staff magazine | Summer 2022
Scaling new heights
Climbing Snowdon for MND p4
Peak performance in Urgent Care p5
Your Platinum Jubilee celebrations p11
Contents
| www.leedsth.nhs.uk 4
Climbing Snowdown for MND
5 Top of the league tables for ambulance handovers 6-7 Operational Transformation strategic overview 8 New Maternity Centre to be largest in UK 9 Another world first for hand transplants 10
Going further with Digital
11 Your Platinum Jubilee celebrations 12-13 LUFC x LTHT fitness ambassador diaries 14 Shape up 4 Surgery the next phase 4
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Snowdon wheelchair climb for MND
Top of the league tables for ambulance handovers
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Super Saturday 2
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New OSCE testing centre opens
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100 Days challenge
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QI at LTHT
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My Job with Ajie Jaguraga
20 Cardiac Ultrasound Team in the Spotlight 21 Paper butterflies a tribute to NHS staff 12-13
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LUFC fitness challenge
Super Saturday 2 at Leeds Children’s Hospital
22-23 Farewells 24
Leeds Hospitals Charity news
25 60 Seconds with Claire Lang Bulletin is produced quarterly by the Communications Department. Photography by Medical Illustration Design by Octagon Design & Marketing Ltd Send your feedback, ideas and suggestions for the next edition to communications.lth@nhs.net Copy deadline is 1st August 2022 For more news on a daily basis from LTHT please follow us on social media: 19
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My job with Ajie Jaguraga
Team Spotlight: Cardiac Ultrasound Team
search for ‘Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’
@LeedsHospitals
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News
LTHT celebrates Queen’s Birthday Honours with hat-trick of awards Thank you so very much for all your good wishes - I really appreciate it.”
The Trust celebrated a hat-trick of Honours in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list published in June ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Julian Hartley, Chief Executive, received a Knighthood, Dr Fiona Campbell, Consultant Paediatric Diabetologist, received an OBE and Chris Slater, Associate Director for Commercial and Procurement, received an MBE. Together the colleagues have clocked up over 80 years’ service to the NHS and this is fantastic recognition for their continued dedication and hard work to the Leeds community. Julian Hartley has been awarded the honour of Knight Bachelor for his services to healthcare, which span almost 30 years, and in recognition of his unbroken contribution to the community. Julian Hartley, Chief Executive of LTHT said: “This is a special moment in my life and career which wouldn’t have been possible without the unstinting support and encouragement of all of you - my wonderful colleagues across the Trust.
Dr Campbell has been a Consultant in Paediatric Diabetes in Leeds for 27 years, and has for many years combined her clinical work with other local, regional and national roles, including Chair of the National Children and Young People’s Diabetes Network in England and Wales since 2009. Dr Campbell leads the awardwinning Children and Young People’s diabetes service at Leeds Children’s Hospital. This is one of the largest in the country caring for over 550 patients aged 0-20 years. Chris Slater managed the procurement and supply of essential PPE and supplies to support frontline NHS staff and patients at LTHT as well as at the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber in Harrogate. During the pandemic, Chris’s team provided more than 2 million surgical face masks, 300,000 FFP3 respirators, more than 2 million plastic aprons, 30,000 pairs of goggles, 50,000 visors, and 5.2 million surgical gloves. Dame Linda Pollard DBE DL Hon LLD, Chair of Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said: “It is such wonderful news to have three of our colleagues receive such prestigious recognition this year. At Leeds Teaching Hospitals we are very much one big team and we cannot do what we do without everyone working together. These awards are a fantastic achievement for Julian, Fiona and Chris and are very well deserved.”
Welcome Welcome to the Summer issue of Bulletin! A fresh start brings with it an opportunity to reassess our goals and our path to achieving them. It means looking back at the long journey we’ve travelled and recognising all we have achieved. It means feeling confident of our shared future together in The Leeds Way. I really want you to feel inspired by this issue of Bulletin magazine and hopeful for the future. There are many reasons to feel this way. We have weathered the worst that Covid can throw at us and we have already made huge strides in transforming the way we work to become an organisation fit for the challenges we face – now and in the future. We are scaling new heights as a Trust, in more ways than one, and in this issue you’ll read all about just what this means: from our new Operational Transformation strategy that is empowering all we do as a Trust, to colleagues pushing the limits of their fitness with Leeds United, and our MND Care Centre team helping one of their patients summit Mount Snowdon for charity. Great things are happening here in Leeds – and this is just the beginning. Kind regards
Sir Julian Hartley, Chief Executive
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News
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Scaling new heights for MND In March of this year, a great new challenge for motor neurone disease (MND) took place when 56-year-old Ian, diagnosed with MND in early 2019 and receiving care and treatment from the MND care team at Seacroft Hospital, undertook an incredible trial to climb Mount Snowdon in his offroad wheelchair. Known affectionately as the Tangerine Dream Machine and with the mantra of #WhatsYourMountain motivating him, Ian faced the 3,200ft climb and 9-mile trek with a team of 40 friends and family around him, including members of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals MND care team. To date Ian has completed a series of significant challenges, including a 100mile trek, and has raised thousands for Leeds Hospitals Charity and the MND Association. Funds will be used to build the Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease, which will provide specialist care for people living with MND in Yorkshire. Ian said: “Nothing like this centre currently exists and the vision is to pull together all of the specialist services required by MND sufferers and their families in a dignified space. A centre which provides respite, research, resources, and overall a sense of hope for the MND community – and for the exceptional and extraordinary people who look after us.” Claire Lang, Specialist Nurse for the MND care team, accompanied Ian on his mammoth challenge to the summit, and has this report: “Joining Ian on his Snowdon challenge was a fantastic experience. I was humbled to be included in Ian’s group of
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chosen people to complete the challenge with him. To be involved with something which raised both awareness of MND and much-needed funds to build our new centre was an honour. “I had not previously met many of the people who climbed Snowdon with Ian. It didn’t matter. Everyone got on, chatted and worked together as one big team to get Ian to the top of the mountain. Ian was the common factor for us all. We all shared the same goal to help him reach the summit. It was lovely getting to know everyone and finding out how they knew Ian. I especially enjoyed talking to Ian’s mum. It was very clear from meeting her where Ian gets his personality and drive. “It was physically hard work and as we got closer to the summit it was freezing cold and visibility was poor. Ian had a big smile on his face throughout which
undoubtedly kept everyone positive and energised. It was fantastic to be able to share this experience with many of my MND team and our close colleagues. Future team building days certainly have a high standard to meet now! “Ian’s friends and supporters tied ropes to his wheelchair and pulled and lifted him over rocks and rough terrain. The way they approached each challenge was inspiring. At one point they fashioned a decidedly dicey looking bridge out of old train track. Ian was not worried in the slightest, he and his Tangerine Dream Machine were driven over the huge gap in the ground whilst I watched through my fingers holding my breath. “Climbing Mount Snowdon with Ian was very special and something I will remember and cherish for a life time. It was a pure example of determination, friendship, teamwork and love. Ian has shown everyone that a diagnosis of MND shouldn’t stop you reaching for the stars. As Ian says, we all have our mountains to climb but with a positive outlook and the love and support of our families and friends - we can climb those mountains.”
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Feature
Trust welcomes Minister of State as it tops national ambulance handover league table Edward Argar MP, Minister of State for Health, visited the Emergency Department at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) in May. The Minister visited the team at the department to hear more about their leading ambulance handover times that have proved to be the fastest in the country. In 2021/2022, the LGI was the best performing hospital across NHS trusts in England, with an average handover of 11 minutes and 3 seconds. This is a result of the collaboration between Leeds Teaching Hospitals and Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) to reduce the amount of time it takes for ambulances to hand over patients into the care of the Emergency Department. This means that YAS colleagues are available to return to the community to support more patients who need urgent care fast. During his visit, the Minister was also
introduced to some of the Trust’s clinicians that are trailing innovative and new technologies through the onsite Innovation Pop Up at the LGI. The Innovation Pop Up brings together clinicians and entrepreneurs to transform the latest advances in science, technology and engineering into products and services that can solve health and care challenges facing Britain and the rest of the world. It is also the first phase in establishing an Innovation Village in the five hectares of land that will be unlocked by the building of the Trust’s two new hospitals. Mr Argar joined neurosurgeons Mr Ryan Mathew and Dr Will Bolton to view and interact with a 3D model of the human brain using a virtual reality headset. ‘Digital surgical theatre’ like this, uses virtual and mixed reality for education, training, patient consultation and peri-operative management of surgical patients. It can also help with early detection of brain tumours.
from how we are improving working with our colleagues in the community to improve ambulance handovers to implementing pioneering technologies that are helping to improve surgical planning or produce diagnoses quicker.” Minister for Health Edward Argar said: “It was a real pleasure visiting Leeds Teaching Hospitals to see for myself the expert healthcare and specialist services the trust provides day in, day out for people across Leeds, Yorkshire and the Humber and beyond. We continue to work very closely with the Trust on the development of their new hospital scheme, part of the Government’s commitment to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030.”
