LUHFT Life - April 2022

APRIL 2022

New Royal – what’s next?

Timeline to move

Same day hip replacement Patient gets innovative surgery

Gold for city’s redesigned sexual health service

Contents

3 4 5 7 10 12 15 16

8 10

Sexual health service picks up gold award Celebrating our cancer CNS

8 10 6

Day case hip replacement

Trust-wide recruitment drive

SPRING 2022

Humans of LUHFT – meet Helen Messam g

Floor plans shared

Workforce plan approved

Simulation trainin sessions – falls, deteriorating patient

Spring Clean up

GE PHASE

Access road podium steel frame build commences

£5.3m funding research boost Team Move Plans shared

Staff training, induction, familiarisation and launch

Staff site visits start

Simulation training – major incident

Your ‘Ideas into Innovation’ Staff consultation for integrating services

System and IT testing and training

Living our values: Dump the Junk – get move ready

My Personal Move Plan completed Access podium completes Medical day case unit opening

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The Queen awards Liverpool doctor CBE

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Research leader’s desire to enhance patient care

External landscaping

Manager and colleague Preparing s for Change guide shared

Equipment installation commences

Your Move Induction Booklet shared Partial Building handover

Public Consultation on integrating services

10 8

Move countdown begins

Tower Block cladding complete

Changed patient letters issued

Apprenticeship and course opportunities at LUHFT

We want our staff magazine to reflect all the great achievements and inspirational stories from you and your colleagues.

Within LUHFT Life we’ll be covering key Trust priorities but we also want to showcase the amazing people that make up our organisation and share what’s happening throughout our hospitals.

Is there an award you’ve gained, an innovative way your team is working, an inspiring patient experience or a new patient treatment that deserves recognition? Send your stories to communications@liverpoolft.nhs.uk.

SUMMER 2022

External cladding complete

Lower link bridge to Clatterbridge complete

ION PHASE FAMILIARISAT

Getting to know you ...David Roberts

Patient and public engagement about New Hospital and ts Aintree developmen Move champions recruited

R CHAN PREPARING FO

Send us your stories

2 | LUHFT Life

Overview of 24-day move plan shared

Launch tools and support to help you navigate through change

Walking Miles in May after getting life back

14

AUTUMN 2022 24-day move plan starts

Final move checklist complete

Preparing for change drop-in sessions

Critical Care expansion complete

MOVE IN

Roadmap to our estate developments and your New Royal

Final clean

New drug helps diabetic eye disease

Front cover image: Each month our cover will feature a member of staff who is living our values.

Elizabeth Hitchings is an Advanced Registered Practitioner for Axess Sexual Health and is part of the team who were awarded gold standard for the re-design of Liverpool’s Sexual Health Service.

If you know a colleague who is caring, fair and innovative and would like to feature on our cover, email: communications@ liverpoolft.nhs.uk.

* Some photos taken before COVID-19

Award win shows the greatest impact for residents Our Axess Sexual Health Team won the Transformation in Heath & Social Care award for their re-design of Liverpool’s Sexual Health Service.

Working in collaboration with Liverpool City Council’s Public Health Team they picked up their award at the iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards - which celebrates innovative practice in public services.

Submissions were judged on how well projects have transformed access to services, remodelled services, worked in partnership, or a combination of all three. The team was awarded gold standard, as the judges agreed Axess Sexual Health demonstrated the greatest impact for residents.

Director of Public Health, Matt Ashton, said: "I'm so proud of our public health and NHS staff that have been involved in both the redesign and ongoing delivery of this vital service, and I am really pleased that their hard work and innovative approach has been recognised nationally.

“In Axess, we now have a high-quality, modernised, integrated sexual health service in the city, providing free contraception and sexual health services for our residents, which will undoubtedly help to improve the lives of the people that use it."

The re-design is the result of two years of planning, consulting and refining with users and was launched last November.

The service covers all aspects of sexual and reproductive health, including face-to-face consultations, contraception advice, testing and treatment by post. The service focuses on prevention and places education and self-care at its core.

on the service redesign and continues to work on the ongoing successful delivery of this vital service to improve the lives of the people in the community."

Dr Martyn Wood, Regional Clinical Director for the Axess service: "It's great to see Axess staff getting the recognition that they deserve following a successful service merger. This award is fantastic news for everyone that has worked so hard

This year, iESE Awards received 261 nominations across 16 award categories from 81 organisations - their most competitive year yet - so a big well done to those involved in Public Health's entry, your hard work certainly paid off!

