The Future, Summer 2018

Summer 2018

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£1 million expansion for better patient care Southend University Hospital has expanded its critical care facility to provide a high-dependency unit (HDU) for patients, increasing its ability to help more patients who need extra care.

Known as the Kitty Hubbard HDU, it will strengthen the service the hospital provides for patients who have had major surgery or who no longer need intensive care but still require specialist monitoring and require a higher level of organ support, improving the quality, safety and experience of care for both patients and their loved ones.

This brand new state-ofthe-art £1 million facility will care for both elective and emergency patients, and will initially have four beds.

Blanca Boira Segarra, Clinical Director for Theatres, Critical Care & Anaesthetics, said: “Until now we didn’t have a dedicated area for these patients and Kitty Hubbard HDU will support patients from all specialities across

the hospital who need a higher level of care than can be provided on the speciality wards, but who do not need intensive care.

In HDU the patient and nurse ratio is much higher than in a normal ward. Now there will be one nurse looking after two patients.

“In addition, the HDU beds could prevent admission of deteriorating patients to ITU by providing speedy intervention in a high dependency

environment. Prior to HDU opening, these patients would be cared for in wards across the Trust.

Now we will bring patients together for specialist care, rather than our staff and equipment having to go to several different areas.

“The new unit will also help us stepping patients down from the Intensive Care Unit before they go back to a normal ward.

This will have a positive impact on the capacity

to admit intensive care patients.”

And this has been made a reality, in part, thanks to the generosity of local people. £212k was donated by the hospital associated charities who helped bring this fantastic lifeline to patients into being. This money enabled the Trust to purchase essential medical equipment to furnish the unit with state-of-the-art technology.

CONTINUED PAGE 3

Welcome to the Summer edition of The Future magazine Once again we cover a range of hospital issues and events. Pages 1, 4 and 5 outline improved facilities and processes at Southend Hospital.

These include the opening of a new High Dependency Unit (HDU) a critical care facility that opens to patients at the end of May, and improvements to the hospital pharmacy, also introduced in May, that will speed up patient discharge. There is also an article about two of our nurses who received a royal invitation.

Most of the other pages outline the work of governors.

Below, Lawrence Collin continues with his series of articles about our Trust members. There are pictures on page 6 of governor work in the community including a recent visit to Southend Mosque. On the back page Liz Leigh outlines her experience as Worker and Public Governor.

This edition also includes our second article on Research at Southend Hospital, and outlines work being done on a project to unravel the cause of polymyalgia

rheumatic (PMR). Details of other projects will be included in future editions to ensure the public are aware of the great work being done by the Research team and medical specialists at Southend Hospital.

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that only one issue per annum of the FuTure is posted to members, the other two editions are distributed electronically.

If you wish to receive electronic copies and have

not yet supplied an email address, please contact the hospital on 0800 0185202 or by email to: foundation.members @southend.nhs.uk.

If you do not want to give an email address you can read a copy on the hospital website: www.southend. nhs.uk/support-us/ foundationtrustmembership

Les Les Catley

Vice Chair & Lead Governor

Trust members share their experiences As part of our continuing quest to hear more from our Trust Membership, the FuTure is looking at the experiences of some of our members with long term conditions. By Lawrence Collin, Southend Governor.

Tony Oliver (above) has been treated for liver and colon cancer.

His wife, Barbara, is a public governor for Rayleigh.

Tony’s condition was first diagnosed some two years ago when he lost his appetite and began losing weight, and then started to appear rather gaunt.

A GP referral led to an ultrasound followed by a CT scan when, finally, a liver biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. Treatment at Southend Hospital began shortly afterwards with a course of infusions of chemotherapy. By the end of the first two days of treatment all seemed to be going well, but Tony began to experience chest pains and

was readmitted when tests revealed that he had suffered a heart attack although he recalls feeling perfectly well at the time. He was then referred to Basildon Hospital Cardiothoracic Department for a stent to be placed in a coronary artery and was discharged within days. Back home again, awaiting his appointment for cardiology, he overcame his frustration by taking three days to dig up the potatoes on his allotment!

His concurrent diabetes was also spiralling out of control as he has had to temporarily stop his Metformin tablets because of a potential interaction with the CT scan injection.

Upon testing his blood sugar he found that it had shot up to over 32 and he was profoundly hyperglycaemic (target range 6 – 8). Another visit to the hospital followed, with an infusion to bring down his blood sugar, and he was started on the drug Gliclazide to take with the Metformin.

