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FEBRUARY 2017 | University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Support for patients
Supporters line-up for the launch of Cure Leukaemia’s appeal
Stars launch £1m appeal for centre A line-up of famous faces and 100 key figures from across the region stepped forward to support Cure Leukaemia’s £1 million appeal to support the £3.4 million expansion of the Centre for Clinical Haematology at UHB. Premier League football star Ben Foster, football manager Aidy Boothroyd, X-Factor winner Sam Bailey, and former footballer and blood cancer survivor Geoff Thomas, who was treated at the centre, attended the launch of the appeal. The event, hosted at the offices of charity partner KPMG in Birmingham city centre, was also attended by many patients who are alive today thanks to the life-saving treatments and reserach carried out at the centre. With Cure Leukaemia’s support, Birmingham is leading the way, internationally, in the fight against blood cancer. World-class clinicians and scientists based at the centre in Morris House and the University of Birmingham are driving forward groundbreaking new therapies and saving lives in the process.
When the centre was opened by Patrons Geoff Thomas and Ashley Giles MBE in 2006, seven clinical trials were available for 148 patients. This £3.4m expansion will dramatically increase the capacity of the centre and by 2018 over 1,200 patients will have access to more than 70 potentially life-saving clinical trials. The growth of the clinical trials programme over the past few years has resulted in the centre running at maximum capacity. However, the expansion, which gets underway this month and is due for completion in October, will allow the continued growth of this world-class programme. Councillor John Clancy, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “I’m happy to lend my name to the fund-raising efforts to make sure a muchneeded expansion of the Centre for Clinical Haematology can go ahead. “Centres of excellence like this are in the very front line of Birmingham’s ambition to become a world-leader in the fast-growing life sciences sector.”
Images: Sam Bagnall
To achieve its £1m target Cure Leukaemia is approaching trusts, foundations and major businesses from across the country to become founding partners of the new centre. Funds raised from major events throughout the year will also go towards the target including the Brindleyplace Dragonboat Race, the inaugural Vélo Birmingham cycling event in September, Glynn Purnell’s Friday Night Kitchen in October and the first ever Birmingham International Marathon in the same month. Another major cycling event taking place in 2017 to raise funds will be the ‘Three Tour Challenge.’ Five amateur cyclists, including Geoff Thomas, will be cycling the Giro D’Italia, Le Tour de France and La Vuelta consecutively, one day ahead of the professional riders. This 6,348 mile challenge to ride all three grand tours is one that even the professional cyclists avoid and yet Doug McKinnon, James Maltin, Hayden Groves, Marcus Leach and Geoff will all embark on the challenge in May with a fundraising aim of £1million for Cure Leukaemia. Keen cyclists can join the team for some or all of the challenge with a range of packages available to take part. To find out more go to: ¬ www.3tourschallenge.com
Geoff Thomas
Ben Foster
Success for recruits All newly recruited NHS and social care support staff that provide direct care to patients and clients, including healthcare assistants, therapy assistants and maternity support workers, must complete a Care Certificate. Temporary and agency staff must also complete the certificate. At the Trust there is an ongoing training programme. Ceremonies are held every six months to recognise each person’s achievement. The latest people who have successfully completed the Care Certificate include: Dina Khanam, Kelly Lucas, Lalremruati Bualchhuak, Maria Pouney, Michael Davies, Mohammed Ali, Rebecca Turner, Roselle Bautista, Saada Ali, Sheena Khuttan, Sumiya Ahmed, Tabitha Vala and Bruce Barrett.
Sam Bailey
Aidy Boothroyd
Sometimes our patients need some extra support when they are ready for discharge from hospital. This often comes from community nursing teams, clinicians and pharmacists – but all staff can help to make a difference. Many patients may have spent a number of weeks as an inpatient so are not likely to have much food at home and no support in getting shopping in for those first few days. As a result of their admission, patients may also be experiencing a loss of earnings or delays to benefit payments. Other patients may also have little in the way of clothing on discharge from hospital; they may be or have been homeless, or have had their belongings removed because of the nature of their admission, or simply need warm, clean clothes to go home in. To help with this, the Trust is now in a unique position to be able to go that extra mile. Did you know you can now offer food vouchers or an emergency food or clothing parcel? It could make the difference between a discharged patient feeling helpless and lost, or hopeful and positive. There are three things that you are able to offer to support these patients who you feel may have these additional needs upon discharge: ■ A referral to a local foodbank which gives the access to food and clothes, but also access to advice and guidance. (In this case, a voucher is issued to the patient to take to one of the local foodbanks). ■ An emergency food parcel for a single person, or a family of four ■ An emergency bundle of clothes Rev Richard Wharton, the Trust’s Chaplaincy Team Leader, said: “Many staff recognise that petients need additional support when they are coming to the end of their time in our hospital and are ready to go back into th community. “Nursing staff may become acutely aware of the situation their patient is in and will have an excellent understanding of the support they may need outside of hospital. “A nurse or nursing assistant may know for example that a patient has very few relatives, and is going home after two weeks in hospital with us. It may be safe to assume they may have no food in their cupboards, or clean warm clothes to get there in. “There are countless stories too of nursing staff purchasing clothes out of their own money to support patients. “We would urge those with any concerns to be in touch so that together we can offer that extra support to help get them back on their feet.” If you think your patient could benefit from this extra support, please visit: uhbhome/foodandclothing or call Chaplaincy on: 14570, 14574 or 14566.
Free Wi-Fi network Patients and visitors now have access to a free WiFi network through a service funded by QEHB Charity. Staff are being asked not to use this network as the bandwidth has a finite capacity – if staff use it, this will impact on the level of service which patients and visitors receive. To connect, just search for a network called QEHBCharity-guestWiFi, enter your email address and then agree to the terms and conditions.
See www.uhb.nhs.uk for the latest news