of Life Hilda Knowles Award: Winner: ‘The Renal Transplant MDT’ (Lead Applicant: Heather Roberts)
Highly commended: ‘Dietetics, Patient Catering, Clinical Educator Nurses’ (Lead Applicant: Lynn George) Highly commended: ‘Leeds Screening Tool Group’ (Lead Applicant: Kim Bowra) Hamish MacDonald Award: Most improved Ward: L15, Vascular Sustained Excellence: C1, Neuro Rehabilitation Janet Whitaker Award: James Fitzgerald (ED SJUH)
Sister Andrea Galley, who won the award for best poster, said: “Speaking as a nurse, events such as the Nursing and Midwifery conference provide a forum in which staff from right across the city’s hospitals can come together to share ideas and promote good practice. “It was a great day for everyone involved and there’s a real buzz among nurses, midwives and AHPs right across our wards and departments following the conference.”
Success: The Renal Transplant Team won the Hilda Knowles Award
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Mr Goodden and his team following the successful procedure
Success for Children’s Hospital as specialist procedure achieves milestone The Leeds Children’s Hospital saw its 50th Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) procedure in June thanks to the tireless efforts of Paediatric Neurosurgeon, Mr John Goodden, and his team. Little Sheldon Vickers, who lives with cerebral palsy underwent the operation to help improve his mobility and give him a new opportunity to live his life more fully. SDR is a specialised procedure which involves identifying and cutting selected spinal nerves causing stiffness. As a result the surgery improves their walking, potentially allowing them to walk for the first time and in some cases, allowing them to walk without aids. Previously they would have had to use a wheelchair or walking frames or sticks. Completing his first SDR procedure at the LGI in October 2012, Mr Goodden has since helped to guarantee funding for a number of children to undergo the operation as part of an NHS England trial into its viability and efficacy.
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Ben Richards, Sheldon’s stepdad, said: “It’s been great to see Sheldon make such a strong recovery following the procedure. He has come a long way, but still has a way to go.
“Sheldon wants to be playing out and being active, but because of his condition he tires easily and needs periods of rest.” “Like so many kids his age, Sheldon wants to be playing out and being active, but because of his condition he tires easily and needs periods of rest. Hopefully, because of the procedure and following physiotherapy to restore strength, his movements will be much less fatiguing and he will be able to enjoy his life much more fully. “Sheldon’s mum, Gemma, and I would like to pass on our thanks to Mr
Goodden and the team for the amazing work they do and for helping Sheldon to walk more easily.” Mr Goodden said: “It’s wonderful to see patients start their journey towards improved mobility and a much fuller quality of life. Patients like Sheldon have so much to gain from this operation and I’m proud to be a part of that. “Building the SDR service has meant a huge amount of work for a large team of dedicated people who also deserve great credit, including my secretary, the physiotherapists, the neurorehabilitation & neurology consultants, the neurophysiology service, the theatre staff and the ward / HDU nurses too. “Leeds is one of a handful of Children’s hospitals trialling SDR to see whether or not it is an effective treatment for the cost to the NHS. To my mind, seeing youngsters like Sheldon able to walk easily and free of discomfort shows that it is well worth the cost.”
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Leeds Teaching Hospitals appoints its first-ever humanist chaplain As part of the process of widening the reach and accessibility of its chaplaincy service, the Trust recently appointed a volunteer humanist chaplain – one of the first such appointments in the Yorkshire region. The brand new role has been undertaken by Dr Bob Bury, a former consultant radiologist at LTHT, who retired in 2010 after 22 years’ service at the Trust. He has a strong commitment to humanism and has since undergone training by the British Humanist Association as a celebrant, a role which led on to his newest venture. Humanists are non-religious people who seek to live ethical lives on the basis of shared humanity and believe in equal treatment of everyone. Bob commented: “I am really looking forward to this new role and to complementing the existing service the chaplaincy team provide in helping meet the pastoral care needs of patients in our hospitals. “In my role as a consultant over many years I already know the hospitals well and also have an understanding of the type of issues that patients may need help and support with. People in hospital
Young investigators find out more about radiotherapy
often face difficult times personally as a result of their condition or diagnosis. “It is increasingly true that patients on our wards may not identify with a particular religion. At the same time they value someone who isn’t directly involved in their care to talk things through with at a time when they may need a friendly ear and some extra emotional support.” Bob will be getting involved with a project looking at improvements to the emotional support our hospitals provide to expectant parents who have sadly lost a baby. Rev. Chris Swift, Head of Chaplaincy, said: “Hospital chaplaincy has evolved significantly over the past few decades. Originally it started off catering exclusively for Christian patients, but has since been extended to cover many other faiths in reflection of the changing needs of our population. “Appointing a humanist chaplain is the next stage of this evolution and it fits in well with NHS England chaplaincy guidance that hospitals have a duty to provide pastoral and spiritual support for all patients who seek it, not just to those with an identified religious affiliation.”
Fun Factory scores a hit In July a new interactive family science event aimed at young families- the Research Fun Factory - took place at the Thackray Museum next to St James’s and proved a big hit! Organised by the Cancer Research UK Leeds Centre in partnership with LTHT, the sell-out event allowed families to get hands-on with a wide range of activities. These included seeing their own cheek cells through a microscope, having a go on a keyhole surgery training unit, finding out about radiotherapy with the help of Barbie and Ken, learning how researchers keep cells alive using a model mini lab and a whole lot more. “We are absolutely delighted by how the Fun Factory went”, said Andy Wilson, Research Engagement Manager for the Centre. “Having not done this type of event before we weren’t exactly sure what the children would find most interesting but it turns out they loved it all.
Dr Bob Bury, our new Humanist Chaplain, and Julian Hartley, Chief Executive of LTHT
“The feedback has hugely surpassed our expectations with 94% of guests rating the event ‘fantastic’ and 100% saying they would recommend it to a friend. We’ve already had requests to repeat it next year and with feedback like that it would be a shame not to.”
NHS Charity Football Tournament raises funds for Children’s Hospital Well done to the Facilities Directorate five-a-side team who won a charity football event to raise money for the Leeds Children’s Hospital Appeal following a string of victories at an NHS tournament earlier this year.
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New counselling facility provides support for patients with blood cancer A new dedicated counselling space for Haematology patients was officially opened at St James’s recently. Leeds Rhinos’ player Joel Moon came down to the hospital to open the cancer support facility and find out more about how the Trust is working with charities and patient groups to improve care. Designed to offer patients a quiet area to talk to nurses about their conditions and treatment, the idea of the counselling room was put forward 18 months ago as a result of patient feedback and work by specialist nurses to find out how to build upon the service. Gill Stewart, Lymphoma Clinical Nurse Specialist said: “It was clear that we did not have adequate space in our outpatient department to see and support our patients after they had been given life changing news with the diagnosis of a haematological malignancy. “We were supported by donations from friends and relatives of patients who had received treatment in our department and within the PNH [paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria] National Service. Valuable additional funding was provided from the Friends of Lymphoma, Leukaemia and Myeloma.
