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Your
Healthcare
Keeping you up to date with the latest news from Cwm Taf Health Board
Issue 5 Summer 2013
Chief Executive’s note
W
elcome to our fifth edition of Your Healthcare - our e-newsletter which will help you stay in touch with all the changes and developments to healthcare services across Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf. The summer may just be ending, but as you can see from the following pages, it’s been a busy month for Cwm Taf, with a lot of news and developments to share with you all, including the latest from the South Wales Programme. Please share our e-newsletter with your friends and family or anyone else who you think might be interested in keeping up to date with our news. I hope that you find this edition interesting - if you have any ideas for future editions please email our communications team.
Thanks
Allison Allison Williams Chief Executive Cwm Taf Health Board
USEFUL CONTACTS Royal Glamorgan Hospital: 01443 443 443 Prince Charles Hospital: 01685 721 721 Ysbyty Cwm Cynon: 01443 715 211 Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda: 01443 430 022 Ysbyty Cwm Rhondda Minor Injuries - Phone First: 01443 444 075 Dewi Sant Hospital: 01443 486 222 Ysbyty George Thomas: 01443 430 022 Y Bwthyn: 01443 443 758 Keir Hardie Health Park: 01685 351 021
www.cwmtafhb.wales.nhs.uk Follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/CwmTaf
@CwmTaf page 2
Contents Free NHS dental care at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon
4
Unique work experience project at Royal Glamorgan Hospital
5
Stamp of quality for children’s hearing services
6
Gold award for healthy food options
7
Have you met Helen Pugsley?
8
Latest news from South Wales Programme
9
Cwm Taf staff provide life-saving equipment to help Ugandan mothers
10
Infection rates published
12
Joanna’s on top of the world
15
New technology to store babies’ heartbeats
16
Use our interactive map for more information about our hospitals
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PREVIOUS ISSUES
Free NHS dental care for patients at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon FREE dental treatment in stateof-the-art facilities is available to patients living in Cynon Valley and surrounding areas who aren’t registered with a dentist.
been able to access dental care have received treatment in a stateof-the-art facility from students who have been trained in the latest techniques.’’
The unit is able to treat patients who are not currently registered with a dentist from the Merthyr Vale, Pontypridd, Hirwaun and Cynon Valley areas.
Supervised, final-year dental students based at the dental teaching unit in Ysbyty Cwm Cynon, in Mountain Ash, are providing a wide range of free oral health care.
Elaine Mahoney, who lives in Merthyr Tydfil, spent eight months looking for a dentist willing to take her on before she heard about the service at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon.
The new unit has 18 treatment bays and follows on from the success of the first community-based clinical teaching unit at St David’s Hospital in Cardiff, which opened in 2002.
The unit which opened its doors in 2012 is in its second year and has already helped hundreds of patients reach a good standard of oral health and provided important experience for a new generation of dentists.
She said: “It’s been brilliant. I’ve even recommended the service to It is funded by the Welsh Gova neighbour who had a problem – ernment and run in partnership between Cwm Taf Local Health and he loves it too. Board, Cardiff and Vale University “I found they have the latest equip- Health Board and Cardiff Universiment and there’s always someone ty. to hand. They are always happy to Andrew Ashraf, a speciality doctor see you and treat you like a human Anyone interested in receiving treatment at dental teaching unit at the unit, said: “The dental unit being – it’s first class. at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon can call into has already provided dental care for thousands of patients since it “I was surprised there were so the unit to register their interest or many people coming here. I’d rec- telephone 01443 715 000 between opened just over 18 months ago. 8.30am and 12.30pm and 1.30pm ommend it to anyone – 100%.” and 4.30pm “Patients who had not previously page 4
Unique work experience for young people with learning difficulties
finish this and college I’d like to work in a restaurant –I think I’ve got the skills for it.” The success of the project has also sparked interest across Europe. On April 22, Owen played host to a number of European delegates from a pan-European funded project about best practice in services for people.
