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Ophthalmology moves service to another level p
OPHTHALMOLOGY MOVES THE SERVICE TO ANOTHER LEVEL
The Orthoptic team at Peterborough City Hospital have expanded their skills, so they can provide an intricate treatment for patients with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).
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AMD is a common condition which affects the central part of your vision and without treatment, can get progressively worse and cause sight loss. This treatment involves administering an injection into the eye, which can slow down the disease progression in some patients. Patients with AMD, will now receive treatment from one of the qualified Allied Health Professionals within the team.
The team are also providing valuable support to consultants running virtual and face-to-face glaucoma clinics. Ophthalmic
The Trust has partnered with
DrDoctor to trial a new digital appointment management system, designed to make it easier for patients to manage their outpatient appointment.
Patients under the care of the
Gastroenterology Team will now be able to view and download their outpatient appointment letters on a smartphone, tablet or computer instantly via a new patient portal. Technicians are supporting these clinics by assessing patients ahead of the virtual review with their consultant. Even with Covid pressures, the technician team have upped their skillset, overcome issues and devised new ways of working. Steve Joy, Head Orthoptist at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, said, “I am immensely proud of how my Orthoptic and Technician team have stepped up, even before Covid was with us. We are able to flex our skillset to meet challenges and improve the care provision within Ophthalmology. Working alongside our skilled nursing colleagues, experienced medical staff and vigilant administration team, we can move our Ophthalmology service to the next level. I look forward to the next few years, as our
plans grow and the roles develop.” The system also allows patients to cancel or change their appointment if they aren’t able to make the original day and time. Kate Hopcraft, Divisional Operations Director Surgery, said: “This new system will not only help us improve the patient experience, but reduce Do Not Attend (DNA) rates and save the Trust money in the long term. We are currently trialling DrDoctor in Gastroenterology and hope to roll it out across all specialties in the Trust in the near future.”
Trust to launch My Pregnancy Notes
Following collaboration with NHS Digital, K2 Maternity Systems and Maternity Voices Partnership, the Trust is to launch a brand new look to maternity online notes.
My Pregnancy Notes aims to achieve the vision which has been set out by Better Births, by fully embedding the personalised care plan, enabling women to access their maternity notes and information through smart phones or other devices and improving the overall maternity experience within the Trust. It is expected to launch mid-December. There are a number of benefits such as:
• More streamlined referral to our service
• Ability to share information enabling the midwife to have a more personalised initial conversations • Record and view appointments • Capture personalised care planning and support relevant to the stage of pregnancy • Easier access to pregnancy records • Provide women with greater visibility, control and access to trusted information
• The reduction or removal of barriers between women and healthcare professionals enabling women to give access to their records to other healthcare professionals outside of North
West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust.
Hinchingbrooke Hospital will be implementing a new Electronic Document Management System in health records in March 2021. The system, which has been in operation at Peterborough and Stamford hospitals for five years, will help to eliminate the inefficiency associated with the hospital’s manual, intensive paper-based health records processes.
Kathleen Walker, Assistant Health Records Manager at the Trust said, “The digitisation of the clinical information will not only improve access for all clinicians to view records on demand but also reduce risks for our patients. Records will be sent off site to our fully accredited scanning provider and within 12 hours maximum the clinical information will be back in our Evolve system for clinicians to review and refer to. Across the Trust, when EDM is fully implemented, we will see ease of cross site working for all clinicians, working with one integrated health records system.”
Medical staff will now have the option to stay in new state-ofthe-art modular homes onsite at Hinchingbrooke Hospital after the Trust was given the go ahead to build 10 new studio apartments as additional accommodation.
The modular building, which is now complete, has been named ‘Captain Sir Tom Moore House’ by staff in honour of our local fundraiser, who raised over £40million for the NHS by walking laps in his garden. These are just a short walk from the main hospital building and will be a restful place for staff to unwind without the
STAFF GIVE BACK TO HELP VULNERABLE FAMILIES THIS CHRISTMAS
Staff are giving back to the community this Christmas by launching a ‘Virtual Giving Tree’ and a ‘Hamper from Santa’ to help vulnerable families.
Staff have championed the idea of giving back to their local communities after receiving a huge amount of support from the public during the initial lockdown in the Spring. The Trust has participated in the Giving Tree and donated long commute home.
The studio apartments, which are fully furnished, were created by ZedPods, which specialises in modular buildings and is available for staff now.
