Connect Winter 2014 Magazine

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals

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NHS Foundation Trust

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WINTER 2014 • VIEW ONLINE ON THE INTRANET

All Brand New Introducing our new Strategy and Development Director…

Carole Spencer is our new Strategy and Development Director. She lives in Warrington and has three daughters.

We asked Carole some questions to get to know her a bit better…

What is your background?

After graduating in Maths and Statistics I joined the banking sector in the City of London...but no I didn’t get million pound bonuses! Since then I have worked on the development of the first NHS Trusts in the 1990’s, worked at Alder Hey as Director of Planning and prior to coming here I was at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport.

Why did you decide to join Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust?

I decided to come here because I believe that this organisation is very well placed not only to weather the storms of the NHS financial challenges, but to come through it better and stronger than before. I naturally want to develop services and grasp opportunities, and see this organisation as perfectly placed for the future.

What other interests do you have?

In my spare time (I have forgotten what I used to do when I had spare time! Haha), I love to go skiing, and am planning to take an adventurous holiday to Vietnam and Cambodia. I went to Vietnam with Manchester University a few years ago and was fascinated by this country of 89million people where 80% are under 35 years old!!!!

There are only two hospitals in the entire country, with the communist party officials going to Singapore when they are ill. It’s a fascinating mix of old and new cultures, all mixed together in a chaotic society.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Each year in June I do a 20 mile ribbon walks for Breast Cancer Care. They are always focussed around a stately home. Last time was Harewood House in Yorkshire… however it was less a walk and more a mountain climb!!! Needless to say after 20 miles and endless hills, stiles, etc…my legs didn’t seem to belong to my body. This year is Hampton Court and I have checked that it is lovely and FLAT. I raise money for the walk through a cake bake at work and home…so please support me when the time comes.

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Welcome our new Operations Director We are delighted to confirm that Suzanne Hargreaves has been appointed Operations Director.

Suzanne joined us in 1992 as a Staff Nurse in the Emergency Department, before progressing through a number of clinical and managerial roles.

Throughout her career Suzanne has made a significant contribution to developing new services and improving outcomes for our patients. Her inclusive and supportive leadership style has been instrumental in developing high performing and effective teams.

Most recently she has been working with our partner organisations to review urgent care within Lancashire, and has been at the forefront of shaping progressive strategies and services to meet the increasing demands of our ageing population.

Chief Executive Karen Partington, said "Suzanne has been a great asset to our organisation, and along with the board and all her colleagues we wish her every success in the new role – I’m sure she’ll rise to the challenges ahead!"

New parents room on children’s ward We have opened a new 'parent’s room' on the children’s ward at Preston.

It’s a place where parents can go to make themselves something to eat and drink, relax or gather their thoughts while their child is a patient on the Paediatrics ward.

The old parents room was on the other side of the floor and had to be accessed using a staff badge meaning families had to wait to be let out and let back in again and taking staff away from the ward. The new area is now located within the ward so parents can be much closer to the child’s bedside.

The new facility has a kitchen area where there is a fridge, toaster and microwave, which was kindly donated by a parent. There is also continuous hot water as well as provisions like tea, coffee, milk, sugar, bread, butter and jam.

The refurbishment has been paid for using the endowment fund, which is made up of generous donations from the public and fundraising either by staff on the ward or external fundraisers.

Acting Ward Manager, Andrew Butler said: “We are so pleased with the new parents room and it will make such a difference to families. It’s a child free zone so parents can have a peaceful break while their child is resting, in theatre or in the playroom or school.

New and improved ward for elderly patients re-opens We have now re-opened the Rookwood A elderly ward at Chorley Hospital following a major refurbishment.

It’s been given a makeover to make it more suitable and comfortable for older people, many of whom suffer from dementia. The refurbishment is part of a project to improve the hospital environment for dementia patients. It has been paid for using part of a £1million grant that was awarded to us from the Department of Health.

