He could feel a lump in his throat, making it difficult for him to swallow. But it didn’t hurt so Terry Pipes was in no rush to see his GP.

Six months passed and Terry thought he’d nip to the doctors for antibiotics to clear up whatever it was before setting off on a Mediterranean cruise with wife Joanne.

Instead, he ended up fighting to survive in Castle Hill Hospital after he was diagnosed with tonsillar cancer.

Now, two years after he first noticed the lump, Terry is preparing to celebrate Father’s Day with his four children, celebrate the birth of his first grandchild within weeks and take his place at the top table for his eldest son’s wedding.

(from left) Rob, Ash, Mike and Steve

“I might not have been here to see all this,” he said. “I live every moment now and I don’t have the words to thank everyone at the hospital who helped me.

“Every person was so kind to me. I will never forget what they did for me.”

Terry, of west Hull, runs a property maintenance firm with his sister and noticed a lump in his throat which was making it difficult for him to swallow in spring 2016. Painless, he thought he’d get round to going to the doctor sometime or it would just clear up on his own.

He had booked a week-long cruise and a holiday in Majorca so thought he’d nip to the GP to collect some antibiotics so it would be cleared up by the time he set off.

However, he was shocked when the GP recommended an urgent referral to Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham.

He went on holiday, pushing any negative thoughts to the back of his mind, but had to come home early from Majorca as he struggled to breathe in the heat.

Sent to Castle Hill Hospital for tests, he and Joanne were devastated when they were told he had tonsillar cancer.

“I was absolutely gutted,” he said. “You just think that’s it – cancer.”

He began his treatment including six doses of chemotherapy and 30 doses of radiotherapy. He had to have a feeding tube fitted but was overcome by nausea and his weight plummeted five stone, from 13 stone to just over eight.

Exhausted, he struggled through Christmas Day, trying his best to stay cheerful for his wife and children, Rob, Ash, Mike and Steve, but collapsed on Boxing Day and had to be rushed into Castle Hill. He was allowed home but collapsed again on New Year’s Eve as the world prepared to see in 2017.

Terry and Joanne before his illness

This time, he came into Castle Hill and stayed until February 6 while dieticians, speech and language therapists (SLT) and nursing staff attempted to rebuild his strength and help him overcome his swallowing difficulties.

Part of the SLT team’s assessment included assessing Mr Pipe’s swallowing on different consistencies of fluid to ensure he was able to swallow safely.  Thickened drinks and a pureed diet were recommended for a short time during Mr Pipe’s recovery until he could progress to normal drinks and more solid foods.

But still he struggled. Eventually, he underwent a procedure to dilate or stretch his throat to improve his swallowing.

“That’s when things really took off,” he said. “I’d struggled so much until then, even with liquids, but this made all the difference.”

Now weighing 10 and a half stone, he’s able to eat almost anything. He has to have gravy with meat and a drink with bread to help him swallow but, other than that, he’s back to living life to the full with a week in Santorini, a cruise to Croatia and another week in Majorca all on the cards.

“My waist has gone from 34 inches down to 28 and now back to 30,” he said. “But my wife got rid of all my old clothes at a car boot so I better not put any more back on.”

He feels like he’s been given a second chance.

“My whole outlook has changed and I can’t speak highly enough about the care I received from staff at Castle Hill,” he said. “Every person in that hospital was absolutely fantastic.

“It’s thanks to them that I’m here to celebrate Father’s Day with my kids and have all these things to look forward to.”

According to the Office of National Statistics, around 38,600 people were diagnosed with head and neck cancer in 2016. Around 10 per cent of patients admitted to Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital have swallowing problems at any given time.

Nicola Morton, a speech and language therapist working for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said she was delighted to see Terry was well on the road to recovery.

She said: “This can happen after strokes or if they are living with cancer, brain tumours, head injuries or neurological and respiratory conditions.

