New surgical unit to boost capacity and provide state-of-the-art facilities

Successful launch of stroke video triage

Stroke Video Triage has been launched across Sheffield and Doncaster after gaining funding from NHS England.

The Video Triage Pilot was launched in August and involves providing a new pre-hospital treatment video triage tool, for suspected stroke patients who receive treatment from the Ambulance service. An app enables paramedics at the scene to initiate a video call with stroke clinicians at the Hyper-Acute Stroke Unit (HASU) at either the Royal Hallamshire or Doncaster Royal Infirmary who can support and document details.

Case study:

An ambulance crew on scene with a 66-yearold man with a sudden onset of confusion and word finding difficulties were able to initiate a video call with a stroke clinician. The call lasted 10 minutes and provided a good video connection. The clinician was able to assess the symptoms and determine that it was not confusion but expressive and receptive dysphasia (language difficulties) and that the patient was a candidate for Thrombolysis (‘clot busting’ treatment) and should be transferred urgently to hospital. The ambulance crew arrived at the hospital with the patient 1 hour 36 minutes after the initial call was made to 999. When the patient arrived at the hospital they were taken straight for a scan and received Thrombolysis treatment 37 minutes after arrival.

New purpose-built surgical unit for Royal Hallamshire

An new multi-million pound unit for elective orthopaedic surgery is being created at the Hallamshire Hospital to help with the recovery work we need to catch up.

While RHH currently delivers some lower limb replacement and soft tissue surgery, the majority of elective orthopaedics surgery is currently delivered at the Northern General. The new unit will enable more types of specialist surgery – such as lower limb replacement, foot and ankle, and shoulder and knee surgeries to move across to the new unit based on Q Floor, with emergency, trauma care (including spinal) and limb reconstruction remaining at the Northern General. Due to open in April 2023 after a major refurbishment, the unit will cover the whole of Q floor and include: • An admission and day case ward with 16 beds • 4 laminar flow theatres with 8 recovery bays • A 27 bed inpatient ward • A 3 bed Enhanced Care Unit (ECU) within the inpatients ward • Therapy treatment rooms and equipment storage This will mean patients can be admitted, have their operation, recover, and be discharged from one location, without the need to be moved to other floors. The unit will allow more procedures to be delivered and reduce the length of stay after surgery. Kirsten Major, Chief Executive, said: “This is a major investment in the way we deliver orthopaedic surgery across the Trust. The facility is already taking shape and I am incredibly excited to see it welcoming patients when it opens in 2023. "The unit will house its own theatres, recovery and inpatients wards, meaning a better experience and less disruption for patients, as they won’t need to be move floors before and after their operation. “For staff, this offers a brand-new facility to deliver the best possible care and smooth running of services. It will come with dedicated rest areas, lockers and changing space, as well as new offices. There is also a significant investment in training and development, with a dedicated training room and clinical educator, which will provide opportunity for career progression.”

Trust first in the world to order cutting edge Gamma Knife technology

The Trust has become the first centre in the world to order the latest version of a cutting-edge machine for treating brain tumours and other brain conditions.

The latest model of the Gamma Knife, called the Esprit, is due to be installed this year at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. The hospital is home to the National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery which was the first and is the largest centre for gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery in the UK. Gamma Knife technology uses a focused array of intersecting beams of carefully measured gamma radiation to target lesions in the brain with sub-millimetre precision, meaning that there is less risk of damage to surrounding healthy tissue and thus fewer side effects for patients.. Paula Hunter, of Rotherham, underwent Gamma Knife treatment after being diagnosed with a meningioma (a type of brain tumour). Due to the location of the tumour, traditional surgery to remove it was too risky. Paula said: “The Gamma Knife has saved my life. I was diagnosed during the Covid lockdown, which was scary, but you would not have known it. The care could not have been better, I was looked after from the moment I walked into the unit and the precare, and the aftercare have helped me get through to where I am now."