2 Nick Maguire February 5th, 1948 – October 3rd, 2014
Tributes have been paid to Nick Maguire, a much loved colleague of the Trust’s Finance Systems Team, who has died after a short illness. Nick, who was well known by many in the Trust and beyond, had worked for the Trust since 1986. His 28 years working for the NHS began at Birmingham General Hospital before moving to South Birmingham and then to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Nick, who was married to Betty, loved his garden and his cats. Gordon Hancock, Head of Financial Systems, said: “Nick will be sadly missed by us all. He was always a cheerful and helpful character to everyone he came in contact with - a true asset to the Trust. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends and colleagues at this sad time.” Many colleagues were able to attend the funeral service held at Lodge Hill Crematorium on October 20th where fond memories were shared about Nick’s life.
You said, we did...
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | NOVEMBER 2014
Innovative ideas win top awards
Delight for members of the PICS team at the awards ceremony
Innovative projects created by teams at the Trust have taken awards at the prestigious eHealth Insider (EHI) Awards 2014 by winning two out of the 12 categories. The Prescribing, Information and Communications System (PICS) won the ‘best use of IT to promote patient safety’ category while myhealth@QEHB scooped the award for the ‘best use of technology to share information with patients and carers’. PICS is a rules-based clinical decision support system that operates throughout the Trust in all inpatient, outpatient and daycase areas, including ITUs. It supports: full e-prescribing and drug administration for both routine and chemotherapy treatments; requesting and reporting of laboratory investigations; clinical observations and assessments and extensive order communications, including imaging requests and internal referrals.
The system is used across 17 specialties and has been continuously developed with input from senior clinicians across the organisation over the past 15 years. It is used by over 4,000 staff at UHB and processes 32,000 prescriptions and 137,000 administrations each week. myhealth@QEHB is an online service that offers patients access to their own health records to give them even more flexibility and control over their care. Almost 5,300 people have already signed up to use the portal and an additional 25,000 licences to use the system are being made available over the next five years. This year’s EHI Awards received almost 300 entries. Well over 650 people travelled to Camden’s iconic Roundhouse to discover who had won, to see the 12 category award winners on stage, and to see the overall winner announced on Thursday 9 October 2014.
Government Minister pays tribute to vision Welcome feedback: Maria Bailey and Senior Charge Nurse Stephen Groves
You Said: A patient who stayed on ward 513 wrote to the ward asking if they could come back to the hospital to give their feedback. One patient made a number of suggestions about how the ward could make improvements. They raised the point that it would be better for diabetic patients if breakfast could be served to coincide with their insulin regime. We Did: Stephen Groves, Senior Charge Nurse, changed the way breakfasts were delivered in the morning for insulin dependent patients. Stephen said, “We like to get useful feedback from our patients and make positive changes where we can. Breakfast is the most important meal for us all, either in or out of hospital. Insulin dependent patients now have their breakfast to coincide with their normal routine and this improves their overall blood sugar control and facilitates a speedier recovery. We also have diabetic condiments and offer snacks to this client group, as we do all our patients. A flexible approach to serving the first meal of the day has been adopted to coincide with the individual’s need.”
A Government Minister paid tribute to the ‘trailblazer’ Institute of Translational Medicine (ITM) during an official visit to see the construction site. Greg Clark MP, Minister for Universities, Science and Cities, inspected the site at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) after meeting senior representatives from University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), the University of Birmingham (UoB) and Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (BCH). The ITM will be a world-class clinical research facility located in the old QEH. Its vision is to use pioneering science to accelerate the delivery of personalised healthcare. The Institute also aims to cure disease and save lives by applying transformative science and technology and by educating and training the healthcare workforce.
Mr Clark said: “I signed the City Deal with Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, so it is now wonderful to see it go from paper to reality. “It is one of the most innovative investments in the country, building on the strength of the city, its hospitals, university, and the population to really reinforce the reputation of Birmingham.” The Minister agreed that the ITM set the future standard in terms of combining science research and healthcare, adding: “What a trailblazer this is for showing what local business and civic funding, combined with university research, can deliver for the good of the nation.” Mr Clark had earlier met with Tim Jones, Executive Director of Delivery at UHB and Senior Responsible Officer for the ITM; Sir David Eastwood, Vice Chancellor at UoB; and Matthew Boazman, Director of Strategy at BCH.
Meditation to help reduce stress Would you like to learn new mind and body techniques to reduce stress? If so, then why not attend Buddhist Meditation sessions held in the Faith and Community Centre at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB). Classes offer an opportunity to take a break from the working day, and experience the benefits of traditional, mindful and
Delivering the best in care
compassionate Buddhist practises. Sessions run weekly on Monday lunchtimes from 1:30 until 2:00. No prior knowledge is required, and all are welcome to attend. For more information, contact the Chaplaincy on 0121 371 4574.
Exercise
of the month
Resistance training Get into yoga to try at home
Emma Batchelor, Consultant Physiotherapist – Sport and Exercise Medicine, talks through this month’s Emma Batchelor, Consultant recommended Physiotherapistexercise: – Sport and Exercise Resistance is also called strength Medicine,training talks through this month’s training or weightexercise: training. It is based on recommended the principle that your muscles will work to overcome resistant force they need Yoga is an aancient form of when exercise that to. Health offlexibility resistanceand training focuses onbenefits strength, breathing include muscle strength and tone, to boostimproved physical and mental wellbeing. healthy weight, increased boneare density and The main components of yoga postures strength. (a series of movements designed to increase strength and flexibility) and breathing.
Exercises to try at home Benefits of yoga include:
Biceps curls Improved efficiency of lungs and cardio1. Stand up straight and hold a tin of food in vascular system each hand and strength 2. Improved Keep yourposture elbows close to your body with your palmsconcentration facing forward and upturned Improved 3. Keeping the upper arms stationary, raise Enhanced feeling of well-being the weights until your biceps are fully Better quality contracted andsleep the weights are at shoulder level Reduction of anxiety and depression 4. Slowly lower the weights back to the starting position It also help improve flexibility and 5.can Repeat help you go beyond your normal range of Bench movement, so that you then feel more press comfortable during 1. Lie with your backnormal on thedaily flooractivity. and hold a Yoga also improves balance by tin in each hand strengthening yoursolower body, particular 2. Raise your arms the tins areindirectly your ankles above youand knees, thereby reducing your chances of falling. 3. Bend your elbows, bringing your arms Summer theupper perfect timeare foreventually outdoor down so isyour arms yoga. To find a class near you, please visit one parallel to the floor. of thenot websites below: 4. Do allow your arms to touch the floor. 5. Yogahub Now raise your arms again, bringing the tins together above your chest with your Yoga Village UK arms straight You (or until you begin 6. Yoga RepeatClass 12 toNear 15 times to feelYoga as though Local Classesyou can’t do another repetition), doing sets of three Overhead triceps extensions For staff and theirhold families, 1. InNHS a standing position, a tin ofthe food in Morris Centreand Club a yoga class on both hands lift runs your arms above your Wednesdays from 5.30-6.30pm. Please head visit the your intranet for further information 2. Lower forearms behind you by http://uhbhome/fitness-classes.htm bending your elbows 3. Avoid allowing the weight to hit the back of your neck 4. Raise the weight overhead again by extending the elbows 5. Repeat
Sit ups 1. Lie down with your feet flat on the floor (so your legs are bent up and shoulder distance apart) 2. Place a medium-weight book on your chest and put your hands over it to hold it in place 3. Using your stomach muscles, bring your body up to 30 degrees before lying back down again slowly 4. Repeat 10 or 15 times before having a rest and starting again