PULSE Autumn 2014

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Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Autumn 2014 | issue 3

Recruitment Welcoming our new nurses page 4-5 Bringing members, staff and PATIENTS the latest Trust news

Recruitment

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Message from our Acting Chief Executive

Caroline Walker Welcome to the Autumn edition of The Pulse magazine.

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n this issue we have thrown the spotlight on how we are working to improve the experience of those patients who have to visit us with an emergency illness or injury.

There has been a lot of focus in the national media on how hospitals across the country are not meeting the patient experience standards set by the Government to see, treat and discharge (or admit) patients who attend their Emergency Department or A&E within 4 hours.

At Peterborough City Hospital we have seen a steady rise in the number of patients attending our emergency department over the past few months, and of those coming in for treatment, there have been a greater number who have minor injuries or illnesses.

As a result of this, we have not been meeting the standards on A&E waiting times. We appreciate that this can impact upon the experience of our patients and their relatives.

To improve our performance in this area we have put in place some new pathways that are already helping to shorten the length of time patients are waiting to be treated.

The article on page 7 outlines the changes we have put in place to ensure patients are treated in the right place, first time, every time.

This includes creating a special unit within our Emergency Department

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specifically for children and young people to be cared for.

We have had some excellent feedback from parents and our young patients who have used the unit and we will continue to make it a more friendly place to put children at their ease whilst receiving care. I am pleased to report that there are early signs that these changes are having a positive impact.

I am also pleased to welcome some new recruits to the Trust in this edition of The Pulse. Tausif Khan has been appointed as our first Muslim chaplain, while Sam Dobbins and Alex Coward are workers for the charity CLIC Sargent who are now based in the Trust’s Cancer Services department where they are working with young people who are diagnosed with cancer.

Finally we are getting ready to welcome our new chief executive, Stephen Graves, who is due to join the Trust on 8 September – while I will return to my regular post as Finance Director. Stephen is no stranger to the eastern region having worked at Addenbrookes Hospital in this recent career. Make sure you pick up a copy of the Winter edition of The Pulse to hear his plans for taking our Trust forward into 2015 and beyond.

Helen Blades, Outpatients and MIU Clerk

Spotlight on Urgent Care

Facilities team cause ‘Bed-lam’ at the Deepings Raft Race

Exciting new maternity system

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Our NVQ team (L to R Karen Stone, Jenny Coates, Ali Holdsworth, Janice Pratt and Kerry Coates)

Support for our staff

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he NVQ team at the Trust have been busy supporting members of staff through their NVQ’s and apprenticeships.

There are currently 87 members of staff who are working towards their apprenticeship and 151 members of staff who are completing their NVQs. 220 staff have completed

apprenticeships since the scheme began in 2010.

Ali Holdsworth, Acting NVQ Development Coordinator, said: “Apprenticeships and

Trust celebrates outstanding staff and volunteers The Trust will be dedicating the month of October to celebrate the outstanding work of our staff and volunteers.

On Tuesday 21 October, a number of our staff will be celebrating the completion of their qualifications in a graduation ceremony.

Staff who have achieved various qualifications including NVQs will be rewarded for their achievements with an evening buffet before they are presented with their certificates.

On Wednesday 22 October, the Trust will host a breakfast for our longest serving volunteers to say thank you for their dedication to the Trust. Our volunteers, who regularly give up their own time to help patients and staff, will be congratulated and rewarded for completing long service milestones of between five and 30 years.

Finally on Thursday 23 October, an event will be held to celebrate our longest serving staff, who have achieved 25 years continuous service with the Trust. This will take place as part of the Trust’s annual Outstanding Achievement awards, where individual staff members and teams will be named and recognised for their outstanding work. The awards will take place at the Orton Hall Hotel in Peterborough.

Rob Hughes, Chairman,

Rob Hughes, Chairman, said: Director for Cancer and “Our staff and Diagnostics and Mark volunteers are Edwards, Editor of our greatest asset Peterborough Telegraph and these events over the course of October will showcase our fantastic workforce.

