The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals Nhs Foundation Trust

Julia is Clinical Pharmacist: “I work all over the city in patient’s homes, in clinics or Trust sites, helping people to get the most out of their medicines; to help them share decisions and engage in decisions about medicines and their health.” https://bit.ly/2M2Ag6o #NHS70

We are extremely proud to announce our finalists in this year’s Nursing Times Awards. Staff on Ward 8 at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital have been shortlisted for the ‘Patient Safety Improvement’ category.
Ward 8 is a vascular surgical ward where between 30-40% of patients have diabetes. Diabetes can affect the blood supply to the vascular system and in severe cases can cause major obstruction leading to peripheral arterial disease or critical limb ischaemia which need to be tre...ated either by surgery or specialist treatment using xray guided techniques. In extreme cases, it can lead to amputation of the lower limb
Ensuring that glycaemia, a patient’s blood glucose level, is under control before a diabetic patient undergoes surgery is extremely important. Yet, despite following national guidelines, surgical wards across the country remain a high risk area for this group of patients.
Ward 8 introduced a new approach which, over a three year period, significantly reduced hypoglycaemia rates and insulin errors.
Maurya Cushlow, Executive Chief Nurse for the Newcastle Hospitals said: “This is fantastic news. Being announced as a finalist for the Nursing Times Awards is great recognition for the work our nurses do every day, making a difference to patients.
“Both our finalists this year are great examples of innovation and nursing leadership in practice.”
The award ceremony is on 31st October - good luck to the team!
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“We have really good collaboration across the NHS, because there only about 60 consultants treating children with these conditions in the UK, so we’re just like a big family within the bigger NHS family.” Yincent is a Paediatric Kidney Consultant: https://bit.ly/2LUrrLB #NHS70

We are extremely proud to announce our finalists in this year’s Nursing Times Awards.
First up is Laura Noble - a specialist nurse in bladder cancer - who is shortlisted in the ‘Cancer Nursing’ category for completely redesigning a training programme to enable more nurses to provide extremely important chemotherapy directly into the bladder, following surgery to remove the cancer.
Maurya Cushlow, Executive Chief Nurse for the Newcastle Hospitals said: “This is fantastic news.... Being announced as a finalist for the Nursing Times Awards is great recognition for the work our nurses do every day, making a difference to patients.
“Both our finalists this year are great examples of innovation and nursing leadership in practice.”
The award ceremony is on 31st October - good luck Laura!
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This week saw the 40th anniversary of providing dialysis at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital. When the unit first opened in 1978, forty patients received their treatment in a single, 10 station facility. Since then, the service has grown to provide life-saving treatment to hundreds of patients with kidney failure in a state of the art, purpose built dialysis unit at the Freeman as well as our satellite dialysis units at North Shields and Alnwick.
Staff at the Freeman‘s Renal Serv...ices Centre held a celebration event to mark the occasion. Dr Kanagasundaram, Consultant Nephrologist and Haemodialysis Lead said: “Renal Services in Newcastle has a long and proud history of treating patients from across the region and further afield, allowing thousands of patients with many different types of kidney disease to regain their health and wellbeing.
“Particular highlights have included:
- the first description of aluminium bone disease in dialysis patients (so called ‘Newcastle Bone Disease’) that led to improved dialysis water standards and benefitting patients across the world
- the first use of single-needle dialysis (‘click-clack’ dialysis) that allowed people with poor vascular access to be dialysed, successfully
- Newcastle’s recognition as a centre of excellence for patients with genetic and immune-mediated kidney diseases – this has culminated in the service’s successful nomination as the UK’s National Centre for Complement Therapeutics, managing the treatment of patients across the country with the potentially devastating kidney condition, ‘atypical HUS’.
He added: “The technology and treatments we now use for our dialysis patients have changed beyond recognition since dialysis first started in Newcastle but one thing that the renal team shares in common with the first dialysis pioneers in Newcastle, is the desire to place our patients at the centre of all that we do”
Photo caption: members of the dialysis team with patient Geoffrey Stokoe.
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Joanne is an Education and Workforce Officer in HR: “It’s really important to me that we do the best we can, that we link everything to the patient experience and remember how important our influence is – good and bad.” https://bit.ly/2uGV0Wr #NHS70

Harry Chivers - the first person in the world to be fitted with a golf ball sized ventricular assisted device two years ago in Newcastle - has returned home to Northern Ireland after having a heart transplant.
Harry, a 65 year old father of three from Bangor, had a major heart attack in August 2014 and never fully recovered. His doctors in Ireland were so worried about his condition that they referred him to the Freeman Hospital – one of Europe’s leading heart and lung centr...es.
In July 2015, Harry became the first patient to have the miniaturised circulatory pump implanted, under the expert care of cardiothoracic surgeon Professor Stephan Schueler.
The mini-VAD acted as an artificial circulatory system supporting his heart, and was made available to the flagship centre as part of a major, international trial.
“Harry was the first patient in the world to receive the innovative implant and he has had a very good outcome,” said Professor Schueler. “It was a great success and we were delighted to see him go home, looking so well after his transplant, earlier this year.”
Professor Schueler, who has particular expertise in heart failure surgery, especially mechanical assist devices, added: “The implant kept Harry alive for nearly three years without any serious issues, and the fact that he was able to go home just a month after his transplant shows how well it looked after him.
“We will continue to innovate in this growing field of medicine as more and more patients with advanced heart failure need specialist support, and look forward to working with the next generation of devices as they come online.”
Harry says: “The people here are world-class. I’ve been given my life back and I think that’s just amazing.”
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Shana is a Paediatric Speech and Language Therapist: “I have always been very keen to help children to communicate and integrate within society. I’m such a positive person for inclusion – I think that’s such a fantastic thing especially in my role.” https://bit.ly/2MdiZEj #NHS70