“But we can help these patients to ensure they can manage food and drink safely.  This may involve thickening drinks and recommending appropriate foods to eat.

“Some patients may have long-term swallowing difficulties while others may return to near-normal eating and drinking.

“We’re glad to see Terry is doing so well and wish him the very best for the future.”

A charity made up of former hospital staff has donated £7,000 of equipment to help patients undergoing heart surgery at Castle Hill Hospital.

The Needed Urgent Remedial Surgical Equipment (N.U.R.S.E) charity has donated a Philips Lumify portable ultrasound machine which generates detailed images of veins and arteries. This mobile device can be used in surgical theatres but can also be used directly on hospital wards by surgical care practitioners, sending high quality images back to help clinicians plan surgical procedures such as coronary artery bypass.

Sharon Campling, Theatres Manager at Castle Hill Hospital says:

“We’re incredibly grateful to the N.U.R.S.E charity for what is a really cutting-edge piece of equipment. The portability of this machine means we can carry out essential pre-surgical mapping of a patient’s veins and arteries while they are still on the ward, which is more convenient for the patient as it means they’re spending less time in theatre, and means less theatre time is taken up. Plus, while it will be mainly used by staff from our cardiothoracic theatres, it is versatile enough to be used across other areas and specialties too.”

“We carry out around 10 to 12 coronary artery bypasses each week which means, depending on our patient list, the Lumify be in use every day assisting with potentially lifesaving procedures.”

Since the N.U.R.S.E Charity was set up in the early 1980s (registered with the Charities Commission in 1991), members say they have raised more than £800,000 through fundraising events including the annual raft race on Beverley Beck, which take place next month. The monies raised have gone to support wards and departments across Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, purchasing equipment from potentially life-saving scanners down to fans to keep patients cool.

Jane Tattam, Chairperson of the N.U.R.S.E Charity says:

“After working in the NHS for over 40 years, I can appreciate how difficult it is to purchase or share resources, equipment which can aid a speedy, efficient and safe service during a patient’s time in hospital.

“We were only too happy to help the Cardiac Unit at Castle Hill Hospital when they requested our support in purchasing this cutting edge device which I believe is one of the first to be used in U.K. hospitals. Feedback from the staff is that they have already found the device an invaluable asset and we hope that it continues to benefit patients who have to undergo major surgical intervention.”

The annual Raft Race is being held in Beverley in aid of the N.U.R.S.E charity on Saturday 21^st July. For more information, visit facebook and search for NURSE charity.

They had rushed to Hull Royal Infirmary expecting to be told their father was in theatre undergoing life-saving brain surgery.

But Hannah Evison, 34, and her brother Dean, 36, were shattered when neurosurgeons told them their father Dave had suffered a massive bleed on his brain which had caused his brain stem to die and nothing could be done to save him.

As grief engulfed them, the brother and sister decided their father’s final act would be to save other people in desperate need of transplants.

Hannah and Dean know their decision means other children will still have the joy of celebrating Father’s Day with their dads this weekend.

Dean and Hannah with their mum Bev and Oliver and Maisie

“We know he helped save other middle-aged men and we hope some of them would have been fathers,” Hannah, 34, said. “We don’t have our dad with us but what he did means that other dads are still here with their children.

“I know if he’d been asked, he wouldn’t have had to think twice about it. He’d have wanted to do it.”

Dave Evison, 62, had worked in the oil industry before taking early retirement at 55. He had suffered a stroke a few years earlier but had recovered well and was considered fit and healthy.

However, Mr Evison, who spent almost 40 years with Hannah and Dean’s mother Bev before they parted as friends a few years before his death, had been suffering headaches for a few weeks before he woke up one morning in July 2016 and started being sick.

Son Dean came over to Mr Evison’s house in Grimsby and realised something was seriously wrong. He took his dad to the emergency department at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital.

He was then “blue lighted” to Hull Royal Infirmary, the specialist neurological centre for the area, after the severity of his condition became known.

