Hospital chaplains will be taking Christmas messages out to patients over the next few weeks as visiting restrictions continue.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s Pastoral and Spiritual Care Team is inviting relatives and friends to email them with messages for patients which they will then deliver in person.

The team of chaplains works across both Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, and will be offering the service from Monday 20 December with intention to continue into the New Year or for as long as visiting restrictions remain in place at the Trust.

In the first instance, it is designed to bring comfort to those patients with little or no means of outside communication, but is open to all to use.

Tony Brookes (third left) and members of the Pastoral and Spiritual Care Team

Tony Brookes, Head of Chaplaincy for the Trust says:

“There’s never a good time to be in hospital, but to be hospitalised in the run up to the festive season and with visiting very much restricted for Covid safety reasons at the moment, we felt the need to do something for our patients.

“We appreciate many patients will have mobiles these days and will be able to keep in touch with loved ones by phone or social media, but there will be some who don’t own a phone, perhaps they don’t know how to use a mobile, or they may simply not be well enough to do so.

“We’d like to make sure those patients in particular, who cannot communicate with family or receive visitors in the coming weeks, still have the opportunity to connect with loved ones and know that they are still thinking of them.

“Quite simply, we’re inviting people to send us the details of their friend or relative, and we’ll pass on any messages, poems, stories or good wishes which they choose to share with us. It’s such a small gesture but one we think will make a huge difference to many patients in our care this Christmastime.”

The team is offering the service Monday to Friday, across both HRI and Castle Hill, with any