LUHFT Life | 3

Celebrating our Cancer CNS We celebrated the first National Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) Day in March, highlighting the pivotal role colleagues provide in caring for our cancer patients.

As a big thank you from the Cancer Management Team, Cancer CNS colleagues were offered reiki and reflexology, refreshments and cakes in our Wellbeing Hubs across all sites, as well as in the Linda McCartney Centre.

Therapy dog, Rosie, also came along to greet colleagues at Aintree, providing animal therapy to help staff relax and unwind.

The first National Cancer CNS Day has been introduced to help raise the profile of the role, increase recruitment and retention.

The CNS role is a vital source of support to patients and having access to a CNS is consistently highlighted as the major factor in improving the experience of patients with a cancer diagnosis.

Taking the limelight The New Royal Liverpool Hospital was part of a series of incredible projections from Culture Liverpool.

Animated projections are lighting up iconic Liverpool buildings as part of the project ‘WeAre’, which is about people’s experiences of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The messages are celebrating the people of Liverpool and our incredible community spirit.

4 | LUHFT Life

One-day hip replacement transforms patient recovery To enable patients to recover in the comfort of their own homes, avoiding lengthy hospital stays, we are now carrying out day case hip replacement procedures.

Grandmother of three, Bernice Gay, became the first woman in Merseyside to receive life-changing hip replacement surgery and go home in the same day.

In mid-January, Bernice, 78, had her left hip replacement and was discharged back to her home in Speke on the same day, just eight hours after the surgery at Broadgreen Hospital, which was carried out by Mr Viju Peter, her consultant surgeon.

This was Bernice’s second hip replacement, after undergoing traditional surgery on her right hip in April 2021 at Broadgreen.

Bernice said: “I was over the moon to be able to go home on the same day. I remembered from my first hip replacement having to stay in hospital for a few days and being in a bit of pain. However, they reassured me I would be on the same pain medication as what I would receive in the hospital, and I decided I would much rather recover in my own home.”

On average, patients undergoing hip replacement surgery will spend between two and three nights in hospital post-surgery.

A major positive of the day case option is that it enables them to recover in the comfort and safety of their own home, encouraging faster rehabilitation and reducing their risk of hospital-acquired infections.

Having day case surgery meant that Bernice was able to get back home to her four-year-old cocker spaniel, Holly. She said: “From my point of view, it’s a great way forward. I like to walk, and I just want to be able to get on with my life. Mr

Peter is my hero; the first hip replacement truly changed the quality of my life and this second one will enhance it even more. I just need my knee doing now and I’ll be ready to run a marathon!”

Not all patients are suitable for a day case hip replacement, and cases are managed on an individual basis and factors including age, health and fitness. It is part of the comprehensive pre-operative assessment and planning necessary to ensure safe surgery can take place, followed by effective rehabilitation.

Mr Peter said: “I am really proud of this achievement. Hip replacement surgery is a major operation so discharging Bernice that same day was such a pivotal moment. The ability to carry out these procedures and discharge the patients on the same day will make a huge difference to our patients’ lives, improving their care and recovery and reducing waiting times for surgery.

“To be able to successfully implement this surgery you need a collaborative team of different healthcare professionals involved right from the beginning, and we are lucky that at Broadgreen we have an excellent theatre team, brilliant physiotherapists, pharmacists, nurses and more.”

LUHFT Life | 5

Walking Miles in May after ‘getting life back’ As April marks Bowel Cancer Awareness month, Joanne Brown shares her patient journey and now, as a thank you, is raising funds with her family for our Colorectal Department.

Joanne, a mum of two from Crewe, had been experiencing back ache, bloating and discomfort for a year before going to visit her GP. Aged just 36, Joanne had a colonoscopy examination which revealed a tumour in her bowel. She was told it was likely to be cancerous and that it would need to be removed straight away. The scale of the operation would mean that Joanne would have life-changing surgery which would result in her having to wear a stoma bag for the rest of her life.

Joanne said: “It took a while for the information to sink in but I started designing stoma bag covers with emojis on so the kids wouldn’t be frightened. I needed to be okay, because I’m the main carer for my nan, disabled mum and my three disabled brothers. I decided to explore every option and I was told a doctor at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital who specialised in colon cancer could possibly help.”

Three months on from her diagnosis she was transferred to the Royal where she met Consultant Gastroenterologist and Advanced Endoscopist Paul O’Toole and Colorectal Specialist Nurse Ashley Keogh.