Hannah said: “My brother and I arrived in Hull expecting to be told he was having brain surgery but, instead, the consultant neurosurgeon told us he’d had a massive bleed on the brain and wouldn’t survive so there was no point in them doing the surgery.”

(l to r) Hull’s organ donation team Sarah Plant, Alexandra Wray and Raz Igasan

As they absorbed the shock of what they had been told, the organ donation team based at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust approached the family about the possibility of organ donation.

Hannah said: “It was really soon after we’d been told there was no hope of Dad surviving that we were asked about organ donation and our first thought was why were we being asked about this now.

“But it was explained to us that there was a lot to organise and time is a crucial factor.

“Dad wasn’t on the organ donor register but we knew signing the register was just something he wouldn’t have got round to doing. If he had been asked, he would have said yes.”

Mr Evison remained on life support for three days until the recipients of his organs were prepared for surgery, giving his family time to say goodbye before his death on July 7, 2016.

“In a way, it was the hardest part because we knew we were losing him but in another way it was nice to be able to spend some time with him,” said Hannah.

In the end, Mr Evison donated his lungs, liver, both kidneys and heart tissue to save other lives and Hannah hopes other families facing similar situations will agree to organ donation.

“There’s no point in taking your organs with you when you die,” said Hannah. “If you can help someone else when your time has come, why wouldn’t you do that?”

With the second anniversary of her father’s death only three weeks away, Hannah says it’s tough on her, Dean and her two children Oliver, nine on June 18, and six-year-old Maisie.

“He was a fantastic grandfather, “ she said. “It is hard just now when you see all the cards going up in the shops and my Dad’s not here.

“But we’re really glad we could do this so some good can come from it all.”

You can join the organ donor register by visiting www.organdonation.nhs.uk/register-to-donate or by calling 0300 1232323.

Security teams are increasing patrols around a hospital fracture clinic after thieves stole twiddle muffs donated to help people with dementia.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is introducing increased patrols after thieves stole a number of twiddle muffs and a twiddle pillow, donated to the clinic to help keep patients with dementia calmer during their treatment.

Thieves have struck again just weeks after memorabilia such as tea pots, dishes, old photographs and even an old tea cosy had been stolen from an area created by staff in the style of a 1960s front room to help people with dementia waiting to be seen.

Today, Ron Gregory, the trust’s security manager, said patrols would be stepped up around the area to prevent any future thefts.

He said: “It is ridiculous that we are having to take such action in a hospital where people dedicate their careers to helping others.

“These thefts are really upsetting the staff in our fracture clinic, who have gone out of their way to create this area, used their own money to buy so many of the items or have arranged donations to help the people they are looking after.

“We will not hesitate to take further action against anyone who steals from our hospitals and we urge the public to help us by reporting any suspicious activity they see in this area.”

Some of the twiddle muffs donated to the hospital by generous well-wishers

Twiddle muffs, which are knitted tubes often fashioned with ribbons, buttons, bells and zips, have been found to have a calming effect on people with dementia by keeping their hands busy and warding off anxiety.

They are particularly useful in a hospital setting while people are in waiting rooms ahead of treatment.

Clinical support worker Kerry Morten, who has worked at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for 18 years, has played a key role in setting up the dementia area in the fracture clinic and noticed the muffs had been taken from the department on Tuesday morning.

She said: “We don’t know when they were taken but we know it must have been during the day as we’ve now started to shutter off the area at night because of all the stuff that was being stolen.

“It’s just sick that someone would do this. It’s obvious these twiddle muffs are for dementia patients but, despite that, someone has still seen fit to walk away with them.

“It’s difficult to understand what would motivate someone to do such a thing.”

Staff in the fracture clinic are now appealing for knitters to help them replace the twiddle muffs.

Kerry said: “They were so useful in helping people feel calm so we’d be very grateful if any knitters would like to donate some replacements, which we hope will not be stolen from us and our patients.”