Dame Linda Pollard, Chair of Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said: “We were delighted that we could introduce the Minister to just a small number of the improvements and innovations we have been introducing here in Leeds. Our staff are working hard to continually enhance the care we provide to our patients -
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Feature News
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Transforming delivery of care for the present and the future The pandemic has caused social and economic change on a scale not seen in our lifetimes, and as we emerge, we are facing huge operational challenges. Alongside the rest of the NHS, hospitals in Leeds are facing increasing demand on our services, significant backlogs in elective care, areas of workforce shortages, and need for investment in our physical and digital estate. Our ambition is to improve the quality and timeliness of care while delivering first class patient experience and improving outcomes. To do this, we need to re-energise our approach to change and support widespread staff engagement in this over the coming years. How we do that is through our new Operational Transformation Strategy 2022-2027. This comprehensive strategy aligns with the Trust’s overall strategy and sits alongside other organisational strategies such as Quality, Workforce, Estate, Digital and Clinical Services. It takes into account the voices of our patients, focusing on patient-centred care, as well as tackling health inequalities. The central focus of the strategy consists of our five Transformation Programmes. In each of these Programmes we have already adapted our services in response to the pandemic, with a number of innovative and novel approaches to the delivery of healthcare being adopted
and embedded. We will support the scale and spread of this across the Trust as we continue to recover from the pandemic. Just as importantly, we will reshape our services for the benefit of the people we serve and ensure that when we move in to the new buildings at St James’s and the LGI we are able to maximise the benefits we will get for all our patients and staff. Each work programme has a Board led by senior clinicians, nurses and AHPs, managers, Kaizen Promotion Officers, workforce and estates leads, as well as Building the Leeds Way team members. We are also looking to widen the membership to include colleagues in partner organisations and are working with the Patient Reference Group to ensure the patient voice is central in these developments. They will work to deliver an agreed set of measures which they will use to ensure the Programmes are on track to deliver the key changes and will regularly report in to the Transforming Services Group, which oversees the whole strategy.
Guiding principles • Improving the quality of patient experience. • Improving outcomes for patients. • Improving timeliness of care. • Improving the way we design and use our resources to increase the offer for those using our services.
• Reducing health inequalities. • Making LTHT the best place to work for our staff. • Becoming the best partner within the city, WYAAT and ICS. The huge challenges we have been through have brought opportunities for improvement, to transform our services and maximise the use of our estate to the advantage of our patients. We are convinced that our fantastic staff, strong partnership working and opportunities for innovation mean that we are as wellequipped as anywhere else in the NHS to deliver on our ambition.
“You feel like you are getting your voice heard at last, there’s somebody there that actually cares about what is going on and about how you feel. I feel like I’m being listened to.” As we have adapted our services in response to the pandemic, a number of innovative and novel approaches to the delivery of healthcare were adopted and have become embedded. Many of these changes have come about as examples of excellent practice, and it is these and others like them that will make all the difference as we continue to recover. Importantly, they will help us reshape how we deliver services in the future. The new Operational Transformation strategy that sets out LTHT’s vision for getting Back to Better over the coming years. Five Transformation Programmes in the Trust’s key areas of operational activity draw upon our Leeds Way values - Patient-Centred, Fair, Collaborative, Accountable and Empowered - to take on these challenges, and become the best for specialist and integrated care.
Outpatients The number of outpatient appointments and complexity of patient care and treatment at LTHT has changed over the last five years, and the need to transform the traditional outpatients model has been accelerated following the impact of Covid.
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As with all services, patients have waited too long to access outpatients and the work of this programme will improve the timeliness of appointments which we know will have an impact on improving outcomes for patients. There will continue to be a need for face-to-face appointments, but where it is safe and more convenient for patients to access services remotely this will be pursued.’’
“I like to be spoken to. I want staff to say ‘this is the situation, this is what we are doing, this is what we need to do at this stage and after this has happened we’ll look at it again. Then I’d like to know when that will happen. I need that news for me to make my decisions.”
Diagnostics Demand for diagnostics was outstripping capacity even before the pandemic and is predicted to continue to rise year on year. This has an impact on our ability to meet waiting time standards with a knock-on effect on care and outcomes. Our vision for diagnostics is to have access to tests that can be performed close to home, in the community as well as central capacity for more complex testing. Our vision for diagnostics is to have access to tests that can be performed close to home, in the community as well as central capacity for more complex testing, ensuring equity of access across the communities we serve. By working in networks across Leeds whilst investing in digital technology and new estates, we will be able to provide rapid test results that improve outcomes by contributing to early diagnosis and treatment. The new purpose-built pathology
building, part of the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Pathology Network, will support this transformation and support hospitals across the entire region.
Planned Care We have a proud record of delivering high quality care with excellent outcomes for our patients. However, the timeliness of this care for those having a planned procedure has not matched these high standards and people have waited too long. As with many NHS organisations the numbers of patients waiting over 104 weeks for planned care has grown. We will address this backlog in the first year and reduce the maximum wait time to 78 weeks, with the aim over subsequent years being to reduce this to a maximum wait of 52 weeks. Our goal is for the vast majority of patients to be treated within 18 weeks of referral.
Cancer The way we have responded to the pandemic has brought about changes to care delivery which has in many cases improved patients’ experiences of their care. We will develop our diagnostic capacity to deliver the new Faster Diagnostic Standard (FDS) to diagnose or rule out cancer within 28 days of referral.
“No-one wants to deliver bad news, but it’s so important it is delivered in a sensitive way. If you’ve built a rapport, even if it’s for a couple of minutes, you are making the journey easier for both the clinician and patient.”
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We will investigate and implement new and innovative ways of working and delivering care, emphasising that we need to make effective use of the full range of our people’s skills and experience to deliver the best possible patient care, making sure that no person living with cancer is left behind.
Unplanned Care Emergency and unplanned care has responded rapidly to waves of Covid and the impact it has had on people and service availability. This impact has been felt across the whole Leeds healthcare system including the availability of on-going care for people who no longer have a reason to reside in a hospital setting. Bed occupancy in our hospitals remains at some of the highest levels within the NHS, with patients waiting far longer than we would wish in our emergency departments. Combining learning from the pandemic together with the changing needs of other emergency patients has given us a powerful opportunity to evolve and transform care.
“My care felt joined up - I’ve come back home with a package of care and am delighted.” Our ambition is for acute unplanned care to be delivered across all care settings (essentially a hospital without walls). To support the work of the Clinical Service Units (CSUs) we will increase the capability of the Ops centre and develop a live bed state to support operational flow. We want to maintain patients in their own homes where and whenever possible, supported by an integrated system approach across the city.
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Planned new maternity centre will be largest in the UK Our plans to create the UK’s largest single-site maternity centre as part of the development of two new hospitals on the Leeds General Infirmary site will revolutionise how we care for our patients. The centre, which will link the planned new Leeds Children’s Hospital and new hospital for adults, will have the capacity to deliver up to 10,500 babies a year and will provide care for mothers and their babies from across Yorkshire and the north of England. By centralising our services, we will also bring about safer care for mothers and their babies by providing specialist care and facilities under one roof. Currently, we need to transfer babies the 1.5 miles between St James’s Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary when they need specialist care, separating families and using up staff time and resources. Keeping families together is a key benefit of our plan and will mean more staff will be free to deliver clinical care for patients. Dr Kelly Cohen, Clinical Director for Women’s Services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said the new Maternity Centre would “overnight” provide a better experience for patients and staff. “We will be able to provide integrated family care like we have never been able to do before, which is a key part of the new hospital design,” she said. “Mums and Dads will be able to look after their
babies with the neo-natal teams there to support and help them.” Many of the babies born in Leeds need specialist care after birth. Being linked so closely to the new Children’s Hospital ensures families receive seamless care from pregnancy, birth and into childhood and adulthood– all in the same place. The new hospitals will also be a better place to work for our staff, who currently travel between sites to deliver care in two separate hospitals. Once the new hospital is built the extra capacity will provide a better experience by helping reduce delays, providing smoother patient pathways, and
reducing the possibility of last minute changes in plan which can be unsettling for patients and their families. Every year, about 2,500 births in Leeds are by caesarean section – about half of these are emergencies - and one of the four new theatres will be dedicated for planned caesareans. This will help to reduce delays, anxiety and provide a better experience for families who will have their own designated waiting area and specialist teams to look after them. Caesarean section patients will also have their own enhanced recovery pathways, so patients will often be able to return home within 24 hours. For post-natal patients there will be spacious maternity wards, with all ensuite single rooms that will have space for partners to stay. Said Dr Cohen: “It means that parents will be starting or growing their family life in their own private space which is great for infection control, but also means they can get to bond with their new baby.” The new hospitals, planned in a single building at Leeds General Infirmary, are currently being designed, with building expected to be commence in 2024 - with completion planned between 2026 and 2028 as part of the Department’s New Hospitals Programme commitment to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030.