Joanne underwent a four-hour operation, where Dr O’Toole successfully removed an 8cm malignant tumour ensuring that he got “all of it” and Joanne even has the photos to prove it.

When asked how she feels about the whole experience she says: “Lucky! I owe my life to the team at the Royal. That may seem dramatic, but I do. They gave me my life back and avoided me having to have a permanent stoma. From the moment I stepped into the Royal I felt cared for, and I knew that no matter what, they were going to do everything they possibly could to help me, and they did. I could never fully repay them for what they have done for me or my family they have given me my life back.

“As a small thank you I have signed up with my family to take part in the Miles in May event. As some of my family have limited mobility we have pledged to walk a mile a day to raise funds for the Colorectal Department at the Royal.”

Knowing the symptoms of bowel cancer could save your life Bleeding from your bottom and/or blood in your poo

A persistent and unexplained change in bowel habit

Extreme tiredness for no obvious reason

A pain or lump in your tummy

6 | LUHFT Life

Unexplained weight loss

Pandemic provided new opportunities

For Helen Messham, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a change in her career path and she’s never looked back.

“I get up in the morning and look forward to coming into work because I enjoy my job so much. I’ve learnt so much and have been able to get involved with things that I never thought I’d get the chance to do,” said Helen, who is a Clinical Vaccination Coordinator at Aintree.

“It’s such a rewarding role, every day is different, and you feel like you are making a positive difference in the community. I’ve also been lucky enough to learn so much by meeting people with health conditions that I may not have crossed paths with otherwise.

“I started my nurse training in 1986 in the Royal, which was Liverpool School of Nursing at the time. I worked on CCU (Coronary Care) for 11 years prior to becoming a school nurse focussing on child health. In 2019, a full-time role working as a Registered Practitioner came up in Axess Sexual Health and I jumped at the opportunity. However, not long after that, the pandemic started.

“For the past six years, I have administered the flu vaccine walkarounds on the wards. So when the COVID-19 vaccination programme began I would come and help on a weekend and my afternoon off. When I was approached to take on a secondment role as Clinical Vaccination Coordinator at Aintree’s vaccination hub, it was a great opportunity to learn new things and I agreed to take up the post.

“The job was completely new to me, prior to this I’d never even managed a team. Now there are around 100 vaccinators spanning across the three vaccination hub sites: Aintree,

I love that I am able to look back on how far we have come and everything that the vaccination team has achieved. the Royal and the Pier Head. I work alongside the Associate Director of People (Occupational Health and Wellbeing), Diane Haddock, to manage staffing rotas and ensure there is a range of staff skill sets at each site.

“A typical day is making sure all the hubs are staffed, my colleagues are happy and that everywhere is well stocked. I am also here as a support for clinical advice. I do go in and administer vaccines as well from time-to-time - I’m more than happy to muck in!

“Aintree is an enhanced hub, which means that we vaccinate those who can’t attend community hubs for health reasons. I am the point of contact for this, and it’s wonderful being able to support people from across our local community to have their vaccine.

“There has been some hesitation towards the COVID-19 vaccine. Another part of my job has been assisting with a staff support helpline, alongside academic colleagues at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Although challenging at times, the helpline was extremely successful in bringing individuals forward for their vaccine. I love that I am able to look back on how far we have come and everything that the vaccination team has achieved.”

LUHFT Life | 7

Your Building Our Future Together journey SPRING 2022 Simulation training sessions – falls, deteriorating patient

Workforce plan approved

Launch tools and support to help you navigate through change

Floor plans shared

Spring Clean up

PREPARING FOR CHANG

Access road podium steel frame build commences

Team Move Plans shared

Staff consultation for integrating services

Dump the Junk – get move ready 8 | LUHFT Life

2

Staff training, induction, familiarisation and launch

System and IT testing and training

External landscaping

Simulation training – major incident

Staff site visits start

Partial Building handover

Access podium completes

My Personal Move Plan completed

Medical day case unit opening

Move countdown begins

Tower Block cladding complete

FAMILIARISA

This roadmap outlines how we will work together to integrate our services, develop our estate and prepare for our move into the New Royal.