Star support: Rhino’s player Joel Moon joined patients, families and staff at St James’s for the opening of the counselling space
“The new counselling area will provide a much needed space for our patients to talk about their conditions and seek additional help. We would like to thank everyone for their support.” Lorraine Ritchie, whose husband, Ian, was treated at the Bexley Wing, said: “Prior to his death, Ian decided that instead of flowers at his funeral, he wanted a collection to raise money for the ward where he was treated for non-Hodgkins lymphoma to help families like ours and
for the staff who had supported him throughout his illness. “We raised £1,840 at his funeral and I made the total up to £5,000. I am very proud to know that our contribution was the catalyst for such vast and vital changes to the ward. Ian would be so proud to know this and that there are now private rooms available for patients and families at a time in their lives when this is needed the most.”
Money raised for ward through book sales Author Michael Freeman has raised £300 for Ward J93 at St James’s following sales of his book about living with cancer, Terminal One.
care they provided following my diagnosis,” said Michael. “All money made from the book will go towards
Michael started the book, which comprises of poetry and short excerpts, after being diagnosed with what was thought to be a variant of terminal cancer and referred to a palliative nurse. Fortunately, however, later biopsies revealed his tumour to be treatable and following care on the ward, the cancer went into remission. “I’m so thankful to the staff at St James’s for the wonderful
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A novel idea: Mr Freeman donates money to support the ward
improvements on the ward. “I began writing the book thinking I only had a few months to live. There is no feeling quite like that of being told there is nothing that can be done and that you will have to see the palliative nurse. I feel lucky to be here today to share my story,” he added. Sara Muckle, Senior Sister on J93, said “It’s wonderful that Michael is raising money through sales of his book. We really appreciate his efforts and the donations will be used towards improvements on the ward.”
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Great to see amazing donation Following generous donations from The Three Horseshoes Pub in Oulton and the Leeds Convalescent Society, the National Eye Research Centre recently gave the Trust a grant of £12,000 to purchase a new cross-linking machine. LTHT is one of a number of specialist centres accepting referrals from hospitals around the region to treat patients with keratoconus, a progressive corneal disease that, if left untreated, can severely compromise a patient’s eyesight or result in blindness in more severe cases.
“It will make a huge difference to the way we can treat patients here in Leeds.”
Until this new technology was available, most patients required a corneal transplant in order to preserve their sight. This procedure is less complex, presenting less risk to the patient, can be done as a day case and allows patients to benefit from much
improved vision enabling them to enjoy a better quality of life. The National Eye Research Centre funds research into eye disease and works in close partnership with LTHT to support the purchase of new equipment, such as the new machine, allowing LTHT to provide more innovative treatments to support patients. Mike Daw, Chief Executive of National Eye Research Centre, said: “Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust is a leading centre of excellence for the treatment of eye disease and we are delighted to be able to help them acquire important equipment that allows less invasive treatment of eye disease which will restore the sight of so many people in the region.” Erika McGinnes, General Manager for Head and Neck, said: “We’d like to offer our thanks to the National Eye Research Centre, the Three Horseshoes pub and the Convalescent Society for their generosity in helping us to provide this equipment. “It will make a huge difference to the way we can treat patients here in Leeds and means that we can provide the very best care every time.”
Jonathan Richards played for patients, staff and visitors in the Bexley Wing atrium
Mood music Patients, visitors and staff in the Bexley Wing at St James’s were recently treated to a recital by renowned classical guitarist Jonathan Richards. The event in the atrium was arranged by Jonathan’s long standing friend and fellow musician Andrea Edmondson, who is a patient of the Leeds Cancer Centre. Sadly Andrea has a terminal diagnosis, but is staying amazingly positive and doing what she can to support other patients and our Yorkshire Cancer Centre Appeal. Music is a therapy often to be heard in the Bexley Wing, particularly piano playing, but Andrea wanted to bring the soothing tones of the classical guitar to patients and their families. Sheila O’Shea, Director of the Yorkshire Cancer Centre Appeal said: “It’s great that Jonathan has taken time out to visit Bexley Wing and share his talents with us!
The eye team welcome the generous donation
“Music is such a wonderful gift for our patients; it can make a real difference for people facing tough times while being treated here. Thanks to Andrea and Jonathan for arranging this to happen.”
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Collaborative working on display as Crime Commissioner opens Roadshow West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Mark BurnsWilliamson, was guest of honour at a Crime Prevention Roadshow at St James’s in August. Mr Burns-Williamson officially opened the event in the atrium of the Bexley Wing alongside LTHT Chief Executive, Julian Hartley. The Commissioner also visited the Trust’s hi-tech control room which is linked to 1300 cameras across five hospital sites. The Roadshow highlighted partnership working between - LTHT Yorkshire’s largest NHS Trust and West Yorkshire Police as well as a range of other partners working together to keep patients, staff and the public safe in hospital and at home, as well as fighting crime and NHS fraud.
Teams from across the Trust and external partners worked together to make the event a success
a fantastic event and I was really pleased to be asked to open it with Julian. It was good to meet lots of the people and see some of the initiatives and equipment that is helping to keep staff and members of the public safe.
Julian Hartley said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Mark to the Roadshow and showcase the success of our formal partnership working, which dates back more than ten years. “Our security team and West Yorkshire Police work hard together to keep our hospitals safe, and have a proactive approach to preventing crime as well as ensuring a robust response to people who come on to our sites to do harm.” Mark Burns-Williamson said: “It was
Staff and the public had the opportunity to find out more about crime prevention in Leeds
“Partnership working is key in keeping people safe and feeling safer, especially in times of severe government cuts where we all face tough challenges.” “The Trust, West Yorkshire Police, Safer Leeds and other partners have done a great job of preventing and reducing crime and this is testament to their committed working relationships. Partnership working is key in keeping people safe and feeling safer, especially in times of severe government cuts where we all face tough challenges.”
Mark Burns-Williamson (centre) supporting crime prevention
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As well as highlighting staying safe and a zero tolerance of crime and anti-social behaviour on hospital sites, the event also gave advice about domestic and commercial crime prevention, safer car parking, fire safety, domestic violence and the range of help and support available from partners across the city.