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Feature
World first hand transplant for patient disabled by Scleroderma The Hand Transplant team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals performed the world’s first hand transplant in a patient whose hands were completely disabled by the rare disease scleroderma, potentially opening a whole new area of intervention for people with the condition. Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease that causes scarring of the skin and internal organs. In some cases the hands can become badly affected, with the fingers completely locked in a fist position, meaning sufferers are unable to use their hands. The Hand Transplant team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals removed the patient’s own hands and then undertook a successful double hand transplantation on 48-year-old Steven Gallagher from Ayrshire, whose hands had been afflicted by scleroderma for years, replacing his hands with the hands of a donor. It is the first time anywhere in the world that hand transplantation has been used to replace hands terminally affected by scleroderma. The procedure went well, and Steven remained in Leeds General Infirmary over the holiday period in December before being discharged back to Ayrshire. Patient Steven said: “About seven years ago my scleroderma caused the skin on my hands to get tighter and my fingers started curling in. Although different treatments were tried, my fingers were scrunched into my hands and I could only use my thumbs. It was very painful and a lot of pain relief was required - the pain was unbelievable at times. I had to stop work as a roof tiler after 23 years. “When the hand transplant was first mentioned I thought it sounded farfetched, but I couldn’t use my hands at all at this point and I felt I had nothing to lose. I wasn’t put off by the risk of losing my hands as they were getting so much worse and it was like not really having hands at all.” LTHT is one of the national centres for the treatment of scleroderma under the direction of Professor Francesco Del Galdo. Professor Del Galdo said: “A few years ago I spoke at a conference in Glasgow explaining how plastic surgery can sometimes help to increase hand function
Patient Steven Gallagher, photo copyright PA Media
for the relatively small number of people suffering this type of scleroderma. Steven, who was at the talk, got in touch with Professor Andy Hart in Glasgow to see if anything could be done to help restore his hands. The Glasgow team worked with Steven and referred him to the Leeds team who are the UK’s only Hand Transplant Service, as the damage to Steven’s hands was too advanced for any simple restorative surgery.” After two years of complex evaluation and preparation by the team in Leeds under the direction of Professor Simon Kay, a donor for Steven was found with hands that were the right immunological match, gender, size and skin tone. The surgery involved a thirty-strong team of professionals from many disciplines. Professor Kay paid tribute to the team saying: “This operation has been a huge team effort with input from our colleagues here in Leeds and in Glasgow. Having a hand transplant is very different from a kidney or other organ transplant, as hands are something we see every day and we use them in so many ways.” Five months since the operation, Steven
has found his new hands to be much more responsive. He said: “I’ve got much more movement now than I had - I can move all my fingers. I’m exercising them and stretching them. I go to the physio twice a week, and I feel like the hands are a part of me. When I was operated on, I had hands and I came around with hands, so it’s as if they fixed the hands I had. Now, around five months after my double hand transplant, I can move my fingers and thumbs and also move my wrists. I had so much more movement after just six weeks than I had before the operation and my pain score has gone to zero.” Professor Kay added: “We would particularly like to thank the donor’s family who made the brave and generous decision to donate, and the senior nurses in organ donation who have the difficult task of approaching families at the height of their grief to propose donation. So many unsung heroes play vital roles in such complex care.” The Leeds Team have now carried out 14 hand transplants in eight patients, one of the busiest and most innovative of such services in the western world.
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News
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Going further with Digital This year, teams across the Trust are working on new digital projects which will revolutionise patient services, supporting digital transformation where it’s needed most and enabling patients to engage digitally with their care.
A new patient-facing health portal Working in partnership with an external supplier called Wellola, this new solution will allow us to share information directly with patients using a secure digital platform, promoting patient selfmanagement. Patients will be able to view their clinical record, access support resources and share information on their health, which will be combined with data from other providers to create a single, secure electronic health record in PPM+. Leeds Hospitals Charity is supporting the project, using funds from donations and gifts in Wills to support the recruitment of specialist roles in the project team. The new system is expected to launch later this year.
Patient Appointments Hub The Outpatients team is working on a new digital appointments portal called Patient Hub, which will allow patients to access and manage their hospital appointments using a smart phone, tablet or computer. This will reduce the number of DNA (did not attend) appointments, improve the
patient experience when using our services and support our Net Zero (carbon neutral) promise, avoiding unnecessary printing and postage. The appointments hub is expected to launch in June 2022. We’ll continue to maintain appropriate mechanisms for patients who are not digitally literate or unable to engage with these new digital services to ensure all patients receive high quality care.
Transforming Nursing Documentation Converting paper-based forms is an essential step in digitising our hospitals, and we’ve recently launched a new project designed specifically to support our nursing colleagues, which will launch later this year. This will transform the majority of the 200+ paper care plan and assessment documents nurses frequently use, building them into a new digital solution within PPM+. The new solution will change the way our nurses work, simplifying daily work and saving time. We’ll be able to complete care plans at the point of care, enabling quicker and easier decision making about the care and interventions individual patients require. The new solution will also allow us to collect information about the impact nursing care has on our patients, with an ambition to provide a live data feed for patient acuity, metrics and ward assurance data.
New Staff Intranet Last but certainly not least, Spring saw the launch of our new Staff Intranet. Accessible from home or work, and from any device, colleagues can log in using NHSmail details. Our most recent internal communications audit showed that you’d like us to streamline the number of internal channels we use, reducing duplication and making channels more accessible. The new intranet will help us achieve all this, becoming our ‘go to’ place for all internal news and information. There’s lots of new features and functionality designed to support the way we work across the Trust - a fast, accurate search facility to help you find what you need quickly, and a clear A-Z. You can also set up a personalised newsfeed on your homepage, based on your team and the Trust-wide content you’re most interested in. The old Staff Intranet will be decommissioned soon, and the Intranet team is working with colleagues across the Trust to make sure essential content is reviewed, updated and then transferred across. Please email the team if there’s content you’d like to include - leedsth-tr. intranet@nhs.net These projects are just a few examples of the many digital projects the team is working on - find out more in the latest digital projects update.
PCAL Service diverts 48k patients to the right place for care Twenty-eight specialties now have PCAL pathways.
The Primary Care Access Line (PCAL) Team are getting patients directly to the right care, at the right time and reducing demand on highly pressurised services. The Access lines, staffed by Registered Nurses and non-clinical coordinators, give GPs and other health professionals immediate, direct telephone access to acute services at our hospitals. PCAL team members work with referrers to complete thorough assessments using clinical judgement and approved pathways. They need an understanding of dozens of treatment pathways across multiple LTHT CSUs. Over the last year PCAL took fifty-nine thousand calls from GPs and Yorkshire Ambulance Service last year, twenty-six thousand more than the previous year. As a result, more than 48,000 patients
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were diverted from our Emergency Departments. Including almost 11,000 patients avoiding hospital altogether. PCAL’s stakeholder collaborations across the Trust have seen pathways rapidly added or adapted, to meet the changing and increasing demand. The team do this by working collaboratively with CSUs throughout the Trust to ensure that PCAL pathways are constantly developing to promote patient safety and experience.
PCAL meet regularly with GPs across Leeds to consistently promote the service and understand the barriers that primary care services face and how the PCAL team can help. The team also work closely with Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS), including joint promotional days talking to paramedics as they arrive to increase the number of referrals from YAS crews on route. Despite increased demand this year, the average time to answer calls has remained the same and abandoned call levels have reduced. PCAL have been working regionally and nationally, helping other trusts develop similar systems.
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News
Staff and patients come together for Platinum Jubilee celebrations Over the first weekend in June the nation came together over a special four-day bank holiday weekend to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. At hospitals in Leeds, patients and staff alike joined in the celebrations. The Specialty and Integrated Medicine ward teams at St James’s promote the importance of mobilisation and socialisation for their patients, and made the most of the occasion to get patients together with celebratory Jubilee tea parties across participating wards. The Estates and Facilities team made sure
the hospital buildings were looking their best for the Platinum Jubilee, with red, white and blue lights and Union Flags raised on site at LGI and St James’s.
little Francesca (7lb 10oz) with mum Sophie. Over at the LTHT staff nurseries slightly older little ones were treated to their own Jubilee party.