Dr Kanchan Rege, Clinical

NVQ’s are a great way to develop our staff, improve staff morale and have better staff retention. We also are able to see an induction of new ideas to the organisation.”

Flu jab It is that time of year again when the cold weather sets in and the number of people suffering with coughs and colds start to increase.

In particular we have a duty to ensure that our vulnerable patients are protected as much as possible and the spread of flu is kept to a minimum.

At the Trust we are starting to roll out our flu campaign and encourage as many of our staff as possible to roll up their sleeves and get their flu vaccination.

Last year’s campaign was a huge success, with 78% of staff receiving their flu vaccine. Now we want to achieve the same again and also encourage those who didn’t have their vaccine last year to join the fight against flu this year.

“I am delighted to be part of honouring their hard work and dedication to providing excellent patient care.”

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Young patients and their families get to grips with new treatment

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he team in Rainforest outpatients department staged a special event for young rheumatology patients to show them, and their families, how to use a new pen that dispenses the medicine to alleviate their condition.

The event, which was supported by pharmaceutical company Metoject, involved 10 young patients with rheumatology conditions who attended with their parents and siblings. They were shown how to use new pre-filled, single-does syringes of Methotrexate, which aims to make management of their conditions a little easier.

also the Trust’s paediatric rheumatology nurse, organised the event which also included lunch and a teaching session on how to use the new pen. She said: “We arranged this event to help our young patients and their families learn how to use the new single-dose pens with expert help on site. They had received literature on the pens beforehand, but this

event gave them the chance to discuss any concerns and watch the experts administer the injection on dummies. It was also the first time that many of them had met each other – which the families told me they found really helpful. It was a fun and informative day and we hope to hold similar events in Rainforest outpatients in the future.”

Rheumatology event in Rainforest outpatients

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ast year the Trust began a large recruitment campaign to increase the number of permanent nurses working in our wards.

Erica Crust, sister in Rainforest Children’s outpatients and

New liver scanner prevents invasive procedures Peterborough City Hospital has invested in a new piece of equipment, which can scan a patient’s liver instead of requiring a biopsy procedure.

Currently, four members of staff have been trained to use the equipment - a consultant, two registrars and a nurse specialist, and over 100 patients have already been scanned.

The FibroScan works by sending a wave through the liver and taking a reading that enables medical staff to interpret how much scarring is on the liver, and therefore identify the extent of any damage that may be present.

Previously a patient would need a liver biopsy and have to wait for their results, but now the results are immediate and patients can be informed of their ongoing care plan without having to wait.

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Recru

Katherine Barry, Heptology Nurse Specialist demonstrates the new liver scanner

Dr Mary Ninkovic, Consultant Gastroenterologist, said: “This equipment has been of great value to us already. The machine works by sending a wave through the liver and the speed of the wave tells us how solid the liver is, which we can relate to how much scarring is present. As it gives us the results immediately, we can use this to educate patients on lifestyle changes, manage patient care and follow up more effectively. In the future we hope to add software to the system to allow us to see how much fat there is in a patient’s liver and also to use it in reviewing patients who are on medication that can cause fibrosis of the liver.”

Work began by inviting nurses across the country to several recruitment open days, which have taken place throughout 2014. Following this we have also recruited 14 newly qualified nurses to the Trust, who will start in September.

However due to a national shortage of nurses, particularly within East Anglia, we have begun an international recruitment campaign

Could you b meal time c We are appealing for volunteer meal time companions. The role will offer extra support to patients during mealtimes whilst they are in hospital.

Some of our patients would benefit from having someone with them for support during meals.

Providing patients with support could range from helping patients to choose meals, providing encouragement and a friendly

First group of overseas nurses arrive

Cancer Services welcome CLIC Sargent team

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he Cancer Services Team at Peterborough City Hospital has welcomed a CLIC Sargent Social Worker and Young People’s Community Worker to their department, to work with young people diagnosed with cancer.

The two posts, funded by CLIC Sargent, will provide practical, financial and emotional support to 16 to 24-year-olds diagnosed with cancer in Peterborough and the surrounding area.