Eventually, back on track, Tony had fortnightly chemo’ sessions – twelve sessions every fifteen days – which took six months in total. For six months life was put on hold – there was no going away for holidays abroad.

A further twelve sessions of chemo was administered in 2017. The liver cancer, although not operable, was being well controlled. This year Tony has started on a new regime of tablets, avoiding the need of an infusion via a line. This is administered for three weeks with a week of rest over eight sessions in total.

Tony stresses that patient information about possible side-effects is very useful, and one should always know what potential side-effects to look out for. This time the tiredness is not so prevalent as before (under the old regime he would have been fast asleep by now!). He has currently lost the taste for certain foods, like green vegetables, and Barbara finds

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adding strong flavours quite helpful.

Tony has only had positive experiences with his treatment at Southend Hospital and Barbara finds the Carlingford Unit ‘5 Star’.

During his courses of chemotherapy, Tony has found the main problems have been tiredness coupled with sheer frustration at not being able to do jobs that he would like to do, such as digging over at the allotment or woodwork.

Finally, The FuTure asked Tony’s advice for other patients in similar circumstances: “Disease is no respecter of age or life” he mused, “if you don’t feel well go along to your doctor… now! Also, live each day as much as you can”.

If you are a long term sufferer of a chronic condition, and would like to share your experiences with The FuTure readership, please contact the editorial team (see back cover for contact details).

Summer 2018

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

The Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation For Wards Appeal contributed £60,000 towards the cost of equipping one HDU bed. The majority of this money, £50,000, was raised from the proceeds of the Southend Hospital Charity Shop in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff, which equates to a year and a half’s trading income. The remaining £152,000 came from donations and legacies left to Southend Hospital Charity for the benefit of critically ill patients.

Fred Heddell, Chair of the Charitable Funds Committee said: “We are proud to support the opening of this fantastic new facility.

Our thanks go to the local community who supported our appeal and for the generosity of legators, who

have been kind enough to remember us in their wills.”

Mick Thwaites, Chairman of Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation said: “This year marks the 20th Anniversary of Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation and the launch of our For Wards Appeal.

This is just one of twenty areas of the hospital we will

be supporting over the next couple of years and I know it will have a big impact on the care of critically ill patients.

I would like to thank the staff and volunteers of our charity shop in Westcliff and for the tremendous support from the local community.”

The Kitty Hubbard HDU was officially opened with a plaque unveiling by

the hospital’s Managing Director, Yvonne Blucher, with an opening address given by Alan Tobias OBE, Southend Hospital’s Chairman. The new unit was open to patients for the first time at the end of May. Pictured: HDU team with Blanca Boira Segarra (centre in black dress).

New data protection initiative comes into force The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European-wide initiative which changes how organisations can collect, use, and transfer data. It came into force on 25 May 2018 via a new Data Protection Act, which is currently travelling through Parliament.

It is being introduced to harmonise existing data protection legislation across the EU and strengthen data protection rights for individuals. In particular it is to update protection for individuals about how personal data is used.

Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust holds information relating to you in a secure database that was collected when you became a member of the Foundation Trust.

This includes your name, address, telephone numbers, email address, date of birth and ethnicity. These details are needed by us to ensure we have appropriate

representation amongst our members. It is also required to enable us to send you hospital newsletters; details of appropriate local activities; and for governor election purposes.

Any third party who receives member contact details for any of the above purposes will be instructed to destroy that data after use.

Under the GDPR, we are obliged to notify you of the legal basis to which we are holding and using your personal information.

There are a number of Acts of Parliament that govern the role and functioning of Foundation Trusts: the Health & Social Care (Community Health & Standards) Act 2003, the National Health Service Act 2006 and the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

These form the legal basis for processing your personal information, which is outlined below: Article 6 (1) c) processing is necessary for compliance with

a legal obligation to which the controller is subject; and: Article 9(2) g) processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection, and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.

We will only use the information we hold to contact you specifically in relation to Foundation Trust membership, and you reserve the right to withdraw consent to the processing of your information at any time. You have the right to: • Request access to the personal data we hold about you • Request the correction of inaccurate information recorded in our records

• Request that your information be deleted or removed where there is no need for us to continue processing it and where the retention time has passed • Ask us to restrict the use of your information where appropriate • Object to how your information is used The data will be retained for active use during the processing, and thereafter according to NHS Policies and the law.

The Trust’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted by telephone at 01268 524900 or by email at informationgovernance@ btuh.nhs.uk.