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Partnership flying high as air ambulance chief visits Staff at the Leeds General Infirmary were delighted to welcome key figures from the Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) and NHS England (NHSE), who visited to find out more about the vital role the hospital plays as the Leeds Major Trauma Centre (MTC). YAA Chair, Peter Sunderland, and Vice-Chair, Bruce Burns, and Phil Storr, Regional Head of Emergency Preparedness and Resilience at NHSE (North) were joined by LTHT Chair, Linda
Peter Sunderland is welcomed to ward L22 by Sister Gemma Pierce
Pollard, Chief Executive, Julian Hartley, and Carl Chambers, Non-Executive Director, to tour the state-of-the-art facilities that make up the Leeds MTC. The party visited the helideck on the roof of Jubilee Wing to find out more about the vital role that the air ambulance plays in helping to get critical cases to the LGI for life-saving treatment and how it fits in to the Leeds MTC trauma network covering West Yorkshire and parts of North Yorkshire. Following on from the helideck, the visitors were walked through the patient journey meeting the different teams and showcasing the amazing work that takes place in the Emergency Department resuscitation, CT and Interventional radiology, trauma theatres, critical care and the MTC ward, L22, where the party met representatives from the multidisciplinary team that is at the heart of major trauma care in Leeds. Mr David Berridge, Deputy Chief Medical Officer said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Peter, Bruce and Phil to the LGI to meet our teams and find out more
Facilities Manager Kay Braddock talks to Peter and LTHT Chair Linda Pollard about her role managing the helideck
about our role as one of the UK’s leading Major Trauma Centres. “This visit allowed us the opportunity to strengthen our relationship with a key regional partner and to focus on the vital role the Yorkshire Air Ambulance plays in the work of our dedicated teams saving lives and improving the functional outcomes of survivors across the wider Yorkshire region.”
Protected Mealtimes re-launched It is well-known that good nutrition and hydration plays a key part in a patient’s recovery and healing while in hospital. That’s why nurses, dietitians and catering staff across LTHT teamed up to re-launch ‘Protected Mealtimes’ helping to ensure patients are able to eat their meals without interruption and allow wards to focus on this vital part of patient care. Looking to keep mealtimes as calm and relaxed as possible, staff have been working to make sure that patients have the time to eat and enjoy their meals and be given assistance as required. Historically, this has been a challenge on busy ward areas, so the senior nurse team asked every ward to commit to protecting at least one meal time (either lunch or dinner) each day.
At these times all available ward staff and volunteers now focus on the mealtime and help with food distribution and assisting patients to eat their meals. To mark the re-launch, Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive Suzanne Hinchliffe went along to find out more about protected mealtimes and how
this will help to benefit patients. Lynn George, Clinical Dietetic Manager, said: “Ensuring that patients are well nourished is critical to good and effective care and recovery. Being in hospital can be stressful for patients. Allowing them the time to eat and to enjoy their meals can greatly improve their experience as well as their nutritional and fluid intake. “Protected mealtimes also benefit staff by giving them dedicated time to help and encourage their patients to eat and drink.
Chief Nurse Suzanne Hinchliffe went to find out more about protected mealtimes
“Furthermore, with the re-launch of protected mealtimes we have also placed a focus on the communication between nursing staff and ward housekeepers - this teamwork is essential to ensure patients are receiving the correct meals for their individual needs.”
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| www.leedsth.nhs.uk to find out more about LTHT’s amazing past every Friday
flashback friday Flashback Friday brings hospital history to life! Each Friday afternoon the Trust shares an interesting story from the recent and not-so-recent past via the LTHT Facebook page. The posts are incredibly popular with current and ex members of staff, patients and the wider public, giving everyone a little bit of insight into how care across Leeds has developed and the proud history of all our hospitals. If you have any old or historical photographs of the hospitals that you’d like to share, maybe with a story behind them please email communications.lth@nhs.net
Here’s a sight that will be familiar to many of our older and retired nurses!
Where did you get that hat?
Quite an array of different headgear has been sported on our wards over the years. Here’s a great picture from (we think) the early 1980s showing the uniforms and - more noticeably - the caps worn by a senior sister and student nurse at St James’s. Until relatively recently both St James’s and LGI had large nurses’ homes and student nurses in particular normally lived there. This picture is from St James’s and we think is from the early 1980s
judging by the decor and the way the nurse is dressed. In earlier years in particular, discipline was very rigidly enforced and nurses could not come and go as they pleased.
We’re sure some of our current and many retired nurses will well remember the headgear they were required to wear and the effort that was sometimes required to keep it looking pristine.
Here is an interesting photograph from our archives showing one of the lesser-known tasks of nursing staff at St James’s in the 1940s and 50s. It’s hard at first glance to see what they are doing, but we are pretty sure the nurse is using a sewing machine to create surgical dressings from a batch of something called gamgee tissue - cotton wool between two layers of absorbent gauze. In the background you can see the large pans which used to boil dressings to make them sterile. Today we take it for granted that such dressings are delivered ready to use in different sizes and in sterile packs, but clearly the process was much more labour-intensive in former days.
Sterile dressings, the hard way!
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Thanks to Chris Hewitt, one of our matrons, who helped us decode the photograph and has her own memories of dressing packs coming up from sterile services at the LGI and the strange little plastic forceps which she remembers being impossible to use.
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Hospital scientist’s epic cycle ride across America – take two! Congratulations to Dr Mike Bosomworth, a clinical scientist based at the LGI, after he completed the charity cycle ride of a lifetime to raise money for the Yorkshire Brain Research Centre. Mike cycled 4,200 miles from New York to San Francisco to celebrate his milestone 60th birthday and having worked in the NHS for over forty years. The ride was initially planned to take place last year, but unfortunately he was knocked off his bike in June 2014 and sustained several fractured ribs and vertebrae. Undeterred, and as soon as he was fit enough, he took up the challenge once again. This ride adds to Mike’s long history of charity adventures, having cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats, regularly taking part in the Great Yorkshire Bike Ride, cycling coast to coast, completing parachute jumps and climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro; all for charity.
Jess was delighted to receive the accolade
Dr Jess Morgan scoops prestigious award Huge congratulations to Dr Jess Morgan, a Clinical Research Fellow in children’s cancer at Leeds Children’s Hospital, who has been granted a Young Investigator award by the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP). This is a tremendous accolade and relates to the work Jess has done on how we manage children with cancer when they get a temperature, and in particular, whether children who we know to be at low risk of infectious complications can
Jess described the award as “a total surprise”.
He said: “I have been working for the NHS for over 40 years and when I reached my 60th birthday I wanted to celebrate these milestone anniversaries and take on the biggest challenge of my life. My dad and Aunt both had/have Alzheimer’s and so I have seen at first hand the devastating impact of dementia, which is a massive and growing problem for all of us. Being able to prevent or cure dementia would do so much to improve people’s lives and help the NHS in these austere times.”
be managed with an earlier discharge from hospital. Jess described the award as “a total surprise” and it is one of only a handful handed out globally each year so she faced some tough competition. As part of the prize Jess will be presenting her work to colleagues from SIOP at a special meeting in Cape Town in October. This is the second time recently one of LTHT’s cancer doctors has achieved a Young Investigator accolade. Previously Jess’s colleague Dr Bob Phillips was awarded the same status by SPARKS for his research work.
Mike at his final destination, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
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Keeping patients safe Clinicians at LTHT are looking at new and collaborative ways of ensuring high quality care and the safety of our patients while staying in hospital. Consultants Dr Ali Cracknell and Dr Graham Sutton have been leading an initiative looking at reducing the numbers of patients having falls and helping to prevent avoidable deterioration. Around a year ago, the doctors identified the need to improve how the Trust provides safe and effective care for our patients. They split the work into two individual projects and approached wards across LTHT likely to encounter challenges with either patients having falls or deteriorating from acute illness. Dr Cracknell said: “The main focus of the work was to look at areas of preventable harm, namely falls and the ‘deteriorating patient’, and to support ward teams testing their own innovative ideas to reduce harm to our patients, develop collaborative solutions and discover working practices that can be rolled out across the Trust.”