The catering department at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital has been working in partnership with ELITE to provide a unique work experience for young people with learning difficulties. Four young people with learning difficulties have started a unique work experience project at the health board. Project Enable, which is run in conjunction with ELITE supported employment agency, the health board’s catering department at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital and the NHS Centre for Equality and Human Rights, started in April and provides young people with learning difficulties from the local area the opportunity to gain invaluable work experience. The health board is the first in Wales to offer young people Project Enable work placements. Chris English, Operations Manager for ELITE said: “Our partnership with Cwm Taf Health Board is a great opportunity for our interns. With all four working for one day throughout the week they effectively do a job share. We very much hope the transferable skills they learn will help them to go page 5
on to find full time employment. Despite this being unpaid work – it shows great commitment from each of them.” During his third week, Owen Morgan, one of the interns who is also studying catering hospitality at Coleg Morgannwg, said: “I’m enjoying every bit of it –all the people here are great. The work experience teaches me much more than just the job - it teaches me how to be independent with things like traveling to work. My parents taught me not to worry
Shirley Jones, assistant catering manager at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital, said: “All the interns have been great. Each of them have picked up the tasks really quickly and fit in really well with the rest of our team. It would be great if we could keep them on. ”We are now 12 weeks or so into the internship and the skills, confidence and social interaction skills that the four young people have gained has allowed them to progress to other areas of the catering department. Their tasks include stock replenishment, keeping dining areas clean and tidy, food preparation, serving customers on both food counters and till areas. Some of the young people have even progressed to assisting with the catering on the wards.” The four interns have been trained and supported with a one to one job trainer from Elite, Sian Willetts. This allows the training to be delivered in a format and pace that suits each individual.
about disability – they taught me that it’s personality that matters.” When asked who his favourite celebrity chef was, Owen promptly replied “Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. “When I
Sian said: “The staff in the Royal Glamorgan Hospital catering department has provided excellent support to our interns. They have been very welcoming and understanding of our needs and have done much to accommodate us and assist us with our work. This
has made training much easier, as the staff understand why we are doing things in the way that we do them and help whenever they can. “This is true of all of the staff. Shirley Jones has been brilliant in her support. She has a very inclusive attitude which has meant that the interns have been treated fairly and equally. This has then been
reflected throughout her staff. The supervisors, Peter and Sam, approach me often throughout the shift to see how things are getting on and to offer support. Ali and Marsella have supported the interns closely on the wards and have been happy to repeat instructions and provide corrective guidance. Gemma has shown the interns what to do in the kitchen
and again has been patient and welcoming. She always makes time to show the interns what to do and to set up tasks for them. Lucy and Tina have trained one of our interns on the till. Again the support has been at just the right level so that our intern has been able to pick the task up and with training go on to work independently”.
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Stamp of quality for children’s hearing services CWM Taf Health Board has received one of the highest marks in Wales for the quality of its hearing services for children. A report to the Welsh Government has revealed the health board scored 95.66% compliance against the national quality standards for paediatric audiology standards in 2012. The overall target was 80%.
Charles Hospital, in Merthyr Tydfil 95.51%. The 2012 audit scores represent a considerable improvement on the figures for 2011, which Jonathan Arthur, head of audiological services at Cwm Taf Health Board, said was the result of hard work by staff in both hospitals.
“We have worked extremely hard Royal Glamorgan Hospital, in Llan- in developing the quality of our trisant, scored 95.81% and Prince paediatric audiology services,” he
said. “I want to congratulate and thank all the members of the paediatric team who have been instrumental in obtaining these high scores for Cwm Taf.” Every hospital in Wales which provides paediatric audiology services is assessed against nine quality standards which cover 41 quality criteria relating to 80 aspects of service provision.