Alex Coward, Young People’s Community Worker and Sam Dobbins, Social Worker for CLIC Sargent are already working alongside patients to develop a plan that meets their individual needs at a pace that suits them. Sam Dobbins, said: “Now we are building relationships with the hospital’s doctors, nurses and supporting health care professionals, so that we can provide the reassurance and assistance that young people need, when faced with the diagnosis of cancer.”

Alexander Coward and Samantha Dobbins Clic Sargent Youth and Social Workers

uitment in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Greece. These nurses receive the same pre interview tests and interview questions as the nurses that we recruit in the UK; as a result this ensures that our patients will continue to receive a high level of quality care.

We have now welcomed the first three groups of international nurses, 59 nurses in total, to the Trust and they are working in the Emergency Department, Emergency Short Stay, Theatres, Stamford Theatres, Recovery, Day Treatment Unit, B6, A9, B11 and B12.

become a companion? service as well as practical support.

If you are interested in becoming one of our meal time companions, the hours you would be required to work are from 11.30am to 1.30pm and 4.30pm to 6.30pm.

Training will be provided for all those wishing to become a volunteer companion. For more information, please contact Bo Turner, Volunteer Co-ordinator on 01733 673385.

Chaplaincy team expands Welcome to Tausif Khan, who joined the Chaplaincy team earlier this year as the first Muslim Chaplain for the Trust. Tausif will work two sessions per week, with a flexible approach so that she can respond to needs as they arise, especially in the maternity department.

Tausif said: “It is a privilege to be part of the Chaplaincy Team. I have volunteered for the Chaplaincy both at PCH and at the Cavell Centre, as well as at Peterborough Regional College and University Centre. Through Chaplaincy, I am able to build on my knowledge of faith and the communities in Peterborough to support the hospital Muslim community better, whether patients, visitors or staff.”

Tausif Khan

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60 Seconds with…

Helen Blades, Outpatients and MIU Clerk

Patients visiting Stamford Hospital will benefit from a new donation by our Friends group

Friends of Stamford Hospital donation benefits patients Stamford Hospital is delighted to receive a donation of £1900 from the Friends of Stamford Hospital to create a relatives room and to decorate a children’s area in the Minor Injuries Unit.

The relative’s room will be located on John Van Geest ward and will provide a dedicated quiet space for doctors and nurses to speak to families away from the noisy ward environment. The donation will help to redecorate and furnish a meeting room and transform it into a comfortable space for families.

The Minor Injuries Unit will also benefit from the donation with a mural of a decorative jungle scene

in the children’s bay to make it less threatening and ‘hospital like’. The mural will also guide children along the corridor to the x-ray department to give them something to focus on during their visit to hospital.

Both of the refurbishments are expected to be completed by the end of August.

Susan Brooks, Matron and Site Manager for Stamford Hospital said: “This donation will benefit our younger patients and the families of relatives who need to speak privately with our staff. We would like to thank the Friends of Stamford Hospital for their continued support and kind donation.”

Stamford Hospital Redevelopment Update The Trust is working closely with commissioner colleagues in South Lincolnshire to determine the additional services that would be required on the Stamford Hospital site.

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s the first person that our Stamford patients see, Outpatients and MIU Clerk, Helen Blades is at the forefront of activity.

Born and bred in Stamford, there are not many people that don’t know her and after working for the Trust for 12 years, there are not many things that Helen doesn’t know about Stamford.

“I have always been a people person and this role certainly fulfils that. I really enjoy working with the public and you never know what you will be asked from one minute to the next.”

Helen first started working in accounts and wages, before taking on a role at the Trust in the Medical Records department.

She then jumped at the chance to take on her current role, two years ago and is now described by her colleagues at the ‘Stamford Oracle’.

ankles to foreign objects in an arm or leg. You have to have a strong stomach. At first it was a bit shocking, but now nothing fazes me.”

Day to day challenges include large numbers of people coming in at any time with a variety of questions, but Helen takes it all in her stride.