It took five weeks to complete and now includes a new day room and sensory garden and new colour co-ordinated bays to make it easier for people with dementia to find their way around. The ward is totally secure and can accommodate up to 24 patients at any one time.

A second ward, Rookward B is now under-going the same refurbishment and should be open any day now!

As well as the two ward makeovers, improved signs are being put up around Chorley Hospital and Royal Preston to help dementia patients find their way around, there will also be designated ‘resting points’ on corridors at both sites so that older people can rest if they need to.

There is also a range of activities taking place on the wards, specially designed for patients with dementia, such as activity blankets. The fantastic staff in the linen room produce a bright, fleecy, colourful and comforting blanket with various activities, such as zips, ties, buttons and laces. People with dementia often have restless hands and like to have something to keep them occupied. This blanket not only keeps hands busy, it provides a wonderful source of visual, tactile and sensory stimulation and at the same time keeping knees snug and warm. The blankets are largely made from recycled materials.

The older peoples programme has agreed to continue with the development of the blankets and other designs are in progress including an apron and a hand muff. Blankets and other activities

for patients with dementia will be funded through charitable donations and will become part of the activity equipment library.

The trust has already received a significant donation of £8000 from Mr M Munshi towards the equipment library.

After

Gill Lewis is the Ward After Manager for Rookward A, she said: “I just want to say a massive thank you to everybody who has worked so hard to make this happen.

The ward looks fantastic and will really transform the lives of our patients but also our staff. Patients can wander freely around the unit and their loved ones can be sure that they are safe and that we have everything here that they need. We have made it really comfortable and homely for them and there are pictures on the wall from all over Lancashire to encourage After them to reminisce. We are also going to have afternoon tea here every Friday which we hope will really help keep their spirits up.”

Joanne Allen from the linen room making the activity blankets.

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Chief Executive opens the new DOSAA.

Winter pressures How is it going?

Student Quality Ambassador Anisa Hafeji.

Student Quality Ambassador

Thank you to everyone who completed the staff survey!

We have launched a Student Quality Ambassadors (SQAs) scheme. The SQAs are a group of five student nurses who are seen as quality and care champions.

The team were selected from a range of universities around the North West. They undertake practice learning and champion and highlight good practice, as well as challenge standards of care and test new innovations.

We asked some members of staff, selected at random, to fill out a staff opinion survey and we’re pleased to announce that lots of you took part.

In fact we were aiming for a target of 60% but we actually achieved just under 62%!

Anisha Hafeji is a third year pre-registration student nurse at Uclan. She said: “SQAs are able to see the patient’s journey with their fresh eyes and have the opportunity to take part in various initiatives and developments. We have discussed things like setting up student web pages which would allow students to communicate with each other and see what is happening in the hospital.

Patient Educator sessions in Psychiatry

The role has been a challenge to pursue along with my course and meeting final deadlines, but I can honestly say I don’t regret it. I am able to feel a sense of achievement being at the forefront of making a difference to care within the clinical setting.”

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STAFF SURVEY It’s a valuable tool used to help understand how you feel about working here and what we need to focus on to make it better so a big thank you to everybody that filled it in.

Karen Swindley, Workforce and Education Director said: “We have had a fantastic response and the feedback will really help us understand how you feel about working here and what you think should be improved. See the next issue of Connect for details about the results.”

We have recently introduced Patient Educator sessions into the medical student’s timetable and action plan.

A psychiatry Patient Educator is a person who has had a mental illness or is recovering from a mental illness. They have consented to speak to medical students about their mental illness and how it has impacted on their life.

The Patient Educator sessions allow time for the medical students to take a full psychiatric history and perform a Mental State Examination on the Patient Educator.

Kate Cookson, Clinical Skills Facilitator for Psychiatry said: “The feedback on these sessions has been excellent. The students felt it a great opportunity to speak with patients who have received treatment allowing them to see a full picture. There is also the chance to speak with patients whose condition they might have experienced on the wards but were too extreme to interview. I would like to thank all the Patient Educators for their input and hope to continue to recruit Patient Educators with a variety of mental health illnesses for these sessions.”