For further information contact Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust by telephone at 0800 018 5202 or by email to foundation.members@ southend.nhs.uk.

www.southend.nhs.uk the future 3

New service sends out patients’ medicine info electronically to their nominated pharmacy n Southend Hospital Pharmacist, Paul Smith (left) and governor Lawrence Collin (right) with a customer.

Exciting hospital pharmacy innovations

By Lawrene Collin Southend public governor Each year up to 6% of patients who are admitted to our hospital wards are secondary re-admissions and a significant proportion of those will be as a result of medication related problems.

Research also shows that certain drug categories like anti coagulants or diuretics are the most frequent culprits.

Now, from mid-May onwards, SUHFT Pharmacy Department will be employing a new service which will send out patients’ medicines discharge information electronically to their nominated community pharmacy, allowing the patient’s pharmacist to

(a) know that they have been in hospital and that their medicines have been changed and (b) ensure that the patient knows what the new medicines are for and address any concerns that they may have.

This seemed the perfect opportunity for The FuTure to ask Simon Worrall, Acting Deputy Chief Pharmacist, to talk further about this exciting project. Simon explained that details of all local community pharmacies would be listed by the hospital pharmacy, and the appropriate one would be contacted on each occasion that a patient was discharged. Crucially, the project, which is being funded by East of England Health Academic Health Science Network, will provide this service to ALL

patients on discharge, and not just specific medical groups such as diabetics or renal patients. In a typical week this could potentially involve anywhere from 300 – 400 patients thereby involving every community pharmacy in this part of South East Essex. After agreeing electronically to accept the referral, the community pharmacist will then contact the patient.

(Note, however, that if a patient does not have a regular community pharmacy to nominate, they will not be able to partake in the project).

Simon stressed that if Southend patients go to Basildon Hospital for (say) cardiothoracic related admissions (some of whom may later be transferred to Southend Hospital before discharge home) they will

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also be included in the project.

A steering group has been set up which will allow hospital and community pharmacists to feedback online once the project has gone live, and there will also be an online web based query facility. Pathways for communication between hospital and community pharmacists will become more streamlined once the project gets underway and any teething problems have been ironed out.

Community pharmacists will use an interface piece of software called Pharmoutcomes.

So - watch this space – and don’t forget the role of your community pharmacist when you are discharged from hospital on new medicines!

Summer 2018

Southend Hospital nurses receive a royal invitation Two dedicated members of nursing staff from Southend University Hospital found themselves invited to a reception at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday 14 March by Her Majesty The Queen to celebrate those engaged in frontline nursing.

As part of NHS70 celebrations, Directors of Nursing from across the UK were invited to nominate members of their nursing staff to be selected for an invitation to the celebratory event. Our three Trusts nominated six individuals and those selected by NHS England were both from Southend Hospital; Sherrie Tucker and Susie Mitchell (pictured).

Sherrie, a Modern Matron in Theatres and PostOperative Care, and Susie, the Nurse Team Lead for Oral & Maxillo-Facial Surgery, were surprised when they received their royal invitations. They were addressed from ‘The Master of the Household’ under ‘Her majesty’s command’ announcing that the reception would be in

the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales.

Of the evening event the pair said: “It was a real honour to represent our fellow nurses at Southend, Basildon and Mid-Essex hospitals. We both felt overwhelmed at the reception we received on entering the Palace, it truly was a special night.

“We were lucky enough to speak to HRH Prince Charles who also gave a speech highlighting genuine admiration for the work

we do ‘from the cradle to the grave’. An additional surprise was meeting HRH Sophie the Countess of Wessex who shared with us her own positive personal experience of her mother’s end of life care and her heartfelt gratitude to the nursing profession.

“It’s definitely a night we will never forget!

Among the nurses there was the nurse for the royal household who was wearing the same spotty

uniform as our clinical nurse specialists, which was a particular highlight.

“Thank you to those who nominated us, it means such a lot for the nursing profession as a whole to gain such recognition.”

Sherrie was nominated

by Karen Kinnear, Assistant Director for Theatres & Critical Care Management, for going above and beyond in ensuring patients are prepared for surgery, supporting staff and always coming up with ideas to rectify issues.

Meanwhile Susie was nominated by Denise Townsend, Director of Nursing for Southend, for her inspirational leadership and for establishing the neonatal tongue tie service that has revolutionised the care pathway for babies, ensuring best practice.