“I think you need to have a calm and understanding manner when speaking to the public as it can often be a stressful time for them.

But I always follow the rule that I speak to people as I would expect to be spoken to.”

Outside work Helen enjoys knitting, reading and dancing to old time and modern sequence, including the Waltz and Foxtrot and spending time with her husband, who is a Porter at the Trust, and their three children and three grandchildren.

The key parts of the job involve booking patients in for their outpatient appointments and booking patients into the minor injuries unit.

Whilst the outpatients are expected, the patients coming in with minor injuries can be varied and this certainly keeps Helen on her toes.

“We have all sorts of injuries coming in through the doors, from broken

South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group is conducting a Strategic Health Review – the outcome of which will be used to help identify the services to be considered for the Stamford Hospital site. However, this review will not be completed until at least mid-2015.

Therefore, we will not be able to confirm the additional services to be earmarked for the hospital site until then.

There is some work that we can continue to progress which relate to firming up the Trusts needs on the site and planning/historical building isses.so that we can at least continue to make progress with the redevelopment plan while awaiting the Strategic Review outcome.

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Helen Blades

Spotlight on Urgent Care

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he Trust, along with other acute hospitals continues to experience unprecedented levels of emergency patients and we continue to receive support from all health and social care partners in managing the situation and improving the experience for all patients.

Sarah said that having a consultant on the team will ensure the unit operates even more effectively in the future. She added: “The Trust board has approved a permanent consultant post to be placed in the Unit, plus an increase in our opening hours to 8am-8pm weekdays and 8am-4pm at weekends.

We anticipate this will be implemented within the next 6-12 months.”

A major focus of the action plan is an enhanced ambulatory care pathway. To deliver this the department has relocated to a dedicated unit at the rear of the City Hospital.

The ambulatory care move has enabled the emergency department to reinstate its dedicated paediatric unit.

It is known that for 25 per cent of patients attending the emergency department it would be more appropriate for them to attend the ambulatory care unit – for both self and GP referrals.

The Trust board has approved a permanent consultant post to be placed in the Unit

Ward manager Sarah Shah said: “Patients are already telling us how much they like the calm, reassuring atmosphere.

They also like the fact we have a car park outside the door and are easy to get to.”

Staff nurse Bernadette Dales and Kaashif Malik and daughter Miah Malik (aged 10 months)

In the first month of operation, the unit treated more patients in ambulatory care than would normally come through the door. This is because the team was fortunate enough to have access to a consultant, who could take patients needing consultant-led care and preventing what would normally be an admission to a hospital ward.

Children and young people attending the Emergency Department at the City Hospital are now treated in a separate area designed specifically with them in mind by a dedicated team of children’s nurses and doctors. The décor for the department has been funded by the charity For Lucie.

Celia Kendrick, lead nurse in the Emergency department, said: “We have created an improved environment for children to be treated away from adults and it enables us to be far slicker in starting their triage and treatment which hopefully ensures that the time they spend with us is far less scary and overwhelming.

“We are extremely grateful to the For Lucie charity for their support in decorating the rooms, as it makes a real difference to how the clinical areas look.”

CQC inspection report highlights ‘good’ services In March 2014, the Care Quality Commission visited both the Peterborough City Hospital and Stamford Hospital sites in the second wave of new-style CQC inspections.

These provide a much more detailed picture of the quality of care provided in hospitals than ever before.

Six out of eight services, inspected by the CQC, at Peterborough City Hospital have been rated as ‘good’.

The service areas – surgery, intensive/ critical care, maternity, children’s care, end of life care and the outpatients department – all demonstrated consistently good care for patients.

Two other service areas – accident and emergency and medical care – were rated by inspectors as ‘requiring improvement’.

All three service areas provided at Stamford

Hospital were rated as ‘good’. Inspectors commended staff at both hospitals for providing caring services and concluded that the Trust was well led.