Looking back to last year, we know that although the numbers of patients attending the Emergency Department didn't increase dramatically, there were significant spikes in attendance and an increase in patients who needed to be admitted, which put pressure on services throughout the hospitals.

Since then we have been reviewing the whole urgent care system across Lancashire and have come up with a range of projects that we believe will make a real difference to patients in the long term.

Some of the measures we have put in place include significant investment in staffing, a new Vision bed system which was launched in November. It gives us real time information about bed occupancy, and helps us plan admissions and reduce the length of stay.

In December we opened a new Day of Surgery Assessment Area at Royal Preston Hospital. Patients having elective procedures will book in at the new purpose built facility on the day of treatment, have their pre-op assessment and preparation, and wait in one place for their treatment reducing their

length of stay and will free up beds.

During the winter our integrated therapies team, including occupational therapy, physiotherapy and nutrition have been working weekends and our social care colleagues will be working extended hours to help make sure our patients receive the care they need in a timely way, can recover more quickly, and discharged promptly.

and did not achieve the standard for the month, primarily because both hospitals are very busy with patients who need urgent care.

Over the winter so far we it's been challenging but we've been managing, and have been discharging or admitting more than the required 95% if Emergency Department patients within four hours - you'll hear this referenced as the 'four hour target'.

So we've decided to aim for a 'Perfect Month' in March where we and our partner health and social care organisations will pull out all the stops to make sure all of our patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time.

We'll be working very differently to eliminate delays in the patient pathway through their hospital stay, and make sure patients are discharged promptly, freeing up beds. At the time of print the first couple of days of March went well but we're already seeing some challenges for the rest of the month.

However during February we've come under much more pressure

Keep an eye on Team Brief for more updates.

Great uptake of flu jabs!

As part of our winter pressures plan we encouraged all staff at both hospitals to have their flu vaccination to protect themselves, their families and their patients.

As part of the campaign we produced a ‘Harry Hill’ style video which showed a battle between the flu bug and the flu jab…the vaccine obviously won! It was a great way to communicate the message. You can see the video on Youtube, it’s called

‘Get your flu jab!’

We had a target of 75% for staff uptake of the vaccination and while we just missed out on that unfortunately, we did manage to achieve 67% which is the highest uptake we’ve ever had so the message is getting out there and we’re heading in the right direction.

David Leech and Mandy Davis 5

News in Pictures

Presentation evening.

Our very own Florence Nightingale!

One of our stroke research nurses has been awarded a prestigious scholarship from The Florence Nightingale Foundation.

We have linked in with a host of organisations, including Jobcentre Plus and Health Education North West to help the long-term unemployed, secure a permanent job.

Pharmacy live event

Staff from Health Records / Scanning unit have planted a tree in memory of a much loved work colleague.

Adrian Wright sadly passed away last year; he worked in Health Records at Chorley Hospital for several years. Adrian was a much liked and respected colleague who will be sorely missed.

Staff from our Pharmacy department travelled to Birmingham to showcase their products and services at the Hospital Pharmacy Live exhibition.

The event brought together over 500 healthcare professionals who specialise in pharmacy services.

11 candidates started the pre-employment programme with us in September and we’re pleased to say that six of them have secured a job with us. A further three have been successful at obtaining interviews internally and externally.

Jackie Higham, Widening Access Project Manager said: “This is a fabulous outcome and is proving to be an extremely worthwhile initiative. It’s great that we can make a real difference to the people living in our communities and it has allowed us to remove barriers to learning and employment and has helped tackle inequality and poverty.”

Karen Swindley, Workforce and Education Director, said: “This has been a fantastic initiative and is something that we are looking to repeat. Thank you to all the departments that have supported this. This really shows our staff living our values and helps establish the hospitals as important parts of the community.”

Margaret Corrigan was invited to St James’ Palace.

A right Royal visit!

One of our Neo-natal nurses was invited to St James’ Palace in recognition of her work with the Care of Next Infant (CONI) programme.