Denise said: “It’s fantastic that Southend Hospital nurses got to help represent the NHS at 70 at Buckingham Palace, helping fly the flag for the great work our nursing staff accomplish day in and day out under huge pressure.”

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Bollywood fundraiser

NHS Big 7Tea

The East Asian Women’s Association (EAWA) recently held a Bollywood themed evening and raised a fantastic £700 for Southend’s Prostate Unit. Hospital governor and Chair of the Association, Nirmal Gupta, along with Mrs Sood and Mrs Shivvarma, presented a cheque to hospital urology consultant, Peter Acher.

The NHS Big7Tea is a fundraising initiative where the Trust are asking people to get together with friends and family to celebrate 70 years of the NHS whilst raising money for the Trust’s For Wards Appeal. The focus date is 5 July (NHS 70th birthday) but people can organise a tea party anytime

throughout July/August if they prefer.

To get a free fundraising pack with balloons, invites, posters, cake cards, selfie props and bunting please email fundraising@ southend.nhs.uk or call 01702 385 337.

It is with deep regret that we have to advise that Trevor Johnson (pictured), who was a governor for Southend University Hospital, recently passed away. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

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IN THE COMMUNITY

21 February Chase High Careers Fair

24 April St Bernard’s High School Careers Day

14 March South Ess ex Careers Fe College st

25 April Greensward Academy Career Option Day

19 April Sweyne Park School Careers Day

26 April SEEVIC Jobs Fair

Governors attend Southend Mosque open day

By Judith Craven Rest of Essex public governor Governors Judith Craven, Linda Cook and Elizabeth Leigh spent several hours at Southend Mosque during their Open Day on Sunday 18 February. They were warmly welcomed by

Imam Iftikhar ul Haq and many other people from the Muslim community.

The Mosque was set out beautifully with exhibition stands and a book and leaflet table containing a variety of interesting reading material on Islam.

They listened to a local GP who showed slides on the history of Islam and the prophet Mohammed, which helped everyone understand the way of life of a Muslim. He gave an interesting insight into the main parts of the Holy Quran and illustrated what are the spiritual and religious support objectives for patients, relatives and

staff. They were told about the 5 basic pillars of Islam that all Muslims should follow and that the fasting month of Ramadan is of particular importance when a patient is ill. Discussion with the family and hospital staff can accommodate fasting until the patient is well.

Many of the people at the Mosque were interested in becoming more involved in their local hospitals and the governors took part in a discussion with Imam Haq and Basildon Hospital's Imam Zuned Ussen. This may involve attending future meetings, tasting of food and other activities to

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assist in patient care.

All Muslims should pray 5 times a day during Ramadan. In the Mosque there was a beautiful large Quran on a lectern.

Judith summarized their visit by saying that it was very positive and they thanked the Imam and all the people at the Mosque for making them so welcome. It is hoped that their visit leads to an increased understanding of Islam and contributes to the wellbeing of our patients.

The governors will continue to communicate with the people that they met and work out the best way to continue working together.

Summer 2018

The Department of Rheumatology at Southend University Hospital is a centre of excellence

Southend University Hospital - Leading the way in international research in rheumatology The Department of Rheumatology at Southend University Hospital is a centre of excellence for polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) and giant cell arteritis (GCA).

PMR is one of the most prevalent rheumatic inflammatory diseases in persons older than 50.

Approximately 2% of men and women will develop PMR during their lifetime.

Typical complaints include severe pain and stiffness in the shoulders and hips.

Blood test will usually show increased inflammatory markers. In some cases, PMR develops together with GCA, an inflammatory disease of large arteries.

PMR patients are chronically treated with prednisolone. Although the treatment of other rheumatic diseases have markedly improved in the last decades, PMR patients are still treated the same way as 50 years ago.

Research at Southend on the immune system University Hospital is aimed in rheumatic diseases. to find new treatments for Important diagnostic PMR. autoantibody tests that Due its extensive are commonly requested expertise, the Department by physicians all of the of Rheumatology led by world, such as anti-CCP Prof. Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta and ANCA antibodies, frequently were initially receives visiting discovered at rheumatologists the University “This visit and researchers Medical Center marks the start from abroad.

Groningen. of an important As part of an Dr. Van der international Geest received novel research collaboration, a prestigious initiative that Dr. Kornelis van grant form aims to unravel the Dutch der Geest has recently come Society for the cause of to Southend Rheumatology PMR.” University to promote Hospital. research Dr. Van der collaboration Geest is a Rheumatology between the University Fellow and Postdoctoral Medical Center Groningen Researcher at the and Southend University University Medical Center Hospital.