The Trust has no compliance actions that need to be addressed but to make best use of the report, a full programme of action looking at all the inspectors’ comments is being implemented. Many actions have already been progressed including:

and bereavement team; work undertaken in intensive care to reduce instances of ventilator-acquired pneumonia; and a new system for ward information management pioneered at Stamford Hospital.

The report can be accessed on the CQC website http://www.cqc.org.uk/directory/rgn.

■ The new Children’s Emergency Department has now opened ■ Changes to Urgent Care Areas of good practice across both hospitals were highlighted, including a ‘joint school’ for patients having hip or knee surgery which aims to improve the recovery process; a debrief session for women following the delivery of their baby; additional services provided to relatives by the Trust’s mortuary

Patient Ernest Haynes and Sarah Shah, Ward Manager for the Ambulatory Care Unit.

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Emergency nurse to hike up Everest

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n emergency nurse at Peterborough City Hospital is embarking on a gruelling training regime to prepare for a trek up Mount Everest, in Nepal.

Darren Hipwell has been working as an Emergency Nurse at the Trust for 3 years and has already climbed Snowden, Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Kilimanjaro. Now he is taking on the ultimate challenge, by trekking for eight days up to the base camp on Mount Everest in March 2015, whilst raising money for the British Heart Foundation.

Darren said: “It was really important to me to raise the funds for the British Heart Foundation, as two of my grandparents died as a result of heart attacks and as a result of working in the Emergency Department I know first-hand the effects

that heart conditions can have on your body.”

The trek, the cost of which Darren is paying for himself, will take eight days to ascend and two days to descend and will reach altitudes of up to 5,647 metres. Darren has already started his cardiovascular training by going to the gym 3 to 4 times a week and by cycling 200 miles a week.

He said: “I am hoping to raise £3,000 for the charity and staff at the Trust have been hugely supportive. I have been very fortunate to be given the opportunity to do this and want to make sure that I raise as much money as possible.”

Donations can be made via Darren’s Just Giving page: https:// www.justgiving. com/DarrenHipwell

Darren Hipwell

This was a good opportunity to raise money for some great causes

Facilities team caus at the Deepings Raf

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t was a case of ‘sink or swim’ for members of the Trust’s Facilities team when they embarked on a charity effort in the annual Deepings Raft Race on Sunday 3 August 2014.

to finish as they navigated the occasionally choppy waters of the River Welland.

Six members of the team – Andy Tunnicliffe, Matt Grant, Adrian Toon, Mark Luck, John White and Rahim Ebrahim – used their spare time to build a raft using a scrapped hospital bed that stayed afloat from start

The Trust is set to benefit from the funds raised at this year’s race, as the Raft Race committee has chosen to split all cash raised between the Critical Care Unit at PCH, Parkinson’s UK and Great

While they did not win, they navigated the mile-long course in a respectable 48 minutes.

Home dialysis event at the Peterborough

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The Renal Team at Peterborough City Hospital organised an event to raise awareness about home dialysis. There are a number of patients who carry out their own dialysis treatment at home, but not everyone is aware of what it actually involves.

term life sustaining treatment. Helen Short Community Sister said: “It is important that people on dialysis are aware that home dialysis is possible, it may help improve physical symptoms and quality of life and being involved in your treatment can be empowering.”

Dialysis is needed when the kidneys are no longer working effectively and is a long

Patients on the unit and those dialysing at units outside Peterborough were invited

to the event to meet other patients who already carry out their dialysis at home.

Michael Lee attended the event with his wife, Shelia. Michael has been receiving dialysis treatment from home for five years.

He said: “Having the treatment at home is much more convenient as it removes the hassle of organising transport and waiting for a time slot from the hospital.”

We’re throwing the spotlight on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis, are invited to attend a special event being held at Peterborough City Hospital on Saturday 15 November 2014.

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he Trust is throwing the spotlight on the help and advice that is available to the hundreds of sufferers in the local community, by hosting the educational event with support from its own IBD Patient Panel.

The packed agenda will feature presentations from the hospital’s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Nurses, Consultant Gastroenterologists, our dieticians and representatives from Crohn’s and Colitis UK. The Trust’s Raft Race team

se ‘Bed-lam’ ft Race Ormond Street Hospital, London.