A hospital team has been recognised as one of the best in the country after halving the number of older people admitted to hospital unnecessarily.

More than two-thirds of people over 80 were being admitted to hospital before Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust introduced its Frailty Intervention Team (FIT) last year.

However, a multi-disciplinary team of specialists in elderly medicine now work alongside staff in the Emergency Department at Hull Royal Infirmary seven days a week to help 70 per cent of patients seen go home the same day.

This month, the team attended the prestigious HSJ Value in Healthcare Awards in Manchester after beating more than 580 entries from around the country to make the shortlist.

Professor Stephen Powis, Medical Director at NHS England, has also visited Hull Royal Infirmary to understand more about the team’s work.

The team will also travel to London on June 27 after being named as a finalist in the 2018 Healthcare Transformation Awards for Innovation in the Care of Long Term Conditions.

(l to r) Sue Parkinson, Dr Kirsten Roberts, Dr Katie Athorn and Suzanne Alexander.

Dr Kirsten Richards, consultant in the Department of Medical Elderly, said the FIT programme was attracting national attention, with staff from Manchester Royal Infirmary due to visit later this month to watch the team in action.

She said: “We are very proud of what we are achieving.

“Hospital is not the safest place for an older person in part because a person over the age of 75 years loses valuable muscle tone for every day they spend in a hospital bed. This could have disastrous consequences for our frail patients and may mean the difference between them going home or going into a home.

“Most frail older patients also don’t want to come into hospital, preferring to stay in their own homes, so it is in their person’s best interests to avoid unnecessary admissions and try to support them in their own environment instead.

“We are working closely with our community colleagues and utilising our daily rapid access clinics to keep our older patients safely in their familiar surroundings as much as possible.”

Before the FIT team was introduced, 67 per cent of older patients brought to the Emergency Department were admitted onto wards for tests and further examinations because of their frailty and complex health needs.

However, 70 per cent can now go home with support the same day because the FIT team assess them as soon as they arrive at hospital.

Feedback from the patients has been extremely positive and the close partnership working between the FIT team and the Emergency Department has also helped to improve the confidence of the Emergency Department team in dealing with frail older patients.

Although many NHS organisations are developing frailty programmes, the trust is thought to be the only trust using a full multi-disciplinary team of geriatricians, advanced nurse practitioners, a trusted assessor therapist, a discharge coordinator, plus dedicated pharmacy and admin support staff in their frailty model.

The team is also supported by mental health workers from Humber Teaching NHS FT and by social services staff from Hull City Council and East Riding Council.

Trust staff can play an active part in tackling health inequality by supporting a new campaign aimed at transforming hospital services for people with learning disabilities.

Mencap’s “Treat Me Well” campaign aims to show how simple changes in hospital care can make a big difference to the lives of 1.4m people with learning disabilities.

There are 1,200 avoidable deaths in hospital each year involving people with learning disabilities and the campaign calls on NHS staff to make reasonable adjustments which can help save lives.

“Treat Me Well” will be the focus of Learning Disability Week, which runs from June 18 and 24.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust are working together to support Mencap’s campaign.

Staff from both organisations can find out more at the drop-in event at Room 4, Education and Development, Suite 22, Castle Hill Hospital on June 19 from 1pm and 5pm.

Members of the public are also welcome to attend if they would like to find out more.

Mencap surveyed 500 people with learning disabilities as part of the campaign and found 75 per cent said their experience of going to hospital would improve if staff explained things to them in a way that was easy for them to understand.

More than half – 55 per cent – said having more time in appointments would improve their experience.

And 37 per cent of healthcare professionals thought people with a learning disability received worse quality care than those without.

“Avoiding jargon and explaining things in a way that is accessible to the individual means they can understand more about their health condition and how to manage it,” the Mencap report said.

“Ten extra minutes in an appointment may give someone the extra time they need to ask questions and check they know what is going to happen next.