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Gold for healthy hospital food
PRINCE Charles and Royal Glam- There are three levels – bronze, organ hospitals have been award- silver and gold. ed gold for their healthy food. The award is open to all caterers The award follows an audit of who have achieved a food hygiene the food sold in the hospital can- score of three or more. teens and restaurants by Trading Standards at Rhondda Cynon Taf Stephen Barnard, head of catering at Cwm Taf Health Board, said: Council. “We’re very proud to have been The inspector said the healthy op- awarded a gold award for the tions on sale were “fresh, appeal- healthy food options we offer in all ing and well prepared” and she our hospital restaurants. praised the “enthusiasm for health“This award represents the hard ier eating” from catering staff. work of all our catering staff to ofThe healthy options award scheme fer our customers a wide choice of was developed to reward caterers high-quality, well-prepared food.” throughout Wales who make it easier for customers to make healthi- Councillor Paul Cannon, Rhondda er food choices when eating out. Cynon Taf Council’s deputy leader page 7
and cabinet member for economic development and community safety, said: “We are pleased to be able to endorse the healthy food on offer at both the Royal Glamorgan Hospital and Prince Charles Hospital. “It is so important that people are given healthy options in this day and age, wherever they may be and it is fantastic news to hear that our hospitals are leading the way in promoting healthy living. “Catering staff at both hospitals offer colleagues, patients and visitors access to a healthy, nutritious and affordable diet.”
Cancer patients to receive support of specialist Macmillan nurse PATIENTS being treated for skin cancer will have the support of a new clinical nurse specialist. Helen Pugsley joined Cwm Taf Health Board in June as a Macmillan clinical nurse specialist in skin cancer.
Helen works alongside the two skin cancer specialists for the health board – skin cancer lead and consultant dermatologist Dr Julie Martin and Dr Christian Aldridge.
She will play a vital role as a key worker for all patients newly diagnosed with skin cancer and she will help to raise awareness about the disease, especially malignant melanoma, which is the second largest cancer killer in the 20 to 35-year-old age group.
The field of dermatology is not new to Helen – she joined Cardiff’s dermatology department in 1994 as a staff nurse acquiring a sound knowledge of skin disorders, Helen said: “This is an exciting op- topical and systemportunity to take the lead in the de- ic treatments. She velopment of skin cancer nursing developed a photoservices in conjunction with Mac- therapy service for chronic diseasmillan Cancer Services and devel- es and the photodynamic therapy op a nationally-recognised service service in Cardiff. for Cwm Taf clients and patients. In 2001, Helen moved to Prince “According to Macmillan statistics, Charles Hospital, in Merthyr Tydfil, a quarter of patients were unsure to undertake the dermatology speof what their diagnosis meant and cialist nurse position which includone third of patients felt abandoned ed a community role. Her duties once they had received their diag- included undertaking nurse-led nosis. I see a large part of my role clinics for eczema, psoriasis and to bridge that gap for skin cancer acne patients where she taught patients. There is a great need to patients to manage their skin conimprove the patient experience.” ditions. Helen undertakes four nurse-led clinics a week at various sites within the health board. There is also a biopsy clinic and patients can receive photodynamic therapy to treat many of non-melanoma skin cancers. When the clinics are up and running Helen expects to see 60 patients per week. There are approximately 100,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancers diagnosed per year, although not usually fatal they can cause serious disfigurement.