New Royal Estate Developments

Broadgreen Estate Developments

Trust-wide recruitment drive

Overview of 24-day move plan shared

GE PHASE

k

Aintree Estate Developments

Manager and colleague Preparing for Change guides shared

Patient and public engagement about New Hospital and Aintree developments Move champions recruited Preparing for change drop-in sessions

Equipment installation commences

Public Consultation on integrating services

Your Move Induction Booklet shared

SUMMER 2022 Critical Care expansion complete

External cladding complete

AUTUMN 2022 Changed patient letters issued

Lower link bridge to Clatterbridge complete

ATION PHASE

Final move checklist complete

24-day move plan starts

MOVE IN

Final clean LUHFT Life | 9

£5.3m funding research boost The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has awarded £5.3million to the Liverpool Clinical Research Facility (CRF) hosted at LUHFT to investigate new treatments for some of the most common diseases and health problems affecting people in the region.

The funding award recognises the significant impact the CRF has had over the last five years and allows the facility to expand across sites, working in collaboration with colleagues Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital to address the needs of the local population, which has some of the highest rates of cancer and heart disease in the country.

The funding will also support research into neurology and neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, and inflammatory conditions including asthma, arthritis, eczema and psoriasis.

Other areas of work include the treatment of infectious 10 | LUHFT Life

diseases, including HIV and TB, as well as the development of new vaccines.

Dr Richard Fitzgerald, Consultant in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Director of the CRF (pictured), said: “This funding is fantastic news for patients in the region, who will get early access to new medicines and therapies for some of the most common diseases affecting our local population. It also demonstrates the NIHR’s confidence in Liverpool’s ability to deliver world-class research and development. Throughout the pandemic we have shown how Liverpool’s clinical and academic partners can work together for the common good and this approach will continue with the work we are now able to do as a result of this funding.”

LUHFT was among 28 Clinical Research Facilities to receive funding from the NIHR, which also awarded £2million to Alder Hey to extend its delivery of early stage clinical research.

Your ‘Ideas into Innovation’ Last year we launched an Ideas into Innovation programme to identify ideas, nurture projects and enable investment in innovation and continuous improvement.

Teams submitted ideas which would significantly improve patient outcomes, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and positively impact patient or staff experience. Six ideas have been shortlisted to take forward including:

Block room for orthopaedic cases IDEA: Setting up a Regional Anaesthesia (RA) block room with an ultrasound machine at Broadgreen for orthopaedic cases will allow us to reconfigure where and how nerve blocks take place for surgery, enhancing our efficiency and effectiveness.

Cognitive Assessment and Recovery Enablement Centre (The CARE Centre) IDEA: Create a day centre providing enhanced support and therapies for older inpatients with cognitive impairment. The centre would focus on supporting quicker recovery and enabling earlier discharge from hospital.

BENEFITS:

BENEFITS:

•

•

• • • • •

Better patient satisfaction compared to general anaesthesia Decreases recovery time Decreases pain scores Decreases postoperative nausea and vomiting for patients Decrease the length of a patient’s stay and increase the likelihood of day case discharge One extra case per theatre list due to increased efficacy.

Cancer Pathway Management Solution IDEA: Creating an IT dashboard cancer pathway management solution, to enable a single point of access to track cancer patients' pathways, alleviating bottlenecks.

BENEFITS: • • • • •

Reduce patient waiting times to diagnosis and treatment, and alert to potential delays Improved transparent communication of pathways/ progression Reduced admin time Dynamic demand and capacity planning Improves data quality and clinical information capture.

Meeting patients’ needs Reablement Assistants IDEA: Develop a reablement assistant role to prevent 'deconditioning' of inpatients. Reablement is described as ‘helping people to do for themselves rather than doing it to or for them’. The funding would be utilised for project support and a Band 6 nurse and therapist who would develop a training programme.

BENEFITS: • • • • •

Prevents patient deconditioning Increases patient functional capacity in all organ systems Decreased patient risk of healthcare acquired infections, falls and pressure ulcers Reduced length of stay and improve the chance of returning to their own home Improved patient flow.

• • •

Provides enhanced clinical patient care from staff with specific training relating to dementia and delirium Ward staff would have to deal with less violence, aggression and challenging behaviour Reduced need for 1-1 and special observation care Reduced length of stay and costs associated with hospital acquired harm.

Orthopaedic Nursing Support IDEA: Reconfiguring Ward 1 to create an admission area for femoral fracture patients and increasing staffing numbers with one Band 7 and one Band 6 to enable dedicated nurse leadership and a mechanism to proactively to pull patients from AED. BENEFITS: • • • • • • •

Reduced time it takes for hip fracture patients to be seen by orthopaedic specialists Improved patient outcomes Reduced length of stay, time to surgery and mortality Improved patient flow and efficiency Patients placed in a speciality bed in a more timely manner improving patient experience Strong nursing leadership with a dedicated focus on the #NOF patient pathways Enhanced care and reduced harm to patients.