At Leeds Children’s Hospital, staff and patients on Ward L49 received a special visit from Play Specialist ‘Queen Sue’ as part of their celebrations. As well as gifts and themed craft activities put on by the Play Team, a special selfie throne allowed young patients to take festive selfies to mark the occasion.
Chief Executive Julian Hartley said: “I want to say a very big thank you to all of you have been working over the long weekend. Our hospitals never close, as you know, and it’s your dedication to your service and your patients that ensures we continue to provide care to those who depend upon it. And an extra special thank you to all of you who went the extra mile to ensure patients staying with us didn’t miss out on the Jubilee festivities. It’s all very much appreciated.”
Meanwhile, Maternity teams were busy over the bank holiday weekend with some special Jubilee arrivals, including
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LTHT staff complete three-month fitness challenge with Leeds United In March, four LTHT colleagues committed to turn around their health and fitness after winning a competition granting them free access to Leeds United Football Club’s (LUFC) fitness programmes for three months. Each of the winners was able to access any of the classes held by Leeds United Foundation (LUF), which included Soccercise, Bootcamp, circuit training, running club, and more. The LTHT staff committed to record their fitness journeys and share helpful insights, tips and progress with their fellow colleagues, acting as ambassadors and advocates for healthier lifestyles. Bulletin caught up with the four to hear how their three months worked out…
number on the card. This was great fun as everyone was praying for the lower (easier) numbers! “I managed to stay motivated by seeing the change in my body and mind. There is also a group WhatsApp chat for everyone who attends and seeing that others are going to the classes gives you the push you need to join them. A few have even been persuaded to change their plans to attend the classes - especially Bootcamp which is on a Friday night! “Unfortunately, halfway through the three months I got Covid and have been struggling getting back into things since then. My fitness level completely dropped and the first class after I thought I had fully recovered I had to take some timeout as I struggled with my breathing. “I have lost some weight but not as much as I would have liked to. I have learnt to persevere, and that everybody has different fitness levels and to go at your own pace. I have also learnt that I was not as fit as I should be for my age. “Next step is to join my local gym, as much as I love the LUF team it is very difficult to get across to the other side of Leeds during rush hour traffic and trying to juggle family and work commitments. But this experience has given me the confidence to get back into fitness again!” Top three lessons learned: 1. Never underestimate what you can achieve. 2. Give yourself chance to learn new things even if you feel out of your comfort zone.
Stacey O’Malley “All of the sessions have been pretty hard, but I have fun and the personal trainer Sophie is great at encouraging you when you feel a task seems too difficult. I have attended Circuits and Bootcamp classes. They consist of different exercises such as squats, burpees, kettlebell swings, etc. In one of the sessions we did a ‘play your cards right’ - which consisted of picking a playing card and carrying out various exercises depending on the suit and
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3. Just go for it!!
Sally Wright “I have attended the walking group, Circuits, and Bootcamp. Circuits and Bootcamp - I won’t lie they are tough but a good tough. What I mean is that they push me to do my best, try things I haven’t before and trust my body is capable of a lot more than I think it is. “I have actually enjoyed all of the classes
and they have quickly become part of my routine and I really look forward to going. Something I never thought I would say being someone who hated PE at school! It’s just what I do now and my family are really supportive and can see I am enjoying it. “In fact, my husband has even been inspired and he joined FitFans in April. He is also attending the Soccercise classes on a Thursday evening so not only has it become my habits but its spread to my family too. “I think I have to say my absolute favourite is Bootcamp. I know what you’re thinking... I must be joking!!! Well I’m not. We have various exercises, reps and parts of the body to work on but the PT Sophie blends this in with games and fun. Most of all we have fun and we laugh and it’s so nice to interact and laugh with people in person again! “I have met some really interesting characters who I would never normally be able to chat to, including two amazing veterans. LUF does lots of work out in the community so it really has been a chance to meet other local people and share something we all have a common interest in: getting healthy! “I have lost 1.5 stone in the last 3 months and I am hoping to continue this journey. I have taken up more walking in
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particular and my kids are enjoying being out and about more with me. “I unfortunately suffered a knee injury so have had to cut back on the classes for now but I will keep up walking and making sure I am active. I have learnt the importance of recovery from the PTs at LUF and that you should listen to your body as it tells you what you need and when to slow down. “I would say that I can do more than I give myself credit for and that small steps still get you to the same place. It’s not about being the best, fastest or fittest. It’s about putting in effort, doing your best and trying new things.” Top three lessons learned: • Take it at your own pace. • Don’t give up and keep trying. • Slowly is still doing laps round the people sitting on the couch!
Vince Heslop “I have found the classes to be very well run. The Fitfans class is very informative and makes you reflect on what you are eating, drinking and your general lifestyle. Circuits are well attended and well liked by all those that participate. “The main problem I had was attending more than once a week as I have a young family and have to get across Leeds during rush hour. “I really enjoy the circuits (despite a lack of coordination for starfish sit ups!) and prefer this class more than others. “I really enjoyed meeting Noel Whelan
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and had a good chat with him during our walk around Elland Road - I never realised how many injuries he had and that he had to stop playing at a relatively early age because of these! I also told him that he was missed on the radio and he was right, we needed four points minimum from the final four games to stay up! “I’ve also enjoyed the social interaction of meeting other diverse members of the community in Fitfans and will try to get to more of these sessions. “I have increased my daily steps by going for family walks on an evening especially with the nicer weather (hopefully this will continue) over the last three months and have tried to do some of the circuit exercises at home (only to have a 3 year old think I was playing and jumping on top of me!). “I do feel fitter and need to get into a routine of doing more focused exercise per week (2 or 3 times). I have lost half a stone but want to lose more. “It’s been a pleasure (and sometimes a pain eased by stretching!) to have been selected for this opportunity.” Top three lessons learned: • Try to be focused. • Don’t over-do it. • Enjoy what you are doing.
Gemma Issrir “I have taken part in all the classes as I was very curious and I enjoyed each one. The staff there are brilliant, and the people that I trained with are amazing. “I loved Bootcamp and Circuits, these two helped me to understand that there are no limits if you really want to achieve something! I have brought my partner along, and my best friend - it was fun and both enjoyed it! “The teamwork atmosphere made things much easier, we were there to achieve our goals and it was so nice to have everyone working together! I did find the morning after Bootcamp difficult - my legs felt it all!! However, that motivated me a lot!
“I absolutely loved this programme and I can clearly see a big difference compared to three months ago, when I started very unhappy with my body. I have learned that when you really want something it all comes down to your state of mind: if you want you will get it! Overall an amazing and fantastic experience! I am so grateful that I have been chosen, thanks so much!” Top three lessons learned: •B elieve in yourself because you can do it! •T eamwork makes the dream work! Literally!! •A nd it’s OK to not feel it on some days, don’t be harsh on yourself! If you like the sound of what Leeds United Foundation offers, why not sign up to one of their fitness classes and give it a go yourself? Get in touch with Rachel Newman at LUF directly for more information by emailing rachel. newman@leedsunited.com or calling 07706352346.
“I now stick to my three fitness days at the gym, thanks to LUF’s fitness programme. It has really helped me to push myself and I have also lost a few kilograms! What else can you ask for?? I am planning to be part of Bootcamp and circuit training after these three months are up as it is completely worth it!
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Shape Up 4 Surgery – the next phase people to be as fit and healthy as possible for their surgery.”
Shape Up 4 Surgery (SU4S) launched last year as a campaign to encompass the work dedicated to improving patient surgical experiences and outcomes. This includes empowering patients to understand what they can do to prepare for surgery as well as making improvements to processes and introducing new clinics for frail patients.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals performs in the region of 50,000 elective surgical procedures annually. Due to the pandemic there are now more people waiting than ever before. The team have been able to use innovative data to explore the effects of lifestyle choices on patient’s perioperative outcomes, and this greater knowledge is helping to shape the campaign’s future development.
The next phase of the campaign is underway, with the recruitment of a dedicated team of volunteers and this is known as Supported Shape Up 4 Surgery. Supported Shape Up 4 Surgery is the empowering patient arm of the campaign. The Trust’s volunteer team is contacting patients who are on a waiting list for surgery and engaging them in what they can do to prepare. This is part of supporting patients to ‘wait well’. The volunteers have undergone rigorous training to do this and a co-ordinator has been appointed to support them. A key piece of this work is obtaining patient feedback and measuring patient outcomes as a result of the supported pathway. Their work also includes helping patients to access the SU4S website and resources, supporting patients to access healthy living services e.g. stop smoking services and free activity events, reassuring patients that they have not been forgotten,
This campaign is utilising information to support patients and improve outcomes, including: identifying and supporting patients who have difficulty using the electronic SU4S resources and offering printed materials or alternative formats, such as information in different languages. Sophie Blow, Clinical Operational Lead for Perioperative Optimisation said: “We are grateful to all the volunteers who are supporting the next phase of this important campaign. With some support from the city Planned Care board a pilot project is also being planned to target the most deprived in the city on a surgical waiting list. The aim of this is to reduce the risk of acute attendances and to support
• Active smokers in Leeds stay in hospital at least 1 day longer than ex-smokers. • Untreated iron deficiency anaemia is more prevalent in certain populations in the city and if left untreated leads to a longer stay in hospital. • Increasing activity levels in the weeks before an operation reduces a patient’s risk of complications following surgery. It also reduces the risk of needing an intensive care bed after an operation and shortens a patient’s stay in hospital. • Doing deep breathing exercises daily before an operation reduces the risk of a chest infection after surgery.