Before taking up her new post, Helen was responsible for the administration, teaching and the academic curriculum for the Diploma in Practical Dermatology (DPD) and MSc. The DPD is a highly interactive online programme designed to equip the general practitioner with a sound knowledge of skin disease as it presents in practice. Helen has also developed a range of short courses and workshops for nurses, pharmacists, podiatrists and doctors. In 2011, Helen was awarded the
British Medical Association clinical teacher of the year for Wales. Cases of skin cancer are increasing - the incidence of malignant melanoma (the most serious skin cancer) is rising. There were 12,818 new cases reported in the UK in 2010 – incidence has quadrupled in the last 30 years. Wales has the highest incidence rate in the UK in men. It is estimated that around 11,100 (86%) malignant melanoma cases in the UK in 2010 were linked to UV radiation exposure, including using sunbeds. Helen said: “This new role offers a fantastic opportunity to provide support and expertise to patients, their families and local GPs. “It’s a great place to work and the team is incredibly supportive. It is the most friendly health board I have worked in and I am really looking forward to meeting as many teams as I can in the coming months.” page 8
Latest news from South Wales Programme
T
HE South Wales Programme has received more than 50,000 responses to the eight-week consultation about the future of consultant-led maternity and neonatal care, inpatient children’s services and emergency medicine (A&E) for people living in South Wales and South Powys. A total of 53,359 questionnaires, letters and detailed submissions have been received and are being processed by Opinion Research Services, which was commissioned by the five health boards—Abertawe Bro Morgannwg, Aneurin Bevan, Cardiff and Vale, Cwm Taf and Powys—to provide an independent analysis of the responses received during the consultation period. Paul Hollard, programme director of the South Wales Programme, said: “We would like to thank members of the public and other interested groups for their input into this consultation and for taking part in this very important debate about the future of consultant-led maternity and neonatal care, inpatient children’s services and emergency medicine (A&E) across
South Wales and South Powys.
“In view of this, we therefore expect health boards to meet before the end of the year to make a decision about the outcome of the South Wales Programme. We recognise that this is later than anticipated but it is important that we consider all the comments received before the health boards make their de“It also shows that people under- cisions.” stand the significant pressures these services are under and the Once the analysis is complete, it reasons why we need to make will be shared with the five health changes to ensure they are safe boards, the Welsh Ambulance Serand sustainable into the future. vices NHS Trust and the community health councils. This analysis of “In the consultation document, we the consultation responses, togethindicated that health boards would er with all the evidence which supbe meeting in October to make a ports and informs the South Wales decision about the outcome of the Programme to date, will then be South Wales Programme. How- considered by the boards and ever, given the sheer scale of re- CHCs. sponses and the level of detail they contain, we believe this timescale Individual health boards will make is now inappropriate. a decision about the outcome of the consultation and the future for con“In order to fully and properly un- sultant-led maternity and neonatal derstand and interpret the com- care, inpatient children’s services ments submitted by the public, and emergency medicine (A&E) politicians, NHS staff and by local based on the evidence supporting interest and professional groups, the South Wales Programme and we will need to take more time to the evidence from the consultation analyse these responses. process. “This is a huge response to an NHS consultation and demonstrates how passionate people are about their NHS in South Wales and South Powys and the importance of ensuring high quality care is available as locally as possible.
53,359
Responses to the South Wales Programme
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New critical equipment for mothers at Ugandan hospital “This project is part of a continuing partnership with the people of Mbale to strengthen healthcare in their district and another example of professionals from PONT partnering with peers in Mbale to identify a problem and solve it together in a sustainable fashion. “We are grateful to Cwm Taf Health Board for their continuing support through the Welsh Government’s Wales for Africa initiative.”
Dr Eryl Hicks, a consultant radiologist at Royal Glamorgan Hospital and chair of PONT’s hospital committee, said: “It’s unimaginable to people in the developed world that surgeons could find themselves The new, purpose-designed Uni- operating in theatre without light versal Anaesthesia Machine and oxygen – but that’s what hap(UAM) for Mbale Regional Referral pens routinely in poorer countries Hospital, in Mbale, will allow unin- like Uganda where power cuts and terrupted surgical procedures to lack of essential medical supplies be carried out in the hospital’s gy- put patients’ lives at risk. naecology and obstetrics theatre. Cwm Taf Health Board and local charity PONT have joined forces to provide vital equipment for mothers giving birth at a Ugandan hospital.