Margaret Corrigan travelled to London with health visitor Sonia Monks and was treated to a memorable evening filled with choir singing, canapés and wine.

CONI is celebrating its 25 year anniversary and supports families who are bereaved by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Supporting Alcohol Awareness Week Staff from the Hospital Alcohol Liaison Service organised a week of activities to support National Alcohol Awareness Week. They set up information stalls at both of our hospitals and offered advice and support.

The team informed people about how many units are in certain drinks and they even shared some recipes for delicious alcohol-free cocktails!

Emma Dermody helped organise it, she said: “We really wanted to support this awareness week because it’s so important that people understand the risks associated with alcohol. We don’t want to stop anybody from having a good time or going out for a few drinks but unfortunately alcohol abuse has become a real issue within society so we must take action to try and stop it.”

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‘World Radiography day’

We have been working together with Skills for Health Academy North West (SfHANW) to help get local people who want to work, back into employment.

Alison McLoughlin will travel to America to undertake a three week study programme. The aims of the study are to identify the similarities and differences of the nursing role in the assessment and treatment of acute stroke in the UK and America.

Tree planting in memory of much loved colleague

Helping people return to work

Surgeon travels to Nepal to teach trainees One of our leading surgeons has travelled to Nepal to teach senior trainee surgeons.

Consultant Surgeon Jeremy Ward spent ten days at Dhulikel University Hospital near Kathmandu, giving lectures, carrying out simulator training as well as live operating.

The course has been organised by Health Exchange Nepal UK (Hex-N UK.) The organisation was founded in 2008 by its secretary, Professor Rajbhandari, who is one of our Consultant Diabetologists.

Over the last few years the charity has supported visits

by Nepali doctors and nurses on educational visits to the UK and some UK medical students on their elective and doctors to volunteer in Nepal.

Our Radiography staff and students have been showcasing their work as part of ‘World Radiography Day 2013’.

It’s an annual event that provides radiographers, assistant practitioners and students with the opportunity to publicise their profession and the important work they do.

Radiography staff got involved in the celebrations by setting up an information stand in the x-ray department. They gave advice about a career in radiography and developments over the last 50 years.

Lead Undergraduate Clinical Tutor, Lisa Cocker said: “Diagnostic radiography is a fast moving and continually changing profession and long term career prospects include management, extended roles, research and teaching. World Radiography Day is an ideal time for us to showcase these developments and to inform the public of the important work that Radiographers do within the NHS.”

New hysteroscopy service Our staff in Gynaecology have improved treatment for women who need sterilisation.

The new Essure system requires no anaesthesia and no abdominal incision, which means Left to right are Sr Julie Peet, Mr Shah Consultant reduced risk of Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. Mrs Julie Byrne Lead complications and no nurse in Colposcopy and Hysteroscopy, Gill Riding need for an overnight Health Care support worker, Sr Barbara White. stay making it more convenient for patients and it allows us to free up bed space.

The procedure can now take place in the outpatient hysteroscopy clinic and takes around 10-15 minutes. This is a great example of challenging current ways of working and making things better for patients.

Welcome to our new Spanish nurses!

A big welcome to the latest group of Spanish nurses who have joined us!

After attending 12 days of inductions Alba, Raquel, Gemma, Maitaine, Alba and Regina have now started working on the surgery, orthopaedics and Neurosurgery wards Preston.

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News NewsininBrief Brief

Maternity services receives top marks following assessment

Alcohol awareness team shortlisted for National award Our Hospital Alcohol Liaison Service (HALS) has been shortlisted for a National Nursing Standard Nurse Award.

The team was set up in April 2013 in a bid to tackle the increase in patients being admitted to our hospital with alcohol related issues.

In 2010/2011 alcohol related harm cost the NHS in Lancashire £141.92 million. In central Lancashire alcohol related hospital admissions have increased each year from 2005 up to 2011. In 2010/2011 Preston had the highest rate of hospital admissions for alcohol related liver disease in the North West. Prior to April 2013 there was no hospital alcohol liaison service.