New Associate Non-Executive Directors join Trust’s Board Workforce Committee.
LTHT has appointed two new Associate Non-Executive Directors.
Dame Linda Pollard, Chair of LTHT, said: “Mike Baker and Mark Burton are proven leaders, achieving at the highest level in their chosen fields. Their knowledge and independent insight will offer guidance and scrutiny, helping LTHT provide the best services possible. I’m looking forward to working with them.”
Mike Baker CBE has held leadership roles in the three largest Departments of State. Most recently Mike was Chief Operating Officer at the Ministry of Defence 230,000 military and civilian colleagues and an annual spend of £49 billion. Mike has experience of delivery, transformation and cultural change in large, complex organisations. He has been Public Sector Director of the Year and was appointed CBE for Public Service in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2012.
leadership roles for several prominent banks, working with clients from around the world and in multiple sectors.
Mike is passionate about leadership and mentoring. He’s an avid tennis player and qualified football coach. Mike will become a member of Finance & Performance Committee.
Mark has mentored individuals and businesses, including social enterprises. He currently works closely with the Leeds City Region, supporting businesses and working to make the Region a great place to live and work in.
Mark Burton is currently Head of Global Services and Public Sector and Head of UK Regions for Lloyd’s Banking Group. A 25year career in finance has seen Mark take
Mark spends most of his leisure time with his family. He’s a keen sportsman and advocate of physical activity. Mark will become a member of Audit and
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Mike Baker CBE, Associate Non-Executive Director of LTHT, said: “I’m delighted to be joining the Board of LTHT and looking forward to supporting the service to our patients, partners and dedicated NHS colleagues. I’m proud to say, I’m a member of the Leeds NHS team.” Mark Burton, Associate Non-Executive Director of LTHT, said: “I have seen firsthand the focus and dedication of the team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, it’s an honour for me to join the LTHT Board. It will be enormously rewarding to play any role in helping the Trust back to better and in our ambition for world-class services.”
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Leeds Children’s Hospital delivers hundreds of extra appointments and trials new technology on ‘Super Saturday 2’ By Suzanne Abrahams General Manager for Leeds Children’s Hospital On Saturday 5 March 2022, Leeds Children’s Hospital joined nine other children’s hospitals across the country to host a second collective ‘Super Saturday’ event to boost the recovery of children’s services affected by the pandemic and to spotlight the continuing hard work of NHS staff. I’m delighted to say that we were able to schedule 28 additional operations and over 100 outpatient appointments. As General Manager I have coordinated our participation in the National Paediatric Accelerator Programme, an initiative designed to bring together NHS trusts to tackle waiting lists inflated by the impact of the pandemic. We have been working with other leading specialist children’s hospitals including Great Ormond Street, Alder Hey, Birmingham and Manchester Children’s Hospital. On Super Saturday 2 - as we called it - our colleagues ran extra clinics, additional theatres and trialled innovative models of care in order to speed up access to
our services. Our theatre lists focused on dental (working with our colleagues from Leeds Dental Institute) and PEG to button procedures. Additional clinics included asthma, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, gastroenterology and endocrinology. In total we were able to schedule 28 additional operations and over 100 outpatient appointments. Leeds Children’s Hospital also ran a host of additional Super Saturday activity including: tablet taking workshops, a bloods drop-in, mini-mouth-matters sessions, photo scrapbooks for patients with additional needs, new family friendly way-marking (have you seen Jerri the Jellyfish yet?!) additional physiology support and more! Along with other members of the Children’s Hospital management team I was onsite to support our teams and meet with patients and families to see first-hand how these initiatives are helping patients and families. It was gratifying to talk to families who were just so happy with their experience. I spoke to parents of children who had been waiting months for their elective PEG to button surgery but thanks to additional theatre lists on Super Saturday 2, had surgery brought forward, avoiding a longer wait. It was also a real privilege to see some
innovative new ways of working in action. I was lucky enough to see some virtual reality distraction therapy (VRDT) in action in different areas. VRDT, led by our Play Team, makes use of VR technology to distract patients from painful or distressing procedures, reducing the need for general anaesthetic. On Super Saturday 2, for the first time, we used VRDT for a patient undergoing a surgical procedure, without a general anaesthetic. 15-year-old Mohammed had both ingrowing toenails removed under local anaesthetic with additional VRDT. It was a huge success and we’re currently looking to expanding our use of VRDT across Leeds Children’s Hospital. Our application of VRDT in theatre as well as more minor procedures has attracted attention from local and national media, NHSE and paediatric colleagues across the country. This has been a fantastic collaboration between medical, surgical, research and play specialist colleagues. I want to thank everyone who was part of the planning, delivery and evaluation of the day. You really did Leeds Children’s Hospitals proud. Planning is underway with colleagues across the country for a third national Super Saturday event later this year so watch this space!
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Building a sustainable future Climate change poses a significant threat to our health, and across the NHS, we have to respond to the impact of heatwaves, flooding and an increase in vector carrying diseases. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in the UK, we recognise the important role we have to play in helping reduce carbon emissions and become more sustainable.
on health and deliver sustainable healthcare. We will focus on achieving cleaner air, reducing energy use and reliance on fossil fuels, smarter travel, innovative approaches to care, waste management and greener facilities. We have already taken great strides to achieve this by investing over £20 million in energy saving projects,
The NHS contributes around 5% of all carbon emissions and has set a target to be net zero by 2040, which means that greenhouse emissions need to be equal to or less than the emissions it removes from the environment.
reducing the carbon emissions of anaesthetic gas, converting waste into energy and becoming the first Carbon Literate NHS Hospital Trust. The Trust’s GRASP Rewards programme is an easy and rewarding way for staff to play their part. It allows you to log your positive actions, collect green points and show that you are making
a difference, and each month those who earn the most green points will win a £20 voucher. Since the programme launched in 2021, our GRASP Reward members have helped save over 54,000kg of CO2. You can join the scheme here: https:// leedsth.greenrewards. co.uk/
To achieve this target will be a huge undertaking for the Trust; we will need to change how we care for our patients, our estate, and our supply chain and require everyone to play their part. Our Green Plan details how the Trust will reduce the impact of climate change and pollution
More Heroes… A Second series of Heroes Unmasked launches In January we launched Heroes Unmasked, the first podcast series for the Trust, with the aim of bringing to life stories of interesting people, at a time when we were all feeling a bit more than disconnected in the wake of the pandemic. The feedback from listeners and from those taking part has been really positive and you can now find stories of our staff across all the main podcast channels, including Apple and Spotify, both nationally and internationally. We’ve created a channel where real voices from the Trust can be heard and where quality storytelling and conversations are taking place. If you loved the tale of former submariner - now security advisor - Mark, or were fascinated by Play Worker Megan’s award-winning sheep, then there are more delights in store in a second series that launched in June. Listen out in this series for top-league women footballers, Chinese chess champions, and other interesting characters within our midst. Our focus is to show just some of the breadth of the work that our staff do, in a new way that brings them together. We wanted to get to the crux of who people are. You can listen to all the episodes published so far on our website: www.podfollow.com/heroes-unmasked
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100 Days Countdown to the British Transplant Games marked by launch of sponsored ‘100 Days Challenge’ and their families to the games with kit, registration fees, accommodation and transport.
100 days and 100 ways to make a difference to those in the transplant community, Tuesday 19 April marked the start of the 100 day countdown to the Westfield Health British Transplant Games in Leeds, 28-31 July 2022.