“Providing easy read appointment letters means people are more likely to know when their appointment is and then access the tests or treatment they need.”

People across Hull and the East Riding are being encouraged to take part in some gentle healthy activity this weekend as a way of saying thank you to those who care for them.

Parkrun has teamed up with the NHS to celebrate the health service’s 70^th birthday via a series of NHS70 themed 5km events across the country.

The NHS70 parkruns will take place at 9am on Saturday 9^th June. Well over 300 parkrun teams across the UK have signed up to get involved, with the most local events taking place at Peter Pan Park and East Park in Hull, and at the Humber Bridge.

Health experts agree that regular gentle exercise can deliver a whole host of physical and mental benefits for people of all ages. So, to encourage people to think a little more about their own health, and as a means of saying thank you to the thousands of NHS workers who dedicate their lives to caring for others, parkruns across the UK are expected to be awash with blue and white this weekend.

Diane Mawer is a Clinical Lead Physiotherapist working within Hull Women and Children’s Hospital and a core volunteer at Hull parkrun. She has completed over 380 parkruns and has around 250 stints as a volunteer under her belt. She says:

“We know that going along to your local parkrun has a positive effect on both physical and psychological health and that these benefits are seen very quickly. It’s also a great way to make friends and enjoy a strong sense of community.

“Whether you choose to run, jog, walk or volunteer, I really can’t recommend parkrun highly enough.”

Hundreds of parkruns take place in parks and open spaces across the UK every Saturday morning, staffed entirely by volunteers. They are community-led events, designed for people of all ages and abilities. While some run as fast as they can, others prefer to walk or jog the course, often with children, dogs or buggies.

And nowhere could the NHS70 celebration be more fitting this week than at Peter Pan Park, next to Costello Stadium, west Hull, as a local running club also concludes its latest Couch to 5K beginners running programme at the same parkrun event.

Members of Kingston upon Hull Athletic Club have been guiding more than 100 new and aspiring runners for the last nine weeks in order to help people improve their health and fitness, make new friends and achieve their personal goals. Participants have gradually built up the amount of time they are able to run for, week on week, and this Saturday’s 5km parkrun will mark the culmination of their efforts.

Stephen Hunt, Run Leader with Kingston upon Hull AC says:

“Couch to 5K is a great way for people who are new to running or who haven’t exercised in quite a while to gradually build up their fitness, and it’s done in such a way that people can go at their own pace.

“The idea isn’t that people can necessarily run the full 5K at the end, but that they can complete it confidently and in a way which suits them, and that matches the general ethos of parkrun, that it really is for everybody.

“This is the third year in which Kingston upon Hull Athletic Club has run the Couch to 5K programme and in that time, we’ve supported more than 500 people and seen it have a huge impact on people’s health and well-being. We’ve seen people lose weight, increase their fitness, improve their mental well-being as they take some time for themselves, make new friends; it’s even helped one runner to identify a health problem which may otherwise have gone undetected for much longer.

“Seeing our Couch to 5K Class of 2018 graduate at the same time as the NHS70 celebration parkrun takes place is just fantastic, and a real reminder of why it’s important for all of us to be grateful for the NHS we have, and to play a part in keeping ourselves fit and healthy.”

How to get involved in NHS70 parkrun

The NHS70 parkrun celebrations are open to everyone, and there are two ways to get involved:

1. Take part in your local parkrun by walking, running or jogging the 5km course, at your own pace, either on your own or with friends and family; or
2. Volunteer an hour or two of your time to help with jobs like marshalling, scanning barcodes, or timekeeping (no experience necessary!)

More information on parkrun locations and details of how to register can be found at www.parkrun.org.uk

Business leaders in Hull will learn this week how young people are gaining vital experience through volunteering at the city’s hospital trust.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has taken on 260 school-leavers as part of its “Young Volunteers” programme to give them an insight into 322 different careers within the NHS.

Many young people have since gone on to start apprenticeships at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital or have gone into other health-related careers.