Groningen in the The visit of Dr. Van der Netherlands.

Geest marks the start The University Medical of an important novel Centre has a longstanding research initiative that aims track record in studies to unravel the immune

processes that cause PMR. In this new research project, tissue biopsies from inflamed shoulders of PMR patients will be investigated for immune cells and immune proteins. Thus, this project will combine the longstanding clinical expertise of Southend University Hospital with the immunological expertise of the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands. Eventually, this study will help to identify new treatment options for PMR patients.

n Pictured (l-r): Professor Dasgupta, Les Catley, Plisca Goudo (research sister), Neils Van der Geest, Fiona Coath (research fellow), Faidca Laskou (research fellow).

www.southend.nhs.uk the future 7

> Events > Quiz Night Beneficiary: 20th Anniversary For Wards Appeal Date: Friday 22 June 2018 Time: 7.30pm for 8pm start Venue: Freight House, Rochford# Price: £6pp, teams of 8# . > Grand Quiz (multimedia)* Beneficiary: For Wards Appeal Date: Friday 13 July Venue: Saxon Hall, Aviation Way, Southend-on-Sea Time: 6.45pm for a 7pm start Tickets: £11pp / Teams of 8-10 required ***Includes Chicken and Chips supper*** > Prudential RideLondon 100 Date: Sunday 30 July Venue: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to The Mall, London Price: £50 registration fee. Minimum sponsorship requirement: £500 for a ward/dept/appeal of choice > Supporting 70 Years of the NHS - BIG 7 TEA* Celebratory afternoon tea Let’s Raise a Cuppa to celebrate this special NHS anniversary and to help raise funds for our For Wards Appeal.

Beneficiary: For Wards Date: Thursday 5 July (official 70th anniversary) Time: 3pm Venue: Roslin Beach Hotel Ticket Price: £21 Alternatively, should you wish to host your own Big7Tea Tea Party please contact the team for an information pack.

FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO BOOK For all of these events, please contact: The Fundraising team on 01702 385337 or fundraising@southend.nhs.uk for more information.

> Contacts Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust governors The Foundation Trust Secretary, Southend University Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust, FREEPOST ANG1863, Prittlewell Chase, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex SS0 0RY Freephone: 0800 0185 202 email: foundation. members@southend. nhs.uk Hospital switchboard 01702 435555

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) 01702 385333 Southend Hospital volunteers 01702 435555 ext 6135 Department of fundraising 01702 385337 fundraising@southend. nhs.uk The Future editorial team: Les Catley, Rachel Clark, David Fairweather, Fred Heddell, Alex Norman, Barbara Oliver.

GOVERNOR PROFILE: LIZ LEIGH

I first became a governor whilst working in the Trust.

I joined a team of 5 consisting of 4 worker governors and one volunteer governor. Our role was to engage with staff and volunteers. We achieved this by holding monthly meetings which were held on the same day and time of the month to encourage staff to attend. Initially this appeared to work well, however, over a period of time the numbers of staff attending diminished. Part of the problem was staff were unable to leave their workplace to attend meetings due to an increase in workload.

As a committee we decided to try visiting departments and finding out what issues staff had that needed to be brought to the attention of the board.

When we first attempted this method it was met by some managers as something that was not required.

However, by persisting we eventually found the approach to be beneficial to everyone.

An example of this was when we met with a group of Physiotherapists and occupational therapists that were hospital based but visited patients in their homes. They told us they were having problems parking when attempting to see a patient in their home at the allocated time. Staff are assigned a number of patients to visit in a limited time frame to make the service efficient. Time was being wasted looking for parking places. The consequent result was either the patient not being seen or the member of staff parking illegally only to be presented with a parking ticket, the cost of this had to be paid by the individual which they considered unfair.

A non-executive director of the hospital joined our committee and he accompanied us when we met with the representatives from the physio department.

Following our meeting he approached the Director of Facilities to arrange a meeting with Southend Borough Council to resolve the problem.

As a public governor I find it easy to engage with members of the public daily while going about my business. As a worker governor it is more difficult as there are time restrictions when both parties are working. Staff are occasionally reluctant to speak to a governor as some think they may get into trouble.

I continue to serve the Trust as a governor as I consider the role to be extremely important.

If you would like to invite any of the Trust governors to attend your meetings, then please contact us by calling the Membership Manager on 0800 0185202 or by emailing foundation.members@southend.nhs.uk.

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Summer 2018