Matthew Hick is a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Leeds Children’s Hospital and long-standing Leeds Children’s Transplant Team volunteer, supporting children and young people to take part in The Games. He said:
The Leeds Children’s Transplant Team, based at Leeds Children’s Hospital, launched a fundraising challenge asking participants to raise funds by doing 100 things in the 100 days before the games. Activities could be anything with a focus on health and wellness e.g. some participants have signed up to cycle 100 miles, complete 100 laps of their local park on roller skates, and even have 100 conversations about transplantation. The Leeds Children’s Transplant Team is an inspiring group of more than 40 children and young people, aged between 2 and 18, who have been
the recipients of organ and bone marrow transplantation. After years of illness and overcoming hurdles in life, members of the team will be representing Leeds during four days of competitive sporting events, including track and field, swimming, cycling - all in celebration of their gift of life and their donors. Fundraising led by Leeds Hospitals Charity is required to get the team
“The determination and fearless approach demonstrated by so many of these children is inspiring for everyone around them. The Leeds Children’s Transplant Team relies on donations to make it to The Games and we’re hoping that by launching ‘The 100 days challenge’ we can help celebrate the amazing achievements of these children who live life to the full and ensure they have an amazing experience at The Games. These children and their families deserve a British Transplant Games they will always remember.”
Nursing leaders officially open new national nursing test centre A new national nursing and midwifery examination centre has officially opened at LTHT. The new Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Competence Test Centre, based at Leeds General Infirmary, will host up to 7,000 nurses, midwives and nursing associates each year for their Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). The exam is the practical part of the Test of Competence that all overseas-trained nurses or those returning after a career break are required to take before they can be registered to practice. Until recently there were only three test centres in the UK, but with rising demand to bring people with the right skills and knowledge onto the UK’s nursing register as quickly as possible, the NMC needed to increase national testing capacity. As such, two new centres were announced in Leeds and Newcastle. Andrea Sutcliffe CBE, Chief Executive and Registrar of the NMC visited Leeds General Infirmary to officially open the new centre, together with Duncan Burton, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England.
kindness and fairness.” The centre includes its own main reception and briefing room for candidates, and a clinical area comprising 12 clinical bays where the tests take place.
Following a private tour to see the new facilities first-hand, Andrea and Duncan met with key colleagues from LTHT. Andrea Sutcliffe said: “I’m delighted that our newest test site is now open in Leeds, making our OSCE tests even more accessible to skilled nursing and midwifery professionals. Increasing our total national OSCE testing capacity to 35,000 candidates each year, will help more professionals to join our register quickly and safely. We’re grateful to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for working with us to make this happen so that people across the UK can continue to receive the safe, kind and effective care they deserve. I was particularly impressed with the care and thought Leeds had given to supporting candidates with
Lisa Grant, Chief Nurse at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said: “Having a new centre in Leeds will be a huge benefit for trusts and healthcare providers locally, right across Yorkshire and nationally. We are so pleased that so much hard work has come to fruition today with the centre’s official opening. We’re looking forward to welcoming nursing colleagues to take their exam and proudly join or rejoin the nursing profession in England.” The OSCE is part of the Test of Competence for nurses, midwives and nursing associate and involves a face-to-face examination using actors or simulation models to play patients presenting with a variety of medical conditions or ailments. Nurses, midwives and nursing associates are assessed on how they care for and communicate with the patient to ensure they meet the required standards.
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Achieving better healthcare at LTHT At LTHT, we are committed to improving the quality of care and services we provide to our patients. A number of Quality Improvement (QI) collaboratives allow groups of colleagues dedicated to the improvement of a particular area of patient safety to meet, share information, learn from and motivate each other in order to improve the quality of healthcare services across the Trust.
Award. To help meet the challenges of the pandemic the Collaborative met virtually and I continued to participate in its work. I believe that the ongoing focus on falls has helped mitigate some of the disruptive impact of the pandemic on patient safety.
In this article, we shine a spotlight on some of our varied and exciting QI collaboratives and the people involved.
Reducing falls in vulnerable patients “Hello my name is Elizabeth Milner. I joined the Falls collaborative as QI Partner after my mother’s death due to a fall whilst in care and because of my experience as a patient, carer and lifelong career in nursing. “The aim of this enthusiastic committed multi professional team is to reduce falls and the impact of harm to patients, their families and staff. This is being achieved by the cumulative effect of multiple tested small interventions suggested by frontline staff - no idea is too small! The team has produced a video to raise patients’ awareness of the risk of falls when in hospital. “My role is that of a ‘critical friend’ to help improve and contribute to the development of new initiatives using my life experience. I feel my views are welcomed and valued by the team. “The success of the Falls Collaborative was demonstrated by a significant reduction in falls pre-Covid and this was recognised by winning a Patient Safety
Taking the weight off pressure ulcers “Hello, my name is Katy-Mallender Ward and I am part of the Pressure Ulcer QI collaborative whose aim is to support wards in implementing new ideas and ways of working to reduce patients developing pressure ulcers. “Wards involved in the collaborative review the number of developed pressure ulcers per month and share their experiences of implementing a change on a small scale in their area. These can vary from introducing a clock to alert when a patient requires a turn, to developing a trolley of equipment which is easy to access. “Clinical staff are encouraged to attend the collaborative meetings and we have representation from patient volunteers, continence nurse specialists, tissue viability nurse specialists, nurses, CSWs, ward managers, quality matrons, clinical educators, physiotherapists, dietitians, and occupational therapists. “The work is very much a collaborative approach where staff can talk openly about barriers they may face and we work as a team to overcome them and encourage small tests of change with ideas brought from clinical staff who deliver the care directly to patients.”
Confronting without conflict “My name is Tori Ward and I am based on J7, an Acute Assessment
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ward. Throughout the pandemic we have seen an increase in vulnerable patients with mental health problems attending with physical illness, all with varying presentations. To help our staff to be able to safely manage our vulnerable patients appropriately, the Deescalate collaborative was established to share learning and ideas. “This collaborative brings together different members of the multidisciplinary team from around LTHT who are involved in caring for patients who may display clinically related behaviours that staff can find challenging to manage such as aggression and agitation. “We have been able to secure funding to be able to train our staff in conflict resolution which has given us the confidence to be able to manage these patients more effectively. The teams are now able to identify patients who are becoming more agitated at an earlier stage and measures of deescalation such as placement of the patient in appropriate bed spaces can be implemented timely. “A particularly successful intervention is the twice-daily “safety huddle” where high-risk patients are discussed and assessments and experiences from the previous shift are handed over. This way, risks and any successful de-escalation techniques used can be shared.” This is just a taster of a few QI collaboratives at LTHT. Are you inspired or want to learn more? Please contact our QI network for more information. Additionally, we hold monthly QI training, open to all interested in QI – sign up via ESR or email: lindsey.brady@nhs.net
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My Job
Ajie Jaguraga • Outbreak Management –provide support and advice to manage the outbreak and minimise disruption to essential services. • Policy/Guideline/Information – update or implement new policies or guidelines to ensure Trust guidance is in line with national guidance and IPC best practice.
What else have you done in your career so far? After qualifying I worked at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust as an oncology nurse where I won an award for providing patient centred care. I joined LTHT as a research nurse in the microbiology department before being offered the position of IPC Nurse. I recently spent time in the emergency department at LGI and worked briefly with the Professional Practice and Safety Team.
What’s the best thing about your job? Working with supportive, hardworking and kind colleagues. My team feels like family.
Ajie is an Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Nurse Specialist, based at St James’s. She has worked at LTHT since 2015. Please summarise the main aspects of your role? I work closely with Microbiology, Virology and clinical staff, daily, to ensure the risk of infection to patients, visitors and staff is minimised through a range of prevention and control processes. • Education –ensure staff/departments are up to date with the best evidence for safe working practice. Providing training in hygiene processes and equipment use. • Audit – Monitor patient care and environment to ensure standards are maintained. Make sure hospital infection rates are used as an indicator of the quality of patient care. • Surveillance – Monitor numbers of infections and look for trends. Feed this information back to the clinical teams to help them make judgements on patient care. Identify reasons for infections and ways to minimise the risk of further cases. • Advice –provide advice to clinical staff and visit clinical areas daily to address IPC issues directly.
My role gives me the scope to challenge and develop myself.
What is the one thing you would change at LTHT to help you do your job better? IPC nurses rely heavily on IT to be able to do our jobs. Improvements in some IT systems would help us deliver more efficiently.
What could colleagues do to improve IPC at the Trust? There are several things that people could do: • Always follow the 5 moments for hand hygiene. • Appropriate use of PPE, e.g. if wearing gloves ensure these are removed and hands decontaminated before leaving the bedside. • Ensure ALL documentation relating to invasive devices such as cannulas and lines is completed. Prompt removal of devices reduces the risk of infection to our patients.
What’s your best advice to a new starter at the Trust? Take any learning opportunities you can find within the Trust. Ask questions. You never have to struggle as there is always someone to help you. Spend some time with IPC.
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Team Spotlight: Cardiac Ultrasound How does your team make a difference at LTHT? We help diagnose and manage patients with known and suspected heart disease, as part of a wider clinical team. Providing high quality diagnostic imaging and reporting has a huge clinical impact on the patient pathway. Cardiac ultrasound, or echocardiography, is by far the most frequently used imaging modality for the diagnosis of cardiovascular disease. We are a very busy service, with an ever increasing demand, however we are continually trying to improve the way we can deliver our patient services, and ensure our patients receive their tests in a timely manner.