Andy Tunnicliffe said: “This was a good opportunity to raise money for some great causes. Our efforts were made even more worthwhile to know our own Critical Care Unit will benefit.

“We would like to thank all the staff who sponsored us. We are confident we will raise more than £1,000 through sponsorship from colleagues and a very generous donation of £500 from Spalding Round Table.”

h Renal Unit

Shelia and Michael Lee -dialysis awareness

The idea to stage the event came from the Trust’s IBD patient panel – the members of which have recent first-hand experience of hospital care for their condition. They play an important role in putting across patients’ views to help shape the improvement of hospital services for the future.

Panel chairman John Humphries said: “We are working with local GPs to spread the

word about this event among those patients they think might benefit. But anyone who wants to is welcome to attend on the day. It might be someone who is newly diagnosed or someone who is managing their condition but would welcome support from fellow sufferers. Either way, we want to ensure those attending will not feel isolated by their symptoms. By showing them how patients are cared for at the hospital, and how the hospital is aiming to develop services further, we hope this will give them the confidence to know the support is there to help them manage their condition.”

The event will begin at 9.30am in the Learning Centre, which is on Level 4 at Peterborough City Hospital. It will run until lunchtime. It will be publicised in the hospital and via local GP surgeries. Anyone who wants to register their attendance now can do so via email to: John Humphries at pch.ibd. patientpanel@gnet.com.

Trust teams up with Park House to Stop the Pressure The ‘Stop the Pressure’ campaign at the Trust aims to have no avoidable grade 2, 3 or 4 pressure ulcers develop on any patients. In partnership with this Park House Nursing Home in Peterborough has kindly donated 300 pocket sized mirrors to assist staff in carrying out skin integrity checks on patients heels and feet in hard to view areas.

Prompt recognition of any skin changes or early recognition of existing skin damage means that staff can initiate appropriate interventions.

Early recognition of patients at risk of developing pressure ulcers is an essential part of prevention and inspection of skin integrity forms a vital part of this prevention. Clinical members of staff are trained annually to look for redness, swelling, hardening of skins and blisters.

Each ward area will be issued with 10 mirrors and one will be given to each tissue viability link nurse. The mirrors will not replace inspection of heels on turning but will assist with checking in between. They will also assist staff to check patients’ heels when they are sat out in a chair without having to bend excessively or lift the patients’ legs too high.

Janet Small, Tissue Viability Nurse

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Exciting new maternity system set to replace current way of working A project to establish a replacement maternity system is set to come into force later this year. The new system will provide multiple benefits including improvements to the patient pathways and reducing risks to mothers.

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enny Brett, Head of Midwifery, said: “The K2 system effectively enables every aspect of the maternity patient pathway to be captured and recorded electronically. The implementation of K2 will enable Midwives, Obstetricians and Maternity Staff to be able to deliver more direct care to women, babies and families. We hope that women will benefit by having greater one to one care in labour and enhanced support in the postnatal period.”

features such as cardiotacograph (CTG) monitoring with interactive recording.

Laptops will also be issued to all community midwives so that they are able to record details electronically.

Andy Mills, IT Programme Manager, said: “The Trust secured £286k in funding from NHS England as part of the Safer Hospitals, Safer Wards Technology Funding initiative.

The system will introduce a number of timeefficiency and cost savings, particularly on the cost of printed stationery such as care bundles. It will also move the Trust towards a paperlight environment and the Trust’s and government’s goal of a full digital record for patients by 2018.”

Community midwives will also have IT access, removing the reliance on paper referrals and documentation. Women will have access to their notes online and maternity staff can use this facility to send appropriate information to women.

The full patient journey will be covered by a phased introduction of the K2 system, including antenatal booking; community midwifery; labour and delivery; postnatal and a patient portal.

The K2 system also includes new

Radiotherapy expansion gets underway Construction work on the expansion of the radiotherapy department at Peterborough City Hospital is set to start this week.