The anaesthesia machine was co-funded by PONT, US anaesthetist Dr Valerie Rossetti and the Mbale Regional Referral Hospital. Dr Rossetti had been inspired by a paper written by Dr Jodie Smythe who has just completed a six-month volunteer placement in Mbale. Dr Rossetti said: “Having been introduced to the UAM, I was struck at how perfectly it could fill the desperate need for a reliable anaesthetic delivery system so lacking in many of the resource-poor hospitals in which I have volunteered.
Until now, interruptions to the hospital’s power supply and shortages of compressed oxygen have compromised its ability to provide urgent and emergency surgical procedures. The UAM can deliver anaesthesia in the absence of power and oxygen, ensuring safe deliveries in a country whose maternal mortality rate is 43 times higher than the UK’s. page 10
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“Helping to donate a system is a wonderful way to support both my colleagues in Uganda, who labour daily under challenging conditions with limited technology to provide anaesthesia care, and their patients.
ing of anaesthesia providers and biomedical technicians at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital later this month.
Dr Benon Wanume, director of Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, said: “We are excited to receive “I feel privileged to be a small part this new anaesthesia machine for of improving anaesthetic capacity labour and delivery. Our partners at Mbale.” at Cwm Taf Health Board and our colleagues at PONT have made The manufacturer, Gradian Health many valuable contributions to Systems, is contributing the train- Mbale, of which this is the latest. page 11
“On behalf of the patients, health workers, and the community in the Mount Elgon region we want to express our heartfelt appreciation to all those who made this dream come to pass. The UAM will save many mothers in our hospital. We are looking forward to a visit from PONT’s anaesthesia team in November to see the new equipment in action.” To learn more about PONT, click here.
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Healthcare associated infections in Cwm Taf Health Board Cwm Taf Health Board takes the safety of patients very seriously. This means doing everything we can to reduce the risk of anyone acquiring an infection while they are in our care. Infection prevention and control is regarded as everyone’s business and we are committed to supporting staff in preventing infections. We have a zero tolerance approach to preventable infections. What are healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) and why are they important? An infection occurs when a germ (bacterium or virus) enters the body and attacks or causes damage to the whole body or part of it. Some infections can reach the blood stream and become generalised throughout the body. This is known as a bacteraemia or bloodstream infection. Healthcare associated infections (HCAIs) are infections which de-
velop as a direct result of medical or surgical treatment or contact in a healthcare setting. They can occur in hospitals, health or social care settings in the community and can affect both patients and healthcare workers. We know that on any one day in Welsh hospitals, one in 25 hospital patients will have a healthcare associated infection. This is similar to hospitals across the UK and Europe. Common infections include Clostridium difficile (C.diff) and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and these infections are counted monthly in every health board and NHS trust which treats inpatients in Wales.
these Staph aureus are resistant to some antibiotic treatments and these are known as MRSA. Clostridium difficile (C.diff) can cause diarrhoea, especially when it infects people who have had antibiotics, and it can sometimes cause very serious illness. Controlling it can be difficult because the germ produces spores which can remain in the environment for long periods of time. High standards of cleaning are needed to remove it so areas where patients may be particularly at risk or where someone has the infection are cleaned with products containing chlorine that destroy the spores. Hand hygiene is also very important – hands must be washed with soap and water to remove the spores as they are not killed by using alcohol hand gels.
Staphylococcus (Staph) aureus is a very common germ carried by many people but it is also a common cause of both community and Unfortunately, the fact that somehealthcare infections. Some of one is in hospital in the first place
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makes them more vulnerable to infections. Sometimes the illness the patient has means their immune system is under pressure which increases their susceptibility to picking up an infection. Being in close proximity to other people who are ill also means there is a higher risk of passing on an infection. This means we know that hospitals will always be places where people are at increased risk of getting an infection and while there is no one thing that we can do to eliminate such risks, there are a lot of measures we can and do take to significantly reduce that risk. The health board takes actions to prevent infections in the first place and to prevent the spread of infections where they occur. Such measures include significant staff training, hand washing, hospital hygiene, careful management of catheters and other medical devices and preventing the unnecessary use of antibiotics. What data is being published?