What are the different roles within the team? Student, specialist and highly specialist cardiac physiologists cover echo, physiologist led clinics, stress echo, bubble and contrast studies and transoesophageal echo. Our nurses and doctors are fundamental in the smooth running of our tests and nothing would happen without our helpful administration team.
What happens on an average day? Most staff start at 8.30am and finish at 5pm. Various clinical MDTs can be attended first thing, but all echocardiograph appointments will then run throughout the day. Training with supervision happens every day alongside advanced scans and continuous communications with patients and hospital staff. Every patient contributes to an interesting, varied day! We undertake a varied range of scans in different locations. A big proportion of our work is undertaken in outpatient settings and we support a lot of services, providing an echo on the day of a clinic appointment. Our in patient service delivery means we have to travel across sites with portable equipment and scan at bedside. This can be very challenging as we are often scanning in limited
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conditions but still provide a good quality test that will help the clinicians make clinical decisions. There is always a lot of triaging of requests at the beginning of the day.
“I have worked in the echo service at LTHT since 2003, I have seen the team constantly change and evolve, adapting as necessary. The team is strong, resilient, caring and determined to deliver the best imaging they can. When I think of the echo team I feel extremely proud of the work they do and the way they care about each other.” Hilary Jessop - Clinical Service Manager. What is the most surprising thing about your work? The nature of our work means there’s always something new to look at and share with our colleagues. Always something new to learn, this keeps the work fresh. If something interesting is scanned the sonographers are always keen to share this with each other and provide teaching to junior members of the team. We enjoy sharing our images with each other when we are proud of the job we have done. Even when the work is hard, the morale remains good and there is a lot of good humour shared. There’s nothing that isn’t surprising about this team and the work.
Are there any recent achievements or plans for the future? We have a new management team (including job creations and more senior positions) which has refreshed the team. We’ve also had lots of new technical improvements including new echo machines and treadmills, training pathways, staff recruitment and service expansion. We filmed a promotional video for stress echo services, for patients, we would like to do more videos for other aspects of the service when time and waiting list demands allow us to. We are working hard to prioritise being a prominent part of the Echocardiography community, presenting at local and national meetings. We are also planning to host a British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) Accreditation day in September. BSE is our professional representative organisation.
What do you enjoy the most about working in the team? Our team mates. We champion each other’s achievements and varied roles, and welcome new starters warmly. We are all good friends outside work which makes all aspects of our day easier! Because we work across different sites the team mix changes daily so we get to work with different people.
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Paper butterflies take flight in tribute to NHS staff Hundreds of stunning origami butterflies took flight at Leeds City Museum in a moving tribute to the remarkable efforts of frontline NHS workers in April. Entitled What We Go Through Together, the poignant new display is made up of 600 carefully folded butterflies which were created by members of the Adult Critical Care team at LTHT. Each individual butterfly featured a personal message from its creator, with the full collection being brought together by local artist Aimee Grundell, who used the butterfly as a symbol of transformation, re-birth and optimism. Catherine Balcombe, lead quality nurse for Adult Critical Care said: “The
past two years have been incredibly difficult and emotionally challenging for everyone working on the front lines of the NHS. We have seen firsthand the toll Covid has taken on countless staff, patients, families and loved ones. “This project has given us an important chance to use art as part of our own healing process and to express our sadness, solidarity and hope in a unique and beautiful way.” Staff made the butterflies during a ‘reset day’ programme, which was organised to help colleagues prioritise their own wellbeing after the enormous challenges they faced during the pandemic.
New Care Bags support patients in ED In Spring the Learning Disability (LD) and Autism Team at LTHT introduced a Care Bags pilot to support patients with a Learning Disabilities and/or Autism who attend the Emergency Departments (ED). The Care Bags, funded by a Leeds Hospitals Charity innovation grant, contain items that can reduce sensory stimulation and provide calming distraction and occupation for patients at any point during their patient journey. When a patient arrives at ED, if they have a Learning
not meltdown or shout. I didn’t get triggered when hearing unpleasant noises. I was occupied for periods of time so my relative could rest a bit more than usual.
Disability or are Autistic they will be offered a Care Bag. People can self-identify or diagnoses will be seen through triage. Kathleen Smith, QI Clinician for the Learning Disability and Autism Team says we really see the value in this scheme: “We’ve worked closely with patients and colleagues to find the right materials to help our patients cope better with the ED environment. Just one month into the pilot and we are seeing results.” By the end of May: • 292 staff members working in ED had been trained • 42 Care Bags had been given out to patients
• 16 new alerts were added to patients’ electronic records
“When I finally got seen, I COULD SPEAK. I wasn’t so exhausted, traumatised, or overwhelmed that I was non-verbal. I could describe what was happening. I could respond to questions. I could say what I needed to say. I COULD, instead of ‘couldn’t.”
• 7 patients had been referred to the LD team Urgent Care Matron, Tom Ladlow said the Care Bags are a game-changer: “If we help patients remain calm during their wait, it’s much easier for our ED clinicians to effectively engage with them and diagnose the health issue they are facing.” One patient wrote to thank the LD team for the initiative: “An autism care bag! OMG! This is seriously amazing and helped so much. “I could rest. I felt loads calmer. My migraines didn’t get triggered by stress. I did
Care bag contents: ear defenders; eye mask; stress ball; art colouring books; a fidget gadget and; EasyRead information.
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Farewell
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A fond farewell to our long-serving staff Carol Bisby
Elayne Hardy
Carol Bisby has retired after working at LTHT for around 25 years in various areas including Medical Admissions, Leeds Chest Clinic, Sleep Service and the Yorkshire Lung Screening Trial (YLST). For the last three years, Carol worked as part of the very successful YLST team. She was part of the project from the outset and brought invaluable skills and experience to the team. She willingly shared her knowledge and played a large part in training new members of the team.
Elayne Hardy has retired from her role in the Liver Transplant Unit after a lengthy career at LTHT. Elayne started in 1974 in A&E as a band 5 nurse, and after three years worked her way up to become a sister.
There have been several highlights during Carol’s time with the team including winning the Team of the Year award at the Time to Shine awards 2019, participating in fundraising events and publicity shoots. Carol has contributed to raising the profile of the project, funders Yorkshire Cancer Research and LTHT research throughout her time in the YLST team. The team wish her well in her retirement.
Denise Logan Denise Logan retired from her role as Administrative Co-ordinator for Holiday Dialysis at LTHT in April. Denise commenced employment with the Trust in 2007 via Taskmaster as a Medical Secretary in Renal Services. She then took over the role of Holiday Dialysis Coordinator in 2012. Denise’s work was arranging holiday dialysis for patients in the United Kingdom and abroad. Denise was described as supportive, hardworking, and loyal. Her plans for retirement are to spend more time with her family and visit her caravan in Skegness.
She moved to HDU at LGI as a band 7 and stayed there for seven years, taking a year out to complete a teaching degree, after which she worked for the School of Nursing for three years whilst starting a family. Elayne then returned to staff pool to get experience in different specialties. Elayne moved to a band 6 nursing role in ENT for four years, and then moved to colorectal. She finally arrived onto the Liver Transplant Unit where she remained until her retirement. Elayne is looking forward to spending more time at her holiday home in Florida, and more time with her grandchildren.
Denise’s team will miss her and greatly appreciates the extensive contribution she made to helping dialysis patients within the Renal Service. They wish Denise a long and very happy retirement.
Lindsey Knight Mr Lindsey Knight, Consultant ENT Surgeon, retired from LTHT in March. Lindsey was appointed to the post of Consultant ENT Surgeon at St James’s and Seacroft in 1995, joining a department of three other ENT consultants at that time. Delivering a comprehensive adult and paediatric ENT service, Lindsey developed
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and firmly established the regional paediatric airway service now based at LGI. With the formation of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Lindsey was instrumental in combining the two ENT departments across the city onto the present LGI site and enabling growth of the ENT department. Lindsey’s passion for sailing was everpresent, representing the LGI in the yearly NHS Regatta races. His colleagues wish him well in his retirement.
www.leedsth.nhs.uk |
Farewell
Julie Beckett Julie Beckett has retired from her role at LTHT in May after a lengthy career in the NHS of 40 years and nine months. Julie started at LGI in 1981 as a student nurse, becoming a staff nurse in 1984 at Chapel Allerton hospital, Neurosurgical rehabilitation ward. In 1985, Julie became a student midwife, qualifying in midwifery in 1987 and joining the team at LGI. Julie joined community midwifery as sister in 1991 and became a band 7 team leader in 2007. She retired and returned as a band 6 in antenatal clinic at LGI in 2018.