Robotic Process Automation for Outpatient administrative functions IDEA: Investing in five robots to undertake administrative processes to release staff to carry out other essential work within the OPD administrative function.

BENEFITS: • • • • •

Robotic Process Automation will undertake very basic computer tasks Staff can focus on complex activities and patientfacing roles Patient calls answered more quickly Patient outcomes completed more efficiently The OPD service will become more efficient.

LUHFT Life | 11

LIVING OUR Our values are ‘the way we do things around here’. They are the very core of who we are, for every colleague, patient and individual who comes into contact with us.

Our values enable us to work together more effectively and to deliver great patient care more consistently.

We see examples of our values in practice on a daily basis, and each month we will celebrate individuals or teams who are clearly caring, fair and innovative.

Comforting our patients Our volunteers Rose McShaneGriffiths and Rita Mathews have been hard at work creating crochet blankets to provide comfort to our patients in their final weeks.

They donated the blankets, along with small lavender scented hearts, stars and birds, to our Palliative Care Team. The team, including Kate and Sam (pictured) are always grateful for donations like this and are looking for more blankets, small organza bags or lock of hair pouches. If you can help or you know a knitting group, contact the Palliative Care Team.

Helping young people build skills We recently held an open day for our third cohort of the Project Search programme, which will begin in September. This programme is to support young people with learning difficulties, to build their skills and confidence ready for employment.

If you can support a work placement in your team from September onwards or want more details, contact Annette.Pollitt@liverpoolft.nhs.uk.

12 | LUHFT Life

VALUES

Research leader’s desire to enhance patient care Shirley Pringle, Research Matron for the Liverpool Head & Neck Centre (LHNC), has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Cancer Nurse Award at the North West Cancer Research Gala Dinner and Awards this May. As part of her role for the LHNC, Shirley manages a team of six research staff facilitating the set-up, opening and recruitment of the LHNC cancer clinical trials portfolio which includes phase 1, 2 and 3 international studies led from Liverpool. Currently comprising approximately 30 studies, 650 patients are screened and 400 patients recruited per annum – three/four times more than any other UK centre.

As well as this, Shirley is a key member LUHFT’s Research Nurses Senior Leadership Group and also finds time to undertake an MBA in Healthcare Management at Liverpool John Moores University.

Director of LHNC, Professor Terry Jones said: “Shirley’s enthusiastic and capable leadership is critical to the successful recruitment to head and neck cancer clinical trials, ensuring that the CRN NWC has been the highest UK recruiter to NIHR portfolio H&N cancer clinical trials since 2017.

“She is highly innovative and proactive, driven by a deep desire to enhance patient care and has taken maximum advantage of the leadership and educational opportunities she has been exposed to over recent years, which has resulted in her becoming an outstanding research leader in her field.

I’m delighted she has been shortlisted for the North West Cancer Research Outstanding Cancer Nurse Award to recognise all of her hard-work, commitment and leadership.”

The Queen awards Liverpool doctor CBE

Professor Cheng Hock Toh, Consultant Haematologist at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has been appointed as an honorary CBE

by Her Majesty The Queen in recognition of his services to haematology and medicine.

Professor Toh has a distinguished career as a clinician, researcher, health technology innovator, educator and professional leader. He has worked at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital since 1995 and in 2001 helped to establish the hospital’s renowned Roald Dahl Haemostasis and Thrombosis Centre. He is also a professor of haematology at the University of Liverpool.

He said: “I am incredibly humbled to receive this honour. Throughout my career I have been driven by a passion to always improve the care for my patients and work to address the inequalities many can face in accessing great care.

“I am proud of what we have achieved at the Roald Dahl Centre and the University. This honour is dedicated to the teams that I have worked with and to the patients that I have learnt from while trying to be the best doctor that I can be.”

LUHFT Life | 13

New drug helps diabetic eye disease

Professor Ian Pearce, Director of the CERC and Consultant Ophthalmologist, was the Principal Investigator of the study. He said: “Attending many different diabetic clinic appointments each year is hugely time-consuming for people with diabetes. Reducing the need to attend numerous clinic appointments will be a great help to them.

A new drug, faricimab, trialled at the Trust’s Clinical Eye Research Centre (CERC) could help to save the eyesight of millions of people with diabetic eye disease.

The CERC, located within the Royal, was selected by Roche to be one of 325 sites around the world to conduct a study into the treatment of diabetic macular oedema - the most common cause of sight loss in people with diabetes.