Graham Wilde, Chief Operating Officer for North West Anglia NHS Foundation
Trust, said: “We are very pleased with the finished result of the studio apartments. Onsite accommodation at Hinchingbrooke has been needed for some time, so this is a great place for our staff to have that option to cut down their commute and stay closer to work for periods of time, in comfortable surroundings.” food to the local food bank for a number of years now, but unfortunately due to Covid-19, we are unable to accept actual gifts or food to be dropped off at our hospitals this year. However staff are keen to make sure that we do everything we can to support local families in need again, especially as many are more in need than ever due to the pressures of the pandemic. This year we have created an
Staff at Stamford Hospital with last year’s food bank donations
Amazon Wish List, where our staff, patients and the public can all order gifts for those children who will receive very little for Christmas. These gifts will then be delivered directly to specific charities who then allocate them to their families.
In addition to this staff are creating individual food hampers, which will be quarantined for 72 hours, before being transported to the local food banks to hand out.
Last year, the Trust donated over 800 presents and 1,500 kilos of food to families in the local area around Huntingdon and Peterborough, who were overwhelmed by the generosity. If you would like to help local families in need by donating to our Virtual Giving Tree please go to our Trust website or
Hinchingbrooke’s ‘Captain Sir Tom Moore House’ will provide a home-from-home for medical staff
social media pages for details.
Each flat is fully furnished with modern decor
NOVEMBER 10 MARKED A VERY SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY FOR A GROUP OF NURSING STAFF
It was the 20th anniversary of our first cohort of Filipino nurses first arriving in Peterborough to care for patients.
Back in November 2000, 36 nurses made the long haul journey to the cold and frosty UK to start a new life. Now, two decades later, 10 of that original group still work at Peterborough City Hospital and are key members of the local Filipino community, which has since grown considerably as more nurses followed their path in the years to come. Angelo Cuenca, Macmillan Radiotherapy Nurse Specialist at Peterborough City Hospital, was just 23 when he arrived in the city with his girlfriend (now wife) who took up a post in Surrey. He said: “Most of my family were taken with the American dream and aspired to relocate there, but I was always attracted to the European culture. When nursing opportunities became available in the UK it was an easy decision for us to make. It felt daunting, yet exciting. I can remember my first few days like it was yesterday! There were a few ups and downs and lots to adapt to, such as the food, the climate and finding our way around. We had excellent support from the recruitment, management and nursing team. We also had a separate welcome party from the core Filipino community living in Peterborough and nearby. “I started on Ward 3 at Edith Cavell Hospital, where I felt accepted, loved and cared for. Any worries I had quickly disappeared thanks to the team, so I could concentrate on doing what’s best for our patients. “Peterborough feels like home now. My wife and I were married here, our children were born here and as a family we are active in our local church, school and community. The strength of the local Filipino community and the support of my work colleagues has really made it feel like home.”
Jack Stevens, Deputy Chief Nurse, said: “We are hugely indebted to our Filipino nursing recruits for the excellent care and support they have provided for our patients since the year 2000. Thank you to all our staff from the Philippines for their dedication to the NHS. It cannot be easy to leave family and friends thousands of miles away to follow their professional dream. It’s an honour to know they call Peterborough ‘home’ and have made their lives here.”
Sadly, our Filipino recruits have had their plans to celebrate their 20 years in Peterborough postponed by lockdown restrictions, but will revisit plans to mark the milestone as soon as they can.
Breast cancer patient, aged 28, shares her story to help others
A patient at Peterborough City Hospital who was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was just 26, is raising awareness on how the disease can affect anyone, of any age.
Kate Lancaster, now 28, from Farcet, has no family history of breast cancer, but found a lump in her breast when she was having a shower. She said: “I was just washing under my arm and found a lump, which was the size of a gobstopper in my breast. I went to the doctors straight away to get it checked out, but I certainly wasn’t expecting the devastating news that I had cancer, especially not at such a young age. Over the last 18 months, Kate has endured a lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy and has just had a bone density scan, which now requires her to have regular drip infusion treatment.
She said: “If I could offer any advice it would be to make sure that you check your breasts, whatever age you are as, you need to catch cancer early. Claire Hall, Breast Care Nurse Specialist said: “While it is not as common for women under the age of 39 to receive a breast cancer diagnosis, it does affect around 2,300 women in the UK every year. We really appreciate Kate sharing her story to raise awareness about the importance of checking your breasts. It isn’t something that you would expect in someone so young, but it is vitally important that we are all breast aware at any age.”