The team consists of four members (Emma Dermody, Clinical Lead Nurse Specialist and Kerry Anderson, Keighley Allan and Angela Platt, all Clinical Nurse Specialists) who work seven days a week across both of our hospitals, Royal Preston and Chorley Hospital. Since the team was created in April a total of 1061 referrals have been made to the service.

The aim of the service is to reduce the rate of increase in alcohol related hospital emergency admissions, reduce the length of stay in hospital for alcohol related issues and improve access and engagement with primary care and community specialist substance misuse services.

The team travelled to London on 28th February to be interviewed by a panel and then the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on 9th May.

New mediation scheme We have introduced a new mediation scheme to offer support to anybody involved in conflict.

It’s an informal process in which a neutral person, with no power to impose a resolution, helps the people involved to reach a settlement they both find acceptable.

Mediation is: • A modern approach to resolving conflict • A voluntary process • Completely confidential • Facilitated by an impartial mediator • Creates a win/win outcome We have trained a group of staff from various backgrounds to enable them to run an in-house mediation scheme. The mediators come from within our own and neighbouring trusts.

If you feel mediation could help you speak with your HR advisor or our mediation coordinator, Joanne Addison, Occupational Health, x2276.

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We have achieved the highest level of accreditation for our maternity services, following an assessment.

External assessors have confirmed that women and their families who visit both of our hospitals, are receiving safe, quality care and that we’re meeting the recommended standards of clinical practice.

Trust is named top recruiter in National study of older pregnant women We have been named as top recruiter in a National research study looking into whether or not earlier induction is better for pregnant women over the age of 35.

The research programme is looking into whether first time mums aged 35 and over should be offered induction at 39 weeks rather than waiting the usual 12 days after the due date.

The study is looking to show that by inducing women early the rate of caesarean section will not increase but the rate of stillbirth may decrease. Researchers believe it is safer for baby but they want to make sure it is safer for the mother too.

This trial is funded by Nottingham University. 40 UK sites are taking part, with Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recruiting 27 women onto the programme.

For the second time we have been named as the number one recruiter for research purposes in the UK

Spinal imaging research One of our fifth year medical students has been working closely with the Orthopaedic spinal team to produce some spinal imaging research.

Sarah Carter completed the project with the help of Consultant Orthopaedic Spinal Surgeon Mr Khatri and Dr Ali in Radiology.

Sarah said: “We compared the quality of images that were taken during surgery to those taken afterwards and found that those taken during the procedure were better.”

Sarah presented the work at the Orthopaedic Audit meeting and the Society for back pain research meeting, for which she won the Secretary’s Award.

The inspection of maternity services at both Royal Preston and Chorley Hospital was carried out by the NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA), which runs a clinical negligence scheme for trusts (CNST). Effectively this is an insurance scheme for clinical negligence claims. The NHSLA carries out rigorous inspections to assess the quality and safety of the care we provide, to assure that the way we work minimises any risks to our patients.

The biggest area of risk, as with the majority of trusts, is maternity

services. The NHSLA reviewed our maternity services in February, in what is usually a two day assessment, but they were so assured by what they saw, that they completed their visit in just one day.

CNST assesses maternity services at three levels, with level three being the highest standard. In the past 18 months we’ve invested in additional obstetric, midwifery and anaesthetic posts, which along with other improvements, meant we moved from level two to level three. Although there is no formal

report from the NHSLA we received very positive verbal feedback from the assessors, and achieved a score of 49 out of 50, which is a fantastic result and a reflection of the quality of care we’re providing.

Additionally achieving level three means that we are now in the lowest risk category and therefore pay the lowest insurance premium, which is a significant cost saving.

Chief Executive Karen Partington said: “Huge thanks to all staff who helped us to achieve this fantastic result.”

Focus on stroke Our Research team have been working in partnership with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to support a national ‘focus on stroke’ initiative.

It’s the third in a series of features launched by the NIHR which are aimed at raising awareness of the research taking place for one particular health condition.

stroke research can improve quality of life for a lot of people as well as save precious NHS resources.