This information will be updated every month. The data published for the current financial year (AprilMarch) is provisional and may be modified as further information becomes available. Provisional information is marked in red.
working hard over recent years to reduce the rates of HCAIs in Cwm Taf. These efforts are reflected in the decrease in C.diff rates over the last few years. We have implemented a C.diff care pathway to ensure patients receive appropriate treatment with close monitorInformation on deaths where C.diff ing and that infection control meawas recorded on the death certif- sures and procedures are followed icate is provided by health board to prevent spread. and by general acute hospital. There has been a slight decrease Deaths mentioning Clostridium dif- in MRSA bacteraemia rates over ficile (as underlying cause or men- time but there has not been a sigtioned on death certificate) by ma- nificant change in the trend (rate jor acute hospital site in Cwm Taf per 100,000 population). Health Board, all persons, 20082012 (see table 1) The increasing trend in MSSA bacteraemia rates over the last few Why is the data being pub- years is reflected across Wales. lished? The majority of MSSA infections were in patients who were admitFor a number of years, Public ted to hospital – the infection was Health Wales has made national not acquired during the patients’ data available on a range of HCAIs stay in hospital. on the Welsh Healthcare Associated Infection Programme website. Cwm Taf Health Board’s aim is to From July 2013, and for the first reduce these preventable HCAIs time in Wales, individual health as far as possible. There are sevboards and NHS trusts are mak- eral measures – called care buning HCAI data available directly on dles - in place to help prevent their websites. these infections and when they do In providing this information and occur to monitor their impact and data the NHS in Wales is demon- to have standardised processes strating its commitment to provid- for the care and treatment. ing more: The health board’s infection, pre• Openness, transparency and vention and control team contincandor ues to provide training and ed• Accurate, useful and relevant ucation for staff members and information
The numbers of infections reported here include the number of patients with C.diff, MRSA and MSSA in the health board area (including samples from GP practices). In addition, we report the number of patients with an infection who have been in a general acute hospital. These numbers are based on where the patient was when the test was taken and include inpatient wards, outpatients and those In December 2011, the Welsh Govwho attended A&E. ernment asked healthcare organisations and Public Health Wales to We also report these numbers per work together to produce data and 1,000 hospital admissions and information in a form that was easper 100,000 population. While we ily accessible and understandable. report these numbers related to hospital admissions, this does not How are we doing so far and necessarily mean that the patient what we plan to do to reduce acquired the infection in hospi- our HCAIs further? tal, even though it was diagnosed there. As an organisation, we have been page 12
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Tell your doctor or nurse if you’ve been taking antibiotics prior to your admission to hospital. This will have a bearing on the treatment given to you in the event of an infection developing.
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conducts regular audits to ensure compliance and that good practices are being upheld. This includes hand hygiene audits where the hand washing of all grades of staff is observed, reported on and measures are put in place to improve practice.
Try and ensure you have no more than two or three visitors at any one time. Friends and family who are ill – for example, suffering from coughs and colds, or diarrhoea and/or vomiting - should stay away. If they are unsure, you should advise them to phone the ward and ask a nurse for advice.
number of reasons, including time pressures on staff, this does not always happen.