From 26 August, preliminary work will begin to the rear of the site, in preparation for two new bunkers to be built and an additional linear accelerator machine installed.

There will be no change to patient treatment during the works, which are due to be complete by mid-summer 2015. Any car park changes are well signposted onsite and regular updates on the progress of the project will be provided.

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Maternity K2 team

New ‘buggy’ service proves a success among patients The ‘buggy’ service at Peterborough City Hospital has seen a surge in the number passengers using the facility since it began in March.

The service is offered during the week between 9am-5pm, by volunteers who have undergone a rigorous selection and training process.

Rolf Stobbart, Moving and Handling Advisor, said: “All of our drivers have to complete a medical and must take both a practical and theory test in order to become certified drivers.”

On average drivers will make 30 journeys per shift, the most frequent being to diagnostic imaging and the fracture clinic.

Dave Darvill, Volunteer Buggy Driver, said: “We have seen an increase in the number of patients using the service. Regular patients now wait in the seating area of the Atrium.”

Support for our dementia patients The trust is continuing to develop the support and resources available to both patients with dementia and their carers.

Therapy in our CCU always starts as soon as the patient is clinically stable

Senior Physiotherapists Laura Knott & Cat Badham with patient Lesley Ireland

Physiotherapy bike gives a boost to critical care patients

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new exercise bike, purchased through charitable donations, is being put to good use in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) at Peterborough City Hospital (PCH).

Physiotherapists at PCH have introduced a new stationary exercise bike to patients who are well enough, to improve their general fitness and increase physical strength which will in turn, help them come off ventilation.

“Therapy in our CCU always starts as soon as the patient is clinically stable,” said Cat Badham, Senior Physiotherapist. “This can involve a range of activities from bed exercises to mobilising on a portable ventilator, including short trips outside for fresh air.”

Thanks to charitable funds donated to the unit, additional aids have also been bought to help speed up a patient’s rehabilitation. These include hand weights, a hand dynometer to help asses grip strength, and an exercise bike.

“The feedback from patients so far has been really positive,” said Cat. “Critical illness can affect a person both physically and cognitively and so early physical rehabilitation can help combat this, aiding strength, building mood and facilitating weaning from ventilation.”

The Critical Care team draw on their experience from treating a wide range of respiratory patients, providing therapy to the cardiac and coronary care units, ward B12, respiratory paediatrics, respiratory outpatients and pulmonary rehabilitation.

Some of our hospital volunteers, as well as members of staff have received dementia awareness training. Alongside this, there are trained dementia champions in each speciality, who are available as an additional support to nursing staff.

Thanks to a donation from the County Court Care in Peterborough, the trust invested in Tip-Tree boxes. The boxes contain a variety of items which use reminiscence therapy to help to relax and reassure patients. As well as the boxes, the Friends of Peterborough Hospital donated specially designed books for our dementia patients.

Together with the chaplaincy team, the trust has hosted ‘Sing for the brain sessions’ which have been very popular. Patients enjoy singing along to old war time songs and Vera Lynn songs which bring back enjoyable memories for most.

Alison Gray, Dementia Specialist Nurse, visits all wards and departments to screen and support patients, carers and staff.

Alison said: “We are constantly developing our services to continue to improve the care for our dementia patients.“

Hair and beauty salon opens at PCH We are pleased to announce that Maya’s Hair and Beauty salon is set to open in the Women’s and Children’s atrium at Peterborough City Hospital in September.

The salon, run by local hair stylist Laura, will offer a diverse range of hair services from cut, finish and blow-dries to high quality hair extensions. In addition it will offer gelish nails and hair loss treatments.

The salon will be open to patients, hospital staff and people visiting the hospital.

Chris Wilkinson, chief nurse and director of

care quality for Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are very pleased to be able to offer this service to our patients, visitors and staff. We are looking forward to working with Laura and the team in the salon to ensure those patients who want to take advantage of the service can do so, wherever possible. I am sure a cut or a blow dry will go a long way to helping our patients feel brighter as they recover with us.”