Last year approximately 17% of our stroke patients were recruited onto the research programme, we oversee a diverse range of research

studies and clinical trials across the whole stroke pathway and we’re hoping that this focus on initiative will help to raise awareness of stroke and the importance of stroke research.”

Our stroke research team organised a range of activities to promote the launch of the programme, including information stands set up at both hospitals so that people can find out more about stroke and the research taking place.

Academic Stroke Nurse, Alison McLoughlin said: “Every year there are approximately 152,000 strokes in the UK - that’s one every five minutes. We see approximately 600 stroke patients admitted to our hospitals every year. Advances in

Left to right: Alison McLoughlin - Academic Stroke Research Nurse, Sheeba Philip - Stroke Specialist Nurse, Shuja Punekar - Stroke Consultant, Sonia Raj - Stroke Research Nurse, Bindu Gregory - Stroke Research Nurse.

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SMRC is first place in UK to fit the world’s most advanced prosthetic knee

News Someinvery Brief kind people

Our Specialist Mobility Rehabilitation Centre (SMRC) is the first place in the UK to fit a patient with the world’s most advanced prosthetic knee.

❝ It’s so pleasing to

see a young man who is a double amputee, as a result of fighting for his Country, being given a new lease of life thanks to this amazing new technology.❞

Gregg is the first person in the UK to use the Genium X3.

Since the Government vowed to invest £15 million to support and improve prosthetics for military veterans, staff at the SMRC have been working in partnership with the Veteran’s Prosthetic Panel and Ottobock, who have designed the new Genium X3, to lead the way in the next generation of prosthetics. It has been labelled “the world’s most technologically advanced prosthetic knee, providing the most natural movement possible.”

The new prosthetic knee is waterproof and is virtually impenetrable by dirt or dust. It also features never-seenbefore features to allow users to move easily from walking to jogging to running, there is also a mute button so that the prosthesis can be silenced for things like meetings or trips to the cinema.

Our first patient to be fitted with the new model is exserviceman Gregg Stevenson from Burnley. 29 year old Gregg lost both of his legs while serving as a Royal Engineer in Afghanistan in 2009. Gregg said: “I am so pleased to be the first person to use this new leg and I am so grateful to the staff at the SMRC for working so hard to get hold of this for me, way before anybody else has it. I have a young son so now I’ll be able to run around and play with him like other parents can, without having to switch between different limbs. Since I was injured I haven’t been able to go back to work as an engineer because the prosthetic legs that I was using before really limited my movement, but now I’m hoping to get back to work, it’s fantastic.”

Dr Fergus Jepson, Consultant at the SMRC said: “It’s so pleasing to see a young man who is a double amputee, as a result of fighting for his Country, being given a new lease of life thanks to this amazing new technology. We know how much this will enhance Gregg’s life and give him new opportunities and we are so proud to be the first centre in the UK to provide this piece of kit.

Thank-you from Rosemere Thank you to the 16 people from the clinical coding department who gave up their time to raise money for Rosemere Cancer Foundation back in December.

Staff donned fancy dress and held a raffle, a cake sale and collected in Booths and charters restaurant over lunchtime. Together they raised over £879.75.

Organisers Angela Beattie and Tracie Ashcroft said: “Everybody had a great time and we were absolutely amazed at the generosity of people.”

Local schoolchildren awarded Blue Peter badges In the last edition of Connect we told you about a group of children from St Peter’s School in Fulwood who made fabric bags for cancer patients to put their drips and drains in...well now those children have been awarded Blue Peter badges for their work!

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New ultrasound scanner in renal… thanks to a very kind man!

The husband of one our patients who sadly passed away, has very kindly donated £11,000 towards a new state-of-the-art ultrasound scanner in the renal department.

When Brian Watson’s wife Eileen contracted a kidney disease, she was looked after by the renal team before she sadly died at Royal Preston Hospital in June last year.