The programme, which pays young people travelling expenses as they gain vital work experience, has attracted national attention since it was launched three years ago and has now been introduced by other hospitals around the country.

Rachael Pearce, the trust’s Senior Patient Experience and Engagement Officer who leads the Young Volunteers project, will address company representatives at Fruit on Wednesday as part of Hull Business Week.

She said: “Young people have a vital contribution to make to the NHS and our programme shows them there is a huge variety of career opportunities open to them. They learn working for the trust is not just about training as a doctor or a nurse.

“My view is ‘Believe in young people and the magic will happen’ and that has been proved time and time again since we launched the programme. Young people have responded so well because we have put our faith in them and have opened doors they never thought were open to them before.

“We as employers just need to give them that first chance and support them into productive, valuable and rewarding careers.”

As well as the Young Volunteers programme, 50 people aged 16 to 24 have also been signed up as Young Health Champions at the trust.

This project reaches out to people with depression, anxiety, social issues or conditions such as autism and ADHD.

Providing them with a daily £3 lunch voucher and travel expenses, the young people attend a work placement three days a week in their chosen field in the hospital and go into a classroom setting to improve their skills in English, maths and IT one day a week.

They also spend a further day learning techniques to improve communication skills, team-working or motivation.

Rachael Pearce will outline the success of both schemes when she attends the Right Here, Right Now event hosted by Athena Aspire.

Visit www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/right-here-right-now-tickets-46071351653?aff=es2 to register for the free event.

A husband and wife have thanked hospital staff for saving their son after he was born with a potentially life-threatening condition affecting newborn babies.

Stacey Smith, 30, and her husband, Martin, also 30, are planning to raise funds for Hull’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after son Noah was born with haemolytic disease of the newborn.

Noah spent 22 days of the first month of his life in hospital after the couple endured the death of their daughter Darcie, born stillborn at almost 35 weeks in 2014.

Stacey said: “It was a really difficult time but staff understood how difficult it was and helped us so much.

“We just wanted to do something for NICU to thank them and to help other families who are going through similar problems.”

Haemolytic disease of the newborn (HDNB), also known as Rhesus Disease, happens when antibodies in the mother’s blood attack her baby’s blood cells. While it is not harmful to the mother, it can cause anaemia and jaundice in a baby.

Although rare, severe cases of haemolytic disease of the newborn can cause stillbirth, brain damage, learning difficulties, deafness and blindness if untreated.

It usually occurs when the mother has rhesus negative blood (RhD negative) and her baby has rhesus positive blood (RhD positive) and if she has been previously exposed to RhD positive blood. However, it can also be caused by antibodies to a variety of other blood group system antigens.

All pregnant women are now offered blood tests to determine if their blood group.  If RhD negative, the mother will be offered injections during her pregnancy.

The couple, who live in Kingswood and have an older daughter Summer, now seven, discovered Stacey, although blood type O+, had somehow developed a rare combination of antibodies before she became pregnant with Noah.

Understandably anxious following Darcie’s death, Stacey was already being monitored and, at 35 weeks, the levels of antibodies were found to be rising and she was booked in the following week to be induced.

Noah was born weighing 6lbz 2.5 oz but, hours later, following blood tests, his bilirubin levels were extremely high and he was taken into the Red Room at NICU for intensive light therapy and treatment.

He was allowed back onto the ward beside Stacey after eight days and they went home after 12.

However, the bilirubin levels rose again and his haemoglobin levels plummeted and he was rushed back into hospital.

Noah underwent two life-saving blood transfusions after doctors found only one match for him in the whole country.

“He’s absolutely fine now and you’d never know what he went through in the first month of his life,” said Stacey. “He’s 100 per cent well with no lasting effects.”

Stacey, who works in accounts, and Martin, who works in CAD design, now plan to run the Hull 10k on Sunday and the Great North Run and have set up a Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stacey-smith34  to raise funds for NICU.