“The most successful ideas behind improving care and safety come from the frontline staff and are often simple, for example sharing good ideas and practices with other teams.” In total 29 wards were involved from across the Trust (including medical, surgical and children’s wards) to begin an improvement journey. Forming patient safety collaboratives in partnership with Haelo – a patient safety project team from Salford Royal Infirmary – the ward teams have been testing combinations of evidencebased solutions and innovative ideas to reduce preventable patient harm. The wards teams have now designed “intervention bundles” and are currently learning how to implement these successfully across their wards, before sharing and supporting the spread widely across the Trust later this year. Work around reducing avoidable deterioration– looking for early
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Dr Ali Cracknell and Dr Graham Sutton have been leading on the work
#TheLeedsWay
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Executive support Each ward taking part in the patient safety improvement programme has a sponsor from the executive team to offer advice, support and help to resolve anything blocking progress in improving safety. One of the wards trialling the safety bundles around the ‘deteriorating patient’ is J82, based in the Bexley Wing and caring for patients with pancreatic and upper gastrointestinal conditions.
“It’s great to hear of progress on the ward.” Safety huddles involve all staff working on the wad and allow them to contribute to improve care
signs and taking timely action of those patients– has been led by Dr Cracknell, while Dr Sutton has focused on ways teams on wards can prevent falls. Dr Cracknell said: “The most successful ideas behind improving care and safety come from the frontline staff and are often simple, for example sharing good ideas and practices with other teams. Understanding what does not work is as important as learning what does. The key however then, is to make sure that those ideas that are successful are embedded into the daily practice of a ward. One way we have been achieving this is to make safety everyone’s responsibility through ‘safety huddles’, where everyone on a ward can share their concerns and ideas.
“Our work has been supported by a “Faculty” of professionals working in different areas of the Trust and backed up by the Trust’s executive team – who play a vital role as ‘sponsors’ for teams. “The aim of the approach is, in my case, to improve early recognition of patient deterioration, achieved by focusing on three key areas: the identification and response to deterioration, culture and teamwork, and recognising and managing patients at the end of their life.” Dr Sutton added: “In addition to the safety huddle, some of the solutions we have to prevent falls have been to ensure that patients are wearing appropriate ‘slip-proof’ footwear and grouping patients at high risk into ‘Falls Bays’, which helps to reduce the risk to the patient.
The team on J82 have made significant progress with the safety project thanks to innovation, team work and the support of Tony Whitfield, Executive Director for Finance who is the team’s executive sponsor. Tony said: “It’s interesting to find out about how the team on the ward are working with doctors to avoid harm, the challenges they face in their area and ways good practice can be shared through up-skilling. “It’s great to hear of progress on the ward, but also to learn about where engagement across professions needs to be stronger so we can share lessons and truly say we put the patient first.”
“It’s been great to see the effort from staff at all levels in helping to make these patient safety collaboratives part of who we are and what we do, tying in really well with the spirit of the Leeds Way. By using evidence and working together, I am sure we can improve on the progress we’ve already made.”
The patient safety work is led by evidence to ensure bundles are effective
Results of this work are already showing a reduction in patients falling and an impact on “2222 or arrest calls”. Dr Sutton and Cracknell are excited about the next stage of supporting the scale up the interventions across the Trust.
Tony met the team on ward J82 to find out about their progress around safety
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Neonatal donation set to improve 4Louis quiet room Staff on Ward L43 offered their thanks to Sophie Peat and Matthew Winn who donated £150 to the unit at the LGI. The donation followed the sad death of Matthew Mark Michael Peat-Winn, Sophie and Matthew’s son, who passed away earlier in 2015 while being cared for by staff on the ward. The couple were thankful for the care Matthew Jr. received while at the hospital and so decided that rather than paying for flowers at his funeral, they would instead ask for donations to the unit and charity, the British Heart Foundation. Matthew Jr’s aunt, Rebecca Winn, who also works at LTHT as a Contracts Officer, dropped by the unit to present Consultant Neonatologist Dr Jo Wright with the cheque. Thanks to the generosity of Sophie, Matthew (Sn.) and family the money will now be used for artwork in the unit’s 4Louis room to provide better surroundings. Dr Jo Wright said: “This donation is really appreciated and will go a long way towards improving the environment for parents and their babies in what are, understandably, exceptionally difficult times. “I would like to pass on my thanks and those of the Neonatal team at the LGI to Matthew and Sophie for their support.”
The team on ward L22 meet Jean and her nephew
Back to the future for former LGI nurse Former nurse Jean Chisholm was welcomed back to the LGI after 32 years for a special tour of the site to celebrate her 90th birthday. Jean spent many years working at the hospital, starting her career in 1943 during the height of World War Two and, following her qualification as a nurse, worked her way up through positions within the hospital. In 1950 at the age of 25, she was made Ward Sister on ward 22, the then male surgical ward in the old building at the LGI. Following a break from Leeds, Jean returned in 1972 as a Nursing Officer (equivalent to our modern matrons) responsible for running six surgical wards, before being promoted to Senior Nursing Officer in charge of nurse training at the LGI in 1977.
visit the new ward L22 in Jubilee wing., much to the delight of Jean. Head of Nursing Jill Asbury said: “It was great to welcome Jean back to the hospital where she dedicated so many years. The NHS we see today is all thanks to the hard work of nurses like Jean. “Much of the care-side of the work we do today is exactly the same as what would have taken place at the LGI in the 1950s. The differences between then and now however, can be found in how the modern nurse has much greater access to technology, the advances in medicine and education.”
The tour was arranged after her nephew, David Slater, spent two weeks on the modern-day ward L22, our state-of-the-art major trauma centre, after breaking his leg. He thought it would be a nice birthday treat for his aunt to see how much things had changed at the LGI.
Rebecca Winn presents cheque to Dr Jo Wright
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Mr Slater and his aunt visited the old ward 22, now the home of Medical Illustration services, where Sister Chisholm started her nursing career. The tour then moved on to look around the Great George Street entrance, built in 1896 and designed by George Gilbert Scott, before going up to
Days gone by: Jean Chisholm at the LGI as a sister
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CSU Awards are a critical success The Adult Critical Care team celebrated their successes with a glittering awards ceremony held to recognise the achievements of the whole team and the fantastic work they do to help some of the most seriously ill patients in Leeds and Yorkshire.
The event was organised by the management team from Adult Critical Care and there were a total of 11 individual winners who showcased some
“It was a wonderful opportunity to recognise all of those things our individuals and teams do so well on a day-in dayout basis.”