2020 marks the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth and to celebrate the World Health Assembly designated this year the first ever International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.
Sadly many of our celebratory plans were put on hold due to the pandemic, however to celebrate Florence’s legacy, we are shining the spotlight on some of our nurses and midwives from across Hinchingbrooke, Peterborough City and Stamford and Rutland Hospitals, as well as our outpatient departments at Princess of Wales and Doddington Hospitals. Jo Bennis, Chief Nurse, said: “We have found ourselves in unprecedented times this year, but I am incredibly proud of the way our nursing and midwifery staff have handled the situation and continued to deliver the highest standard of care. They have adapted to the challenges that Covid-19 has brought, with many being redeployed to areas they had not previously worked, and found new, innovative ways of working. Each and every one of them has played a vital role throughout the pandemic. Their positivity and commitment to our patients inspires me every day, and I can’t thank them enough for their hard work and support during this challenging year.”
Su Mansell, Deputy Sister on Greenwood Day Treatment Unit at Stamford and Rutland Hospital
“I have worked at Stamford and Rutland Hospital for over 33 years, and have seen numerous changes but none quite as drastic and fast as those due to Covid-19. Throughout the pandemic I have been acting up as Unit Manager supporting staff who were redeployed both to and from the department, while implementing big changes to our ways of working to ensure we could provide services for patients at risk of a cancer diagnosis. It has been hard, but I have loved the challenge and have developed as a person and a manager because of it. I couldn’t have done it without the amazing support of the team on Greenwood though. “I want to take the opportunity to thank each and every person who works in the NHS for everything they do.”
Katy Leng – Research Nurse at Hinchingbrooke Hospital
“I’ve been a research nurse for two years now and have found it so interesting. You need to be curious, resourceful and highly organised but it is so rewarding. At the moment our research is primarily focused on Covid-19 as we try to learn as much as we can about this devastating virus to help improve treatments and find a vaccine. Our team is contributing to discovering what existing treatments can be used differently to treat Covid-19 successfully and which medicines do not influence patient recovery. In addition to patient-focused studies, we are also conducting staff studies to give us a better understanding of healthcare workers’ immunity and possible re-infection rates. I feel privileged to be part of this research.”
Elizabeth Disney – Community Midwife at Hinchingbrooke Hospital
“This year has been a real challenge for our pregnant women, their families and our midwives, as they adapt and navigate the ever-changing restrictions due to the pandemic. I am incredibly lucky to be working a kind and caring team of community midwives, who are determined to give women and their families to same level of support and reassurance as before Covid-19. It is important we do all we can to keep everyone safe and I am immensely proud of our team, who continue to be fiercely passionate about supporting women throughout their pregnancy journey. This is the main reason I love the job I do. “I also want to recognise the communities that have come together to support the NHS and each other.”
Jayne Rootham, Service Manager and Lead Nurse for Paediatrics
“This year has been particularly challenging for our paediatric patients and their families. Many of our younger children are scared of us because we look frightening in our PPE and it’s been difficult on the families when only one parent is allowed to stay with their child. Our teams are doing a fantastic job at making hospital stays during this difficult time a positive experience. I work with a brilliant team of nurses, medical and support staff and I want to thank each and every one of them for pulling together and supporting each other. I am confident that this resilience will continue for many years to come, enabling us to provide the best quality care to our children and their families. “I have been a nurse at NWAngliaFT for 31 years and it has been challenging, but nursing is such a rewarding role.”
Linda Nkhata, Chemotherapy Unit Manager at Peterborough City Hospital:
“Our patients are among the most vulnerable, especially those receiving Systemic AntiCancer Treatments who are immunocompromised. Their safety has been a top priority and we have spent time reconfiguring the unit to ensure we minimise the risk of Covid-19. Sadly, we have also had to restrict visiting which is especially hard on our patients. Without the moral support of their loved ones, patients are often more nervous and as nurses we recognise their fears and reassure them as much as we can.
“I really enjoy working in cancer care as it gives the opportunity to be a small part of a patient and their family’s journey. Over the years, my role as a Chemotherapy Nurse has evolved over time but the call to nursing remains the same – providing the best care to patients who are trusting you to support them.”