Elizabeth O’Sullivan Elizabeth O’Sullivan – known to her peers and patients as Liz – has retired from her midwifery role at LTHT. Liz started her NHS career in the August of 1975, where she began her nursing training at St James’s Hospital for three years as a student nurse. Liz then got a position at Chapel Allerton hospital and worked as a staff nurse.
Julie’s retirement plans include spending more time with her husband, 2 daughters, son in law and grandson. She also plans to make more time for gardening, travelling, pilates, yoga, and helping at her Church cafe offering food, coffee, companionship and friendship to the local community. Of her career, Julie said: “It has been a great career and an amazing place to work in and for. I have loved every minute of helping families.”
Julie Rushton Julie Rushton has retired from her role as Clerical Officer at LTHT in April, after spending 32 years working for the Trust. For the last 11 years, she has been a vital part of the Complaints Team. The team say Julie will be very much missed and they are looking forward to hearing about all the holidays she has coming up. The team dedicated the following poem to Julie. So the time has come to say goodbye
Following this, Liz wanted a change and undertook her midwifery training. She became a midwife in 1981 and worked as a rotational midwife at the Trust until 1998 when she moved to a position on the Transitional Care Baby Unit for 15 years. In 2013 Liz found her place on Ward L36 working as postnatal midwife and worked there till her retirement.
With a lump in our throat and a tear in our eye
Liz’s team said of her: “Many of us she has laughed and cried with, many of us she has mentored, and best of all many of us she has helped along the way - for that we could not be more thankful. She will forever be the most kind and caring midwife around! L36 will feel empty without her, she truly is it’s beating heart. We wish her all the best in her retirement, thank you for everything you have done for us Liz! WE LOVE YOU!”
With her supply of eggs, breakfasts and magic cream.
Julie will put down her post bag and multi-coloured pens To spend her retirement with Dougal and her hens She will be dearly missed by all of her team
We will miss her singing and daily Wordle game Without her the Complaints Team will never be the same So wish her good luck for a well-earned rest As I am sure you’ll agree she’s simply the best.
Karen Malpas Karen Malpas has retired from her role at the Trust after nearly 20 years. She started out as a medical secretary in July 2002 at Seacroft Hospital. Following centralisation, the small urology offices at Seacroft Hospital merged with St James’s Urology department in 2006, and Karen transferred to become Mr Joyce’s full-time secretary. Throughout the past 20 years Karen has work for multiple consultants and is regarded as a valued member of the secretarial team.
Her team said: “Karen’s extensive knowledge and experience will leave a large gap for us to fill within the department and green team. Karen will be missed by all her work colleagues and friends and we would like to take the opportunity to thank her for her extensive contribution to patients and staff within her team. We would like to wish Karen a happy, healthy retirement.”
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News
| www.leedsth.nhs.uk
Leeds Hospitals Charity news Lord Mayor Charity Partnership raises over £125,000 During his year as the Lord Mayor, Councillor Asghar Khan chose to support Leeds Hospitals Charity, with a particular focus on raising awareness and funds for renal and diabetes services, a cause close to his heart. The Lord Mayor has raised over £125,000 for Leeds Hospitals Charity over the past year. This incredible feat has been made possible thanks to an array of exciting events hosted by the Lord Mayor, and the people of Leeds getting behind his fundraising efforts.
Leeds Bear Hunt! We’re delighted to officially announce the launch of Leeds Bear Hunt, an exciting public art event, which will take place in Summer 2023 and raise money for Leeds Children’s Hospital. Leeds Bear Hunt will see Leeds Hospitals Charity, team up with art trail experts Wild in Art, who have been delivering world-class public events across the globe for ten years. More than 50 giant Bear sculptures will hide in plain sight on the streets and in the parks of Leeds for ten weeks. Decorated by local and national artists, designers and illustrators, the Bears will form a family-friendly trail for visitors to discover and enjoy. The Bear sculptures are inspired by the Bear from the awardwinning TV animation and best-selling book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and have been commissioned and created just for Leeds.
An Eid Mulin Dinner marked the end of the Lord Mayor’s successful partnership with the Charity, raising more than £21,000 on the night. The fundraising dinner was held at Aagrah Midpoint Suite in Bradford, it was inspiring evening complete with special guests and entertainment, including some powerful stories and an emotional minute’s applause for NHS workers. Councillor Asghar Khan was determined to fundraise until the very end of his term in office, and also held a series of Park Run takeovers across Leeds for his last weekend as the Lord Mayor.
The free public event is set to benefit the whole community, with hundreds of thousands of Leeds residents and visitors expected to join in the fun.
Superstar fundraiser Jacqui Drake reaches £300,000 fundraising milestone Jacqui has stage four malignant melanoma, she first set up her fundraising appeal ‘Jacqui’s Million’ in 2016, with the ambition to raise £1 million for Leeds Hospitals Charity to support people living with cancer across our region. Despite being clinically vulnerable, Jacqui continued to fundraise throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and thanks to her efforts has recently surpassed the £300,000 fundraising mark.
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Jacqui, who won the Kate Granger Award for Outstanding Contribution at the Yorkshire Choice Awards, said: “It’s such an honour and privilege to help other cancer patients and to raise awareness too of this terrible disease. People’s generosity and continued support of my appeal ensures that we can provide cancer patients with specialist equipment and patient comfort care while on treatment.”
Charity funded Research Facility carries out groundbreaking research to help children like Jack 10-year-old Jack has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. He is part of a drug trial at the Leeds Children’s Hospital Clinical Research Facility, funded thanks to a gift in someone’s Will. The research at the facility provides one glimmer of hope to find better treatment and ultimately a cure for little boys like him. The only way doctors at Leeds Teaching Hospitals can help Jack and other children like him is through research. By leaving a gift in your Will, you can help us continue to fund vital research at Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Find out more by visiting the Legacy page of the Leeds Hospitals Charity website.
www.leedsth.nhs.uk |
60 seconds
60 seconds Claire Lang
with them. I enjoy listening to music. I love all kinds of music but my guilty passion is 80s rock. I especially love gardening and being outside amongst plants, trees and nature. I find it relaxing and therapeutic. I also love the seaside, especially Whitby.
What is your favourite food? Pasta. I love it! I would happily eat it every day. It’s quick and easy and I love anything you can eat with just a fork!
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Claire Lang, Motor Neurone Disease Clinical Nurse Specialist and MND Care Centre Coordinator, has worked at the Trust for 24 years. What do you do to wind down and relax after a hard week at work? I am a mum of two boys aged 9 and 12. I love spending time
Probably a singer in a rock band! And I still do! I never knew what career path to take. I came into nursing in my 20s after working for a few years and deciding what I would like to do.
What is your favourite film? This is a difficult choice but right now I would have to say Terminator 2. I saw it at the cinema for my 13th birthday. Great film with a fab soundtrack. You can’t go wrong with Guns N’ Roses!
Who would you most like to meet and why? I would love to meet the Queen. I think she has been a role model for many generations. I very much admire her work ethic and her professionalism. She has seen more of this world and it’s people than most. I would love to hear her stories.
What is your favourite book? I read lots during my A level English Literature course. I feel I should pick something literary but I’m going to chose the Harry Potter books. I just love them and the constant theme of friendship. I’ve enjoyed introducing them to my boys.
Tell us something we don’t know about you … I love my car! I have a Fiat 500 called Florence. Florence is often my sanctuary - with a busy job and busy and chaotic home life with two boys I dont often have time to myself to think. I do most of my thinking in the car! Or, I pop some tunes on and have a crazy sing-song to myself with no boys telling me turn off my naff music!
Claim your FREE copy of Amplifying Voices, Mending Divides Any member of LTHT staff may claim a free copy of the Trust’s first anthology of real-life stories, Amplifying Voices, Mending Divides.
This is a teaching and educational resource that encourages colleagues to
start inclusive conversations within their teams about what we can all do to help make LTHT a place where everyone can thrive, no matter their background.
The book, edited by Ester Jamera, former Co-Chair of the BME Staff Network, features 14 diverse voices from across the Trust and beyond, giving deeply personal stories of racism and of hopes for race equality.
Julian Hartley, Chief Executive, said: “It’s a truly moving collection and I urge you, if you haven’t already, to take this fantastic opportunity to start a reading group with colleagues in your team to read through the book together.”
The stories are not intended to blame or shame – together they form a learning resource that encourages staff of all backgrounds to listen to the experiences of people both alike and different to themselves.
How to get your FREE copy To get a free copy of the book, or start your own reading group, LTHT staff should search online “Amplifying Voices LTHT” to find out more on the Trust’s website.
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