Chief Executive, Julian Hartley, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Yvette Oade, and Chief Nurse Professor Suzanne Hinchliffe were among those who attended to hand out the prizes, which recognised good practice by staff right across the service.
outstanding work and a special Team of the Year award. Mike Philpott, General Manager for the CSU, said “It was a wonderful opportunity to recognise all of those things our individuals and teams do so well on a dayin day-out basis. I’m really proud to be part of ‘Team Critical Care’ and to see our staff recognised for their fantastic contribution to the CSU and the wider Trust. “Like many of my colleagues, I’m very much looking forward to next year’s awards!“
The winners were: Emma Grant - Newcomer of the Year Oliver Mahoney - Non Registered Staff Member of the Year Anna Hutchinson - Allied Health Professional of the Year Michelle Coates - Outstanding Achievement
Dr Phil Jackson - The Leeds Way Award Muhammad Rustam - Registered Nurse of the Year Kath Cole - Registered Nurse of the Year
Jo Steffensen - Head of Nursing’s Choice Dr Kumar Paramasivam Clinical Director’s Choice Neurological Critical Care Team of the year
Dr Bea Besterio - Medic of the Year
Andrea Galley - Outstanding Leadership Award
The winners celebrate their achievements
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Children’s Neonatal ward donation Staff on the Neonatal unit at the LGI offered a huge ‘thank you’ to seven year old Charlie Netherwood and five year old Liam Heptinstall after the young pair raised an amazing £605 for the Neonatal unit at the LGI. The youngsters donated the money after completing the Ossett Coal Run following the sad loss of their cousin Sienna Emily Smith, who was cared for on the specialist unit.
“We would all like to say thanks to Charlie and Liam and their mums for their amazing efforts with these wonderful donations.” Their fundraising efforts were also supported by Charlie’s mum, Lucyanne, and Liam’s mum, Vicky, who brought the boys and cheques in to the unit yesterday to present them to the delighted staff. Vicky and her colleagues from Toys ‘’R’’
Charlie and Liam visited L43 to present the cheque
Us Wakefield also generously helped to raise £200 which went to buy a pram and a pushchair (one of which will be donated to the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice).
New Clinical Trial set to improve care A new clinical trial based at LTHT which aims to improve treatment for patients with early stage lung cancer will soon be offered in West Yorkshire.
“This form of radiotherapy may be an alternative treatment for some of these high risk patients, but this needs to be formally assessed.”
It will compare surgery as a way of removing lung cancer tumours to a particular form of radiotherapy, and will assess the effectiveness of these different types of treatment for higher risk patients.
The alternative treatment is known as stereotactic ablative radiotherapy, or SABR for short. SABR - which has been pioneered in the UK at LTHT - is an outpatient based treatment that uses high dose accurately focused radiotherapy beams to treat the cancer over three to eight treatments.
The clinical trial, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in conjunction with the University of Leeds, will recruit patients across Leeds, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Manchester and Bradford. Clincal oncologist Dr Kevin Franks who is based at St James’s, is leading the £240,000 clinical trial. He said: “Lung cancer survival rates in the UK are worse than in European and North American countries. We want to change this. “Lung cancer diagnosed at an early stage is curable and surgery is considered the best treatment for fit patients. However, many patients diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK are either more elderly, or have other illnesses, which can increase the risk of having surgery.
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Nurse Sue Sissons said “It’s wonderful that the boys have raised this money for the unit; it will go a long way towards providing additional comforts for patients and families who have to stay on the ward. “We would all like to say thanks to Charlie and Liam and their mums for their amazing efforts with these wonderful donations.”
The clinical trial is known as SABRTooth and is also supported by the Yorkshire Cancer Research Centre for Early Phase Clinical Trials. Dr Franks added: “We want our patients in the UK to receive the best treatment for their lung cancer. We will also use patient feedback interviews to explore reasons why some patients choose not to take part in the study.” Professor David Sebag-Montefiore said: “This is an important milestone in our goal to increase clinical research opportunities for patients where radiotherapy is a treatment option. It is very important that we improve treatment for patients with early stage lung cancer.”
Dr Kevin Franks
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A spoonful of storytelling helps the medicine go down at the Children’s Hospital! Patients, families and staff were delighted to welcome the Starlight Children’s Foundation Storytellers to the Leeds Children’s Hospital for an entertaining afternoon of songs, shows and lots of laughs! Energetic actors Holly Reynolds, Michael Brown, Ryan Vernel and Alyssa Muego performed to a cram-packed playroom on Ward L52 in the Clarendon Wing. The troupe performed classics including ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ for the young patients and their families being cared for at the
Children’s Hospital. Lots of fun was had by all involved! Emma Marshall, Play Specialist Team Leader said: “We use play to help distract children from the pain and anxiety that they might be feeling as a result of their illness and there’s nothing like a good story to capture a child’s imagination. We are very grateful to Starlight’s Storytellers Tour for providing the opportunity for our young patients to forget their illness for a short while and simply have some fun.”
The actors performed Beauty and the Beast for children on the ward
Success for cardiology as team implants first-of-a-kind pacemaker The cardiology team at the LGI celebrated the first commercial use in the UK of a new wireless pacemaker, the Micra, which is 90% smaller than any other used before. The pacemaker was implanted directly into the heart of 68 yearold patient, Rodney Gamble from Scunthorpe, replacing the temporary device which had been maintaining a regular heartbeat. The Micra, which is about the same size as a household fuse and made by Medtronic, has only been made possible by advances in battery technology and circuitry, meaning that the much smaller, wire-free device can be used for a period of up to 15 years. During the procedure, which takes around an hour, the pacemaker is inserted into the patient’s inner thigh and follows the femoral vein to the right ventricle of the heart. The device is moved into the heart and when correctly in position against the wall of the muscle the applicator is removed allowing the pacemaker to hook itself into the heart tissue. Consultant Cardiologist, Dr Chris Pepper who led the team carrying out the procedure said: “I’m really pleased with the way the implant went. The use of the new technology means that
Play time! The team on Ward L30, who care for respiratory and Cystic Fibrosis patients at Leeds Children’s Hospital, now have some great new physiotherapy and play mats thanks to a generous donation. This great picture show young patient Tegan, aged 8, trying out a couple of the mats with some of the team.
Dr Pepper and team carried out the procedure thanks to advances in technology
we can carry out much less invasive procedure and reduces some of the risks of complications associated with wired pacemakers. The new device offers significant promise for the future in improving life for patients with pacemakers. “It is great to see how micro technologies have improved healthcare and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the technology.” Brian Urke, speaking on behalf of Medtronic, said: “Our cross-functional teams have been working for years to redefine engineering limits and production capabilities by radically reducing the size of medical devices by more than 90 percent while continuing to innovate upon the existing technology.”
Ward Play Leader Tracey Martin contacted Soft Floor Kids UK when she urgently needed some new mats, and to her delight she was told that the company would both donate them and ship them urgently free of charge. Tracey said: “Babies and children who spend a long time on the ward get can get behind on their development and these mats make a really big difference as they can be used to stimulate play and movement, and are also very helpful in physiotherapy. “This was a really kind gesture and the mats will be put to very good use.”