The Sonosite NanoMaxx ultrasound scanner enables nursing staff to assess the width and depth of a fistula in the arm (the connection of a vein and artery that is required during haemodialysis) without having to carry out an invasive procedure. It’s the same method used in an ultrasound scan during pregnancy.

Brian and his family donated the money. Brian said: “Like many people, I had a very limited knowledge of kidney diseases and how devastating they can be, my eyes were opened during Eileen’s illness. The whole family was devastated by her loss at the age of 66 and we wanted to do something that would benefit other kidney disease patients. I asked the renal team if there was a specific piece of equipment that would help the unit and was told about this ultrasound scanner. It is my privilege and honour to be able to commemorate my wife by making a donation towards this equipment and I hope it will benefit many patients in the future.”

Above: Phillip Booth with some of the children and gym owner Michael Jennings who donated Right: Sisters Ruby and Jessi.

Children’s ward donations The Children’s ward received some very kind donations for the youngsters who had to spend Christmas in hospital.

Sisters Ruby and Jessi Critchley came to the children’s ward on Christmas morning to donate some of their own presents, their dad said: “They have received so many gifts themselves that we wanted to share some with children who are suffering this Christmas. We feel so lucky as parents to be enjoying the festive season at home with our children, so we wanted to try and spread a little festive cheer for the sick children in hospital.”

We were also given some more lovely gifts by a very kind gentleman called Phillip Booth. He owns a tanning and beauty shop and decided to do a present appeal.

Within a day they had collected enough presents for all the children at the hospital!

Suzette Harrison, Associate General Manager for Renal, said: “All of the staff on the renal unit just want to say a huge thank you to Brian for his extremely generous donation. The equipment that he has helped us to buy will make a real difference to both patients and staff.”

Chaplaincy team helping struggling families Our Chaplaincy team launched a campaign to ensure that no child wakes up without a present on Christmas morning.

They teamed up with the Salvation Army to collect gift donations for local children as well as food parcels for families who may be unable to afford food over the festive season.

Chaplain Jean Harris with the donations.

Chaplain Jean Harris said: “Sadly, at Christmas many Children across Lancashire wake up to no presents on Christmas morning and many families struggle to put food on the table. We wanted to make sure that doesn’t happen. We received hundreds of donations and it made a real difference to many families. We want to say a big thank you to those people that helped and donated.”

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Happy retirement!

• Barbara Morris has retired from the renal directorate where she has worked since 1985. Barbara has had various roles during her career, including home dialysis administrator, vascular access co-ordinator, 18 week facilitator and many more. Barbara was one of the founder members of the Kidney Patients Association in 1988 and she will continue to dedicate her time to the charity.

After a short break Barbara has agreed to come back and work part time in Chorley renal unit as a ward clerk (she just can’t keep away!) and her friends and colleagues are delighted with this news.

From left: Dr Coward, Barbara Morris, Suzette Harrison and Dr Anderton.

Date for your diary Bringing healthcare to life On Saturday 15 March we’re holding our annual event which is a chance for staff and departments to showcase their talents, display new facilities and share knowledge with the public.

Are you a health and wellbeing champion?

Are you interested in fitness or keen to stay healthy?

We’re on the hunt to find some people who are interested in the health and wellbeing of our staff.

Our health and wellbeing champions will help us promote initiatives and share stories about staff activities.

You can spend as little or as much time as you can spare.

Please email Louise.Robinson@lthtr.nhs.uk if you’re interested.

FSC PAPER LOGOS TO GO HERE HASLAMS DROP THEM IN 12

Come along to support your colleagues and find out what is going on in our hospitals.

Drop in anytime between 11:30am-3pm at Education Centre 3, Chorley Hospital.

Light refreshments will be available

Strike a pose!

You may have noticed the new images around our hospital’s corridors, well we’re doing more!

We’re planning to take lots more photographs to represent all of our staff which will be used in a variety of ways to represent who we are and what we stand for.

If you would like to be in some of our pictures please contact Helen Burke in the Communications Department

Helen.Burke@ lthtr.nhs.uk