Salon opening times are currently being reviewed to determine the times that will suit clients best.

Chris Wilkinson, Deyo Okubadejo and Judy Sharp with memory books

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Rheumatology East of England workshop group

Trust hosts East Anglia Rheumatology Workshop

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r Sandeep Dahiya, Consultant Rheumatologist organised the East of England Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Workshop in Rheumatology. This event takes place annually and hosts nationally and internationally recognised speakers who are involved in the programme.

The speakers all had a wide range of interests from using ultrasound in rheumatological diseases, sports and exercise medicine, identifying soft tissue pathology and the use of ultrasound in early arthritis. Workshops included ultrasound of the hand and shoulder.

The department led by Dr Dahiya has

been at the forefront of this training initiative in the East of England region and the trust is one of the few hospitals where ultrasound scanning is available in rheumatology clinic. The trust is also in the process of developing a postgraduate certificate in ultrasound in early arthritis for rheumatology trainees in the region.

Breast Unit team marks 25 years of screening in the city The Trust’s Breast Unit team is planning a special event on Saturday 27 September to mark 25 years of providing breast screening to patients in Peterborough.

The unit is throwing open its doors to members of the public from 9.30am to 12.30pm so that they can take a look around, meet staff and find out how the breast screening service works. There will be tea, coffee and cakes on offer, too.

In addition, we will be celebrating the contribution of three long serving staff members who have been part of the city’s breast screening service since it began. Administrator Rose Baker, Consultant Radiographer Jane Harris and Advanced Practitioner Michelle Harris worked on the unit

back in 1989 when routine screening was first offered to women aged between 50 and 64 living in the Peterborough area.

Jayne Blackbourn, Breast Services Administration Manager, said: “Our breast screening service has been used by many patients in the past 25 years and made a real difference to people’s lives as a result of earlier diagnosis and treatment. We are very proud of the work the team does and are keen to mark such a milestone. We are looking forward to welcoming lots of people who want to see the unit and meet the staff.”

Anyone wishing to attend the event can contact Jayne on 01733 673059 for more information.

L R: Claire Hall - Breast Care Nurse Specialist, Vanessa Hewick Breast Care Nurse Specialist, Lisa Hayes – Breast Care Support Nurse, Jane Farrer – Breast Care Support Nurse.

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Membership In our recent membership survey, our members said that they were interested in hearing more about patient experience. They wanted to know about times when a complaint from a patient or visitor has been resolved and different processes put into place following the issue being raised.

Taking this feedback into account, at the beginning of our public board meetings, a patient or carer who has been through the complaint process is invited to share their experience with the board. Patients are the focus of the trust; therefore opening all our public board meetings with patient feedback reflects this.

Don’t forget our next Members Meeting is Wednesday 1 October at 5.45pm, Denis Bracey Room, Peterborough City Hospital.

This meeting will focus on our urgent care facilities and how we can protect ourselves from the ailments this winter.

You can pick up our newly designed membership leaflets to promote becoming a Foundation Trust.

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Every possible care has been taken to ensure that the information given in this publication is accurate. Whilst the publisher would be grateful to learn of any errors, it cannot accept any liability over and above the cost of the advertisement for loss there by caused. No reproduction by any method whatsoever of any part of this publication is permitted without prior written consent of the copyright owners.

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Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has not vetted the advertisers in this publication and accepts no liability for work done or goods supplied by any advertiser.

Nor does Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust endorse any of the products or services.

Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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We welcome enquiries from members of the public as well as architects and developers and will be pleased to advise on any queries you may have.

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Working in partnership with the NHS •F T members’ magazines and literature •M ailing service and socio economic profiling •A nnual reports, quality reports and summaries • Advertising funded social care directories and information • Advertising funded staff magazines • Promotional items e.g. lanyards, pens, balloons, mugs etc • Ebooks Britannic Chambers, 8A Carlton Road, Worksop, Nottinghamshire S80 1PH 01909 478822 | www.octagon.org.uk | info@octagon.org.uk

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