Paediatric Physiotherapist Jo Patrick, patient, Tegan, and Play Leader, Tracey Martin
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New service changes sexual health in Leeds LTHT recently teamed up with local sexual health charity, Yorkshire Mesmac, and Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust to provide a new integrated sexual health service in the city. Leeds Sexual Health provides contraception, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, as well as HIV testing, improving care within in the city and bringing together the specialist expertise currently provided by Community Healthcare Trust’s (LCH) Contraception and Sexual Health service (CaSH), LTHT’s Genito-Urinary Medicine service (GUM) and Yorkshire MESMAC, to provide improvements in sexual health for communities right across Leeds. The services provided at the Centre for Sexual Health at the LGI will continue until October 2015 when a brand new specialist facility will open in the Merrion Centre. Dr Amy Evans, Lead Clinician in sexual health and HIV, commented: “The new integrated service hub in the Merrion Centre will bring specialised sexual
The NHS in Leeds is working with Yorkshire Mesmac to provide the new integrated sexual health service across the city
health provision in Leeds under one roof. We are looking to see many benefits for patients and improvements in how services are provided by the NHS thanks to the co-location of services.
“We are looking forward to working with MESMAC and LCH in the hub and across Leeds to ensure that people receive the best possible care when they need it, discreetly and effectively.”
The trainee perioperative assistants enjoyed a special event to celebrate qualifying
Trainee Perioperative Assistants see success Well done to the Trainee Perioperative Assistants who completed their one year training programme to achieve the Level 3 Diploma in perioperative care support. The successful team comprising of Tim Guest, Ben Ashurs, Sam Berry, James Clarke, Julian Simms, Martyn Thornton and Willy Nendouba received their certificates from Director of HR, Dean Royles in an award ceremony in Trust HQ.
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The education programme was delivered by Jeanette Domokos and Will Forster from Organisational Learning, in conjunction with Alison Guest and Hazel Parkinson, clinical educators from our Theatres team. The perioperative assistants worked hard to achieve the qualification, submitting regular assignments and being assessed in practice. Dean said: “It’s great to be able to
see members of our team achieve qualifications like this, which will help them to deliver safe and effective patient care in theatres. “Congratulations is also due to the brilliant Organisational Learning team and our Clinical Educators who have successfully run the course. Their combined efforts are invaluable in securing a well-trained NHS workforce of the future.”
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The Duchess agreed to become the patron of the Be a Hero campaign
#BeAHero campaign encourages people to sign up to organ donor register In July the Trust launched its Be a Hero campaign to encourage people across Yorkshire to sign up to the organ donor register and help our transplant teams save lives. To raise awareness of the campaign, the LTHT hero travelled across the region to meet people and encourage them to become heroes by adding their name to the register and getting a photo-booth snap to keep. Dr Simon Flood, Clinical Lead for Organ Donation at LTHT said: “I am really pleased with how the campaign has gone so far. The response from the public at our events was really encouraging. “Last year, just over 100 people in Yorkshire donated an organ after their death. Together these amazing individuals provided 294 lifesaving transplants.
“Sadly there are still nearly 800 people in Yorkshire waiting for a transplant. Just one organ donor can transform the lives of up to nine people and if more families felt sure of their loved one’s wishes to be a donor, more lives could be saved.”
“It was a pleasure for me to meet children here in Leeds who have received lifesaving organs.” Following several high profile celebrity endorsements from stars including Sir Patrick Stewart, England cricketer Joe Root and cricketing legend Geoffrey Boycott, the campaign received a huge boost when Sarah, Duchess of York,
Children and staff were delighted to welcome the Duchess
visited the Leeds Children’s Hospital to find out more about the importance of organ donation in saving lives. The Duchess visited children on the transplant and dialysis wards L10 and L11, learning about their conditions and talking about their time in hospital. She also met staff from across the Trust who work with both adult and paediatric transplant patients. As an added bonus, the Duchess also agreed to become the campaign’s patron helping to raise the profile of the cause even more. The Duchess said: “It was a pleasure for me to meet children here in Leeds who have received life-saving organs. They’ve been through so much and now their lives are finally back on track thanks to the selfless actions of organ donors.”
A team from LTHT visited the Trinity Shopping Centre in Leeds
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Farewell
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Kevin Downes
A fond farewell to our long-serving staff Barbara Aldis, Lympoedema Clinical Nurse Specialist Barbara came to work at Wharfedale Hospital in 1996 and in 1999 became a link Nurse for the lymphoedema Team; she joined the team full time in 2002. Barbara and her husband are looking forward to spending time with their four grandchildren and time away in their caravan. Barbara has received many cards from patients she has treated over the years to wish her well in her retirement.
The Lymphoedema Service wishes her lots of happiness in her retirement and she will be greatly missed by all within the team.
Kevin Downes, Staff Nurse Kevin Downes retired this July following almost twenty two years of dedicated service in the same department, Interventional Radiology Theatres. He has been caring for patients in this cutting edge speciality of nursing and over the decades has became expert in
assisting with vascular procedures such as angioplasty, stenting, embolization, thrombolysis and many more that go on at LTHT. Kevin began his career way back in 1976 when he joined the Royal Navy as a Medical Assistant and served for eleven years until 1987. Whilst in the Navy he trained as a nurse and served aboard the hospital ship during the 1982 Falklands conflict. Once he came back to civilian life he began work as an agency nurse taking jobs in many varied areas and eventually took some shifts in the Interventional Radiology Department at SJUH. He enjoyed his time here so much that when a permanent job came up he decided he wanted to stay. He will be missed by his colleagues and friends in the service.
Monica Chilton, Clinical Support Worker
Barbara Aldis
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Monica has left the Trust after 42 years of service. She has been a support and friend to many midwives and women over the years, assisting women with the early days of new parenthood and difficulties in pregnancy.
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Farewell
Sue Whitehead
She is looking forward to spending time with her grandchildren and husband, and going on canal barge holidays. She will be missed on L44 by all current staff and many that have known her over the years.
Sue Whitehead, HR Business Manager Sue worked in the Trust for 22 years in a range of roles within HR.
Looking forward to her retirement, Sue will be spending more time with her grandson Alfie, brushing up on her Spanish and enjoying visits to the Theatre. On behalf of the HR Service, Chris Carvey, Deputy Director of HR said “Sue has been a very valued member of staff and is hugely respected across the organisation. Her professional and personable approach is well recognised and will be hugely missed. We all wish Sue a very happy and healthy retirement – she deserves it!”
Liz McGinnes
Liz McGinnes, Nurse Consultant for Tissue Viability Liz has worked in Leeds for all of her career, working in both the acute and community trust. Liz has been in her current job role, as Nurse Consultant for Tissue Viability, since 2003 when she came to the trust and set up the Tissue Viability service. Liz will be returning to LTHT to work one day a week in research. She is also looking forward to having more time to do baking and gardening. She loves to travel and scuba dive (Colleagues said she is a secret adrenaline junky).
Monica Chilton
She is well loved by staff throughout the Trust. She is kind, caring, supportive and compassionate and has been very committed to her role. Her team will all miss her, but wish her all of the best for the future.