The results show that faricimab maintained vision, extending time between treatments. If approved, it means that patients will be able to reduce their need for injections from every four to eight weeks to potentially just three times a year.

Wellbeing sessions in April We have a number of wellbeing sessions taking place each month across all sites, keep a look out for the full list of events on our staff Facebook and within Liverpool News. Email our Specialist Occupational Therapist: Sam.holder@liverpoolft.nhs. uk for more information.

14 | LUHFT Life

Every Monday from 4pm to 4.45pm are Dance Classes at Broadgreen in the Best Unit, email harts@liverpoolft. nhs.uk

“This study shows that faricimab has the potential to reduce the burden of treatment for our patients, whilst maintaining excellent treatment outcomes and preventing sight loss.

“The Clinical Eye Research Centre is fully committed to gaining access to cutting edge treatment for the people of Merseyside and beyond by participating in these global clinical studies.”

Globally, over 460 million people live with diabetes and this figure is likely to rise to over 700 million in the next 35 years.

Faricimab has recently been licensed as a treatment in the United States and is currently being considered by European and UK licensing agencies. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are assessing the drug as a potential treatment for Diabetic Macular Oedema.

Each Wednesday from 10.30am to 2pm take part in woodland conservation. Meet outside Bluebell Woods.

Every Tuesday and Thursday try HIIT Workout in the Royal Therapies gym from 6.45am to 7.15am.

Smoking cessation staff sessions take place each week at Aintree on Wednesday, Royal on Thursday and Broadgreen on Friday. All from 8am to 6pm in the Wellbeing Hubs.

Getting to know you…

David Roberts, Dispensing Manager in St Paul’s Ophthalmology has a passion for the saxophone, singing and archery when he’s not helping patients to choose their next pair of glasses.

Did you always want to work in healthcare?

I originally wanted to join the RAF as a pilot, but health problems put an end to that idea. I come from an optical family, both my father and older brother were optometrists, so it seemed a logical alternative.

However, just as I was getting to the end of my first year of A-levels I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and this was both the beginning of my association with the Royal but the end of my decision to become an optometrist. I already had the necessary qualifications to study Optical Dispensing, so I went down that career path.

Briefly, what does your role involve?

I’ve worked at St Paul’s in the Royal for 19 years. Following patients’ eye examinations by an optometrist, they bring me their prescription and I help patients choose appropriate spectacle frames and lenses.

We can see both patients of St Paul's and non-St Paul's patients and I also help with queries from other departments.

What’s your favourite thing about your job?

That moment when someone who has been struggling to see puts their new glasses on and suddenly realises that they can now see.

What are the standout highlights or experiences during your time at LUHFT? There have been a few, I had the opportunity to hold a pair of John Lennon’s spectacles a few years ago and met his sister which was a big highlight.

Also, my lasting thankfulness to the staff who have saved my life on three separate occasions.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Target archery, reading, playing tenor saxophone and DIY. I also started singing in the Wall of Sound Choir at Gateacre High School after I had heart surgery and suffered with PTSD, my doctor recommended doing something outside of my comfort zone and it’s really helped me.

What’s your favourite thing about Liverpool?

The architecture and the waterfront.

What’s your favourite restaurant or café?

Three Chimneys on the Isle of Skye.

What’s your favourite film or song?

All of the Lord of the Rings films and there are too many songs to pick only one!

You win the lottery, what’s your dream holiday?

I’d love to explore Japan and revisit New Zealand.

You’re stranded on an island, what three items would you want with you?

A fully-loaded Kindle, iPod and my saxophone!

LUHFT Life | 15

d n a e s r u Co p i h s e c i t n appre s e i t i n u t oppor at LUHFT

We have partnered with Hugh Baird College and other providers to offer new apprenticeship opportunities for staff.

Adult Care

Level 2, 3, 4 or 5

Lead Adult Care

Level 2, 3, 4 or 5

Healthcare Support Worker

Level 2, 3 ,4 or 5

Senior Healthcare Support Worker

Level 2, 3 ,4 or 5

Assistant Practitioner

Level 2, 3 ,4 or 5

Business Administrator

Level 3

Customer Practitioner

Level 2 or 3

Customer Specialist

Level 2 or 3

Maths and English courses are also available either face-to-face or online.

For more information and details about other courses, please contact Peter Melia from our Learning and Development Team on 0151 706 3156 or peter.melia@liverpoolft.nhs.uk.