Please heed the requests of staff for visitors to leave if, for example, you need to be examined, have your dressing changed or your Ask the healthcare staff who come ward area needs to be cleaned. It to examine you if they’ve washed is sensible to take children only if their hands or used the alcohol absolutely necessary and it is imrub, which should be available on portant they are kept under control every ward. Remember there is no by an adult visitor. For example, a general awareness need to feel embarrassed or awkday about the importance of hand ward about requesting that staff Patients may be isolated or “barhygiene was held by Cwm Taf clean their hands. For more infor- rier-nursed” to help prevent the Health Board staff at Royal Glam- mation, visit the Clean Your Hands spread of infection to others. In organ Hospital (pictured) on July 9. website. some cases they may be placed in single rooms or cubicles. It is alWe take HCAIs seriously and we The same advice for hand-hygiene ways best to ask the hospital staff are committed to reducing these also applies to visitors providing caring for the patient about the rates and exercise zero tolerance personal care, such as bathing, procedures to follow while visiting. washing, dressing, helping to feed towards HCAIs and toileting for the patient. The Cwm Taf Health Board publishes What can patients, their visitors staff caring for you should always information about C.diff, MRSA and the public do to help pre- offer you the opportunity to clean and MSSA every month on its webyour hands after using the toilet or site. The report is available here. vent HCAIs? bedpan/commode and before eatThe chances of developing some ing drinking or taking medicines. infections can be significantly re- Cleaning your hands at these duced if healthcare staff clean times can reduce your risk of gettheir hands before and after exam- ting diarrhoeal infections such as ining every patient. However, for a C.diff. Hospital Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil Royal Glamorgan Hospital, Llantrisant
2008 26
2009 11
2010 8
2011 <5
2012 6
21
10
10
5
<5 Table 1 page 14
On top of the world A
N NHS IT expert has become the world’s number three in Tae Kwon Do just a year after taking up the martial art. Joanna Seldon never thought she would represent her county in the Tae Kwon Do world championships but in July - just 12 months after starting to train – she entered the competition at green belt level. In front of an audience of around 4,000 people, competing alongside more than 1,300, Joanna bought home the accolade of third best in the world in the ladies green belt section - a fantastic achievement for someone who was bullied at school and lacked confidence. Joanna was inspired to take up Tae Kwon Do in 2012 by the NHS Wales Champions for Health Scheme. She had always fancied trying the martial art but had never had the courage to get started. Little did she know she would be entering world championship competitions and wining medals for sparring just 12 short months later. But this was not an easy competition - Joanna took a number of hard hits over the course of the three-day event and had to be seen by medics. However, she was determined to finish her 90-second rounds. This is the latest medal for Joanna, who trains three times a week – over the last six months she’s won two Welsh open silvers and also a bronze and silver in a Welsh page 15
closed competition adding to a silver in the English open. Joanna said “I once went to an interview for a job and got turned down. A doctor said to me a door will open when you least expect it. This may not be a door to a new job but it’s a door to my new talent and it keeps me fit and happy.”
Beating hearts A
project in Cwm Taf Health Board will benefit from the latest phase of Welsh Government investment from the £25m Health Technology Fund.
A bid has been approved for equipment that electronically stores cardiotocographs, records of fetal heart rate and contractions of the uterus. The technology will support home-based monitoring of mothers-to-be with risk factors, and will play a part in safer home births and decisions about delivery methods.
and unscheduled care.
need for care in hospital.
Some £5m was allocated to projects in 2012-13, and the remaining £5m will be used to support increased use of technology to enhance services in community settings.
“New technologies are supporting advances in healthcare so the people of Wales can receive the best possible treatment available.”
Chris White, Cwm Taf’s director of therapies & health science/ chief Health Minister Mark Drakeford operating officer said: “The health said: “Investment in innovation is board is delighted to receive essential if we are to achieve our £315,000 from the Health Techaim of safe, sustainable and high nology Fund to buy this equipment which will help improve the moniquality health services for Wales. toring of patients and enable us to “Technology has a major role to store this data electronically and play in the future of the NHS and securely for many years to come.” Bids have been approved on 21 provides the tools needed by dedprojects across Wales totaling icated NHS staff. From the permore than £15. The bids include spective of patients, new technoldevelopments in maternity, cancer, ogy can improve service quality, cardiac, mental health, diagnostics improve outcomes and reduce the
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