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Farewell
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Liz Nightingale
an excellent paediatric transport service (EMBRACE), and a combined cardiac and general PICU with 18 beds, 7 consultants, 150 nurses and an army of therapists, dieticians and pharmacists. Mark Darowski
Dr Mark Darowski, Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist / Intensivist In June, Dr Mark Darowski celebrated his retirement after a long and dedicated service to the Trust. Mark came to Leeds in 1994 and has been a huge asset to the Trust as a Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist / Intensivist and as Clinical Director. Mark was instrumental in setting up the first dedicated Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) beds in Leeds. Mark and colleagues raised funds for a fully equipped paediatric emergency vehicle for the West Yorkshire Ambulance Service and the retrieval service was born with both medical and nursing staff stabilising and retrieving children from the 14 hospitals around the region and transporting them safely back to the PICU. Mark was Clinical Director of the PICU and always strove for clinical excellence. Now, as Mark retires from the service, he leaves a national audit network (PICANet),
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What Mark has achieved is truly extraordinary. The CSU is grateful for his dedication and commitment and wish him all the very best in his welldeserved retirement.
May Matthews
Stephen Lord, Staff Nurse Stephen has completed 42 years of unbroken service, starting his career in the NHS on Y ward at Seacroft hospital and more recently specialising in Infectious and Travel Medicine. He has shown great dedication, hard work, character and passion for his nursing career, working to especially high standards and providing excellent patient care.
Stephen will be missed by his colleagues, especially for his historical anecdotes, and the team wish him all the best in the future and a long and happy retirement . Stephen now plans to travel around Japan for six weeks post retirement.
May Matthews, maternity Support worker Part of the maternity team for over 20 years, May Matthews retired following a long and successful career working in the unit.
Stephen Lord
During her time she saw many changes to the way that care is provided for women giving birth and within the field of midwifery. She always took time out to share her knowledge and experience, and had very high standards when it came to care. She will be sadly missed by the team in
Farewell
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Jean Gobey Paramjit “Jit” Jassi
the maternity unit at the LGI but they wish her the very best for her retirement. She is now looking forward to spending time with her grandchildren.
Jean Gobey, clerical officer Jean retired from the Trust in July, after working at LTHT for 17 years. Starting in the Ophthalmology Department as a clerical officer and receptionist, she worked there for five years, before moving in September 2004 to start a new job in the in the Manny Cussins Diabetes centre as a clerical officer and receptionist. Jean has been a dedicated clerical officer throughout her career and will be greatly missed. The team would like to wish Jean a very long happy and healthy retirement from all of her colleagues at the Manny Cussins Diabetes Centre at St James’s Hospital.
Sister Liz Nightingale Liz Nightingale worked within the NHS for 38 years and was based at LTHT for over 20. She ended her career as a Sister based in Colorectal and Breast theatres at St James’s and will be missed by her colleagues and friends from over the years.
During her career she has worked among every speciality, across all Trust sites. Many Consultant surgeons have known her since their early years as registrars. She was also a proud representative for the Royal College of Nursing. Liz plans to spend her retirement enjoying quality time in her holiday home at Whitby, and spend lots of time with her granddaughter and she also does voluntary work within the church and many social clubs.
Paramjit “Jit” Jassi, Bedboard Co-ordinator Jit worked for LTHT for over 40 years, firstly as a porter and then to Emergency Department reception. From there he joined the Admissions team which was later renamed as Bedboard. Following a long and successful career, Jit is looking forward to spending more time with his three grandchildren and enjoying time with his family. He enjoys being at home in the garden and following sports such as football and cricket. Jit will also be taking advantage of his free time with holidays abroad with his wife. The Bedboard team wish him the very
best for his retirement.
Viv Randerson
Viv Randerson, Information Manager at the Leeds Cancer Centre Viv retired after more than 30 years working in the NHS mostly for LTHT. Although eligible to retire for a number of years, she continued to work beyond retirement age and seems to enjoy life at LTHT so much that she is coming back to work part-time for another year after this retirement! Viv worked in Children’s Cancer Services before moving to Cookridge as Information manager, a role that she has continued since the move to Bexley Wing.
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60 seconds What do you do to wind down and relax after a hard week at work? Spend some quality time with my beautiful wife and my wonderful daughter whilst we prepare ourselves for the imminent arrival of a new baby. So, not particularly relaxing times at the moment, but exciting times!
Hamish Glencross, Radiology Nurse, has worked at the Trust for 8 years
What is your favourite food? Something hot and spicy, but still tasty. Not just heat for heat’s sake. What did you want to be when you were growing up? Life-saving, billionaire cyborg rockstar superhero. Same as any other kid, I guess. What is your favourite film? The Royal Tenenbaums, I like offbeat, quirky cinema.
What is your ideal holiday destination and why? Travel has been a large part of my life for many a year now, and I’ve been fortunate to visit some wonderful places; I recently finally made it to Iceland, which had been on my list for a while and heartily recommend it. If you could send me anywhere in the world on holiday right now though, I’d want to return to Thailand where we had our honeymoon.
Tell us something we don’t know about you … My first “hospital” job was acting in a TV show called “Children’s Ward” back in the nineties. After that role I turned down a part I was offered in “Heartbeat” and haven’t acted since.
New hearing device is first for LTHT 41-year-old Chris Hatton, a draughtsman from Pudsey, became the first person in the city to be fitted with a new type of implanted hearing aid (the Cochlear Attract), which includes a magnet placed under the patient’s skin, greatly improving its usability and appearance. The new magnetic type of attachment avoids the complications of having a direct and visible connection through the skin. Chris became deaf in one ear after contracting mumps eight years ago, and lived with the disability for some years, unaware that there were any options to help with his hearing loss. He was assessed as a suitable candidate by Rachel Berry, senior audiologist, for the newly available technology, in which there is a magnetic connection providing an invisible link between the sound processor and the implant. The wireless device uses the latest technology and automatically senses and
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Mr Verma explained: “With the previous type of bone anchored hearing device (BAHA) patients needed to take particular care to avoid the connection through the skin becoming infected. With the Attract device, having a magnet in place under the skin with the overlying skin intact does away with that risk, and is cosmetically more acceptable to patients. Chris chats with Mr Verma following the procedure
adapts to different ambient sound conditions such as wind and traffic noise, music and conversation. It is also fully compatible for iPhone users, and can be fine-tuned to meet Chris’s specific needs. Mr Sanjay Verma, Consultant Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon at LTHT, implanted the device in an operation which took around 40 minutes, and Chris was able to go home the same day.
“It also does away with the need to attend multiple aftercare clinics so the number of follow-up visits are kept to a minimum, which is much more convenient for the patient.”
The implant is held securely by a magnet
Chris added: “I can do anything I want to do and I often find I forget I am wearing it. It was easy and convenient to implant and I’m delighted to be the first patient in Leeds to have this new technology. I would definitely recommend it to people in a similar position to me who would benefit.”