Pop along to the Herschel Building at Newcastle University to visit the Great North Children's Hospitals' 'Pop Up Hospital' as part of the Great Exhibition of the North.
Tomorrow (Friday 3rd August):
Our Dermatology department will be providing information and activities on sun awareness, emollients, eczema treatment and guidance for children. (10:00am-12:30pm)

We're delighted to share the news that Newcastle Hospitals has received a ‘gold award’ for its outstanding support to the Armed Forces.
The Trust was awarded the highest badge of honour in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme for our long-term commitment to the armed forces community.
Chief Executive Dame Jackie Daniel said: “This is fantastic news for us all but particularly the team who have dedicated their time to supporting our Armed Forces of which we are truly fortu...nate to have working in our Trust.
“We have taken a number of steps to ensure this community are not disadvantaged by the sacrifice they make in helping to keep this country safe and are honoured to be recognised by the Ministry of Defence for the work we do.
"It is important for us to celebrate the contribution made, particularly by our staff, who also serve as Reservists or our ex-forces and we very much value the extra skills and experience that they bring to our organisation.”
http://www.newcastle-hospitals.org.uk/… /news-item-23291.aspx
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Grace Roberts underwent 14 rounds of chemo therapy at the Great North Children's Hospital after being diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
This video shows Grace ringing the bell to mark the end of her treatment.

Lynne is the Infant Feeding Coordinator on our Maternity Unit: "My role is to lead on infant feeding, so that’s formula feeding as well as breastfeeding, and trying to increase breastfeeding rates.” https://bit.ly/2AyrwAg

Alex Wiles, Lead Speech & Language Therapist for Early Years Services, was interviewed on BBC Newcastle about the importance of language in a child’s development. Listen from 18:00: https://bbc.in/2KdWz3L

We're excited to launch our new careers website. Working for Newcastle Hospitals is a lifestyle, not just a job. Find out more about careers at Newcastle: https://careers.nuth.nhs.uk

Pop along to the Herschel Building at Newcastle University to visit the Great North Children's Hospitals' 'Pop Up Hospital' as part of the Great Exhibition of the North.
Today (Wednesday 1st August):
Want to find out more about asthma? Our specialist team will be here with lots of fun activities for you to get involved in, including; inhaler whistles, wheeze orchestra, lung function station, blow piggies, blow-up balloons and arts and crafts
... Our permanent exhibits include:
'The Iron Lung' Come and see the iron lung in real-life! Our volunteers will be on hand to give you lots of information and answer questions about this incredible piece of history,
'The Dressing-up Station' What would you look like if you worked at the hospital? Find out for yourself at our children’s dressing up station, where you can become a healthcare professional like a paramedic, doctor, nurse and more.
'Our Archive Material' We have a collection of different medical instruments on display that were used by the hospital many years ago. They are quite different to what we use today! Will you be able to work out what they were used for?
'Our Mock Hospital Ward' What is it really like in hospital? We will have some hospital beds and equipment for you to try, as well as showing a selection of videos, which will help you understand more about how the hospital would help you if you became poorly.
'The Virtual Reality Experience' Put on this headset and you will be transported inside the human body! This will allow you to see muscles, bones and organs in incredible detail using the latest 3-D technology.
'The Colouring–in Station' We will have pictures of our mascots to colour in and show off your creativity!
'Activity Trail' Test your Great North Children’s Hospital Knowledge to the test by completing the activity trails at the event.
'GNCH Pop-Up Shop' We will be selling merchandise to help raise funds for The Great North Children’s Hospital. From reusable cups to t-shirts, purchase a gift to remember your visit to the GNCH Pop-Up Hospital.
'Fudge and Blaze Mascots' Fudge and Blaze will be popping by throughout the entire event so hopefully you will get a chance to say hello them both!
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“We would spend time working with their airway clearance to make sure that their chest is clear of sputum as much as possible.” Rachel is a Specialist Cystic Fibrosis Physiotherapist, she was awarded a fellowship post by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust: https://bit.ly/2M6g7c9 #NHS70

“Sometimes a surgeon here will do something and it’s never been done anywhere else. I’ll get in touch with them and say: ‘wow, I have never seen this before, how do you want it done?’ and I’ll suggest a few codes.” Lesley is an accredited clinical coder: https://bit.ly/2M2ZwWP

Do you want to work for an Outstanding Trust? Are you ready for a challenge? Would you like to influence the evolvement of the Infection Prevention and Control Team?
Our Infection Prevention and Control team have vacancies for an innovative and enthusiastic nurse at a great time of change. We have both Band 6 and Band 7 Infection Prevention and Control Nurse roles available.
Find out more below and apply below...

We have an exciting opportunity for a Fellowship in Environmentally Sustainable Anaesthesia this is a collaboration between the Newcastle Hospitals, the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare.
It’s the first anaesthetic fellowship of its kind in the UK - we believe it’s the first of its kind in the world.