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Yorkshire Cancer Research donation benefits Trust Cancer patients in Yorkshire are set to benefit after Yorkshire Cancer Research recently announced a multi-million pound investment aimed at tackling the NorthSouth cancer divide. In partnership with the University of Leeds and LTHT, the charity is investing £5m in a five year programme of research to address cancer inequalities in the region. It is the first time the charity has commissioned such a comprehensive programme of research in its 90 year history. The aim is to deliver significant benefits to people in Yorkshire. The Office of National Statistics recently released new figures which show that the Yorkshire region has the third highest cancer incidence rates in England, following the North East and the North West. In addition, there are clear variations in cancer incidence, mortality and survival rates within the county itself, with hotspots in areas such as Hull and parts of West and South Yorkshire. The three organisations will focus on four
main areas: • identifying inequalities and key priorities by analysing Yorkshire cancer data and patient experiences; • providing better support for patients and the choices they make following diagnosis; • improving transitions in care, from active disease management to disease monitoring, advanced disease management and end of life care; • and developing new therapies through the Yorkshire Cancer Research Centre for Early Phase Clinical Trials Charles Rowett, Chief Executive Officer at Yorkshire Cancer Research, said: “The North-South divide in cancer incidence and mortality rates is extremely alarming. National funding for cancer research is currently concentrated far too heavily in London and the South-East and is therefore failing to address the enormous disparities in cancer outcomes that exist in Yorkshire and the North of England. “There are many reasons for the cancer problems in our county, including high
levels of smoking and alcohol consumption, rapidly rising obesity rates, various socioeconomic factors and our industrial past. We also believe that there are distinct inequalities in terms of access to the best treatment and care. It is vital that charities, the NHS, universities and other organisations work together to understand more about what causes these problems and increase their investment in resources and initiatives that will address these issues.” Studies will be undertaken to improve diagnostic and screening services so that more people are diagnosed at an early stage, when the cancer is easier to treat, and to ensure all patients have equal access to gold standard treatments. Dr Yvette Oade, Chief Medical Officer at LTHT, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Yorkshire Cancer Research and the University of Leeds to improve cancer outcomes in Yorkshire. We are absolutely committed to addressing the issues in our region and this funding will play a vital role in helping the NHS deliver the best possible treatment and care.”
Dr Yvette Oade, Professor Paul Stewart and Charles Rowett announced the investment of £5 million
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My job
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and develop emergency plans. Reviewing and updating hospital emergency plans is an integral part of my role. To test our hospital plans, I organise training and exercises for staff. Currently, I am organising a live decontamination exercise at St. James’s to test the hospital’s response to a major contamination incident. What else have you done in your career so far?
Vicky Taylor, Emergency Planning Officer, works across all Trust sites. She is based at St. James’s University Hospital, and has worked at LTHT since November 2013. Summarise the main aspects of your role: The Resilience Manager and I are collectively known as the Emergency Preparedness Team. I work with a range of staff across the Trust to ensure that our hospitals and staff are prepared for a wide range of events, incidents and emergencies which could affect the delivery of health care services. My portfolio covers a wide range of topics from major incidents, preparing for large scale events such as the Tour de France, to planning for new and emerging infectious diseases. I work in collaboration with health and social care partners and blue light services in Leeds and West Yorkshire to share information, identify risks
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I worked for a charity called Mind. My job was to find education, social activities and employment for adults with mental health problems. During this period, I also worked for Hull Community and Voluntary Services, providing practical and emotional support for a lady with Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Myalgic Encephalopathy. I was a Peer Assisted Study Sessions leader. This involved organising and leading Psychology study sessions for first year university students. I graduated in 2013 with a BSc (Honours) Psychology degree. After university I moved to Leeds to work for Leeds Teaching Hospitals. The Trust has supported me in undertaking a part-time Level 4 Diploma in Health Emergency Planning with Loughborough University and Public Health England. This is enabling me to further develop my knowledge and expertise in the field of health emergency planning for the purposes of benefiting the hospital’s emergency planning arrangements.
What’s the best thing about your job? Emergency planning covers a vast number of topics and everyday my work is different and presents new interesting challenges. I like learning new information and translating it into information suitable for public and staff. I enjoy working with diverse groups of staff from directors to managers and clinical teams across all levels of the organisation to ensure the continuation of our hospital services during a wide range of events and incidents. I enjoy engaging with partner organisations through external meetings, workshops and live exercises. For example, I was an observer at a major incident exercise at Airedale Hospital, where the whole exercise was played out in the new A&E before it was opened to the public. What is the one thing you would change at LTHT to help you do your job better? I would change the intranet site to be more interactive and user-friendly. This could help staff to access the major incident and business continuity information more easily. What’s your best advice to a new starter at the Trust? Speak to your line manager and find out what your role could be in a major incident response. Find your department emergency/ contingency plans to ensure you are prepared to protect patients, public and staff in the event of an emergency. Be prepared!
www.leedsth.nhs.uk |
News
Brilliant success at Transplant Games The end of July saw the annual British Transplant Games take place, with Newcastle-Gateshead hosting the event this year. Children’s and adult teams of organ transplant recipients and live donors took part in the competitions and brought back a huge bag of medals – 95 between them! The Children’s team bagged 21 Gold, 23 Silver and 12 Bronze medals and won the Liver Cup for their achievements, putting the icing on the cake of a great
event for them. This year we also had one of the biggest adult teams consisting of 40 competitors and spectators - four times larger than last year! They also had a smart new blue kit which really helped build a team identity. The age range of our adult team was from 18 to 79, and because we are a specialist centre, transplant recipients from across the country whose surgery was undertaken here at LTHT competed for the honour of Leeds.
It was a great celebration of the gift of life for all those taking part and the team did us proud with 10 Gold, 15 Silver and 14 Bronze medals. Well done to all the competitors and thanks to the LTHT staff who went along to help organise both the children‘s and adult teams during their trip to Tyneside. The Games are the best possible advert for the life-changing opportunities an organ transplant can offer desperately sick adults and children.
We are Leeds: Some of the Leeds Children’s and Adult teams parade at the opening ceremony
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Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Welcome to Leeds NHS Stop Smoking Service
Did you know that 81% of adults in England don’t smoke? In the past year we’ve helped 1,922 people in Leeds to quit smoking and 96% of our clients would recommend us to their family and friends. We combine stop smoking medication, to help with physical withdrawal from nicotine, with support that helps people to recognise and tackle the habits and psychological factors behind their smoking. We also do carbon monoxide readings. People who use our service are 4 times more likely to be successful in quitting than if they try on their own. We offer both daytime and evening “quit” sessions, free of charge, in venues across Leeds and can do home visits for those who are housebound. We also provide intensive support to pregnant woman and their families, people with learning disabilities and mental health problems and under 18s. We can arrange an interpreter if required. It’s quick and easy to book an appointment or refer someone to us, simply: Phone us on: 0800 169 4219 or 0113 843 4533 Text: SMOKEFREE to 60066 Email: stopsmokingleeds@nhs.net Or visit our website for more information and to see a list of clinics: www.leedscommunityhealthcare.nhs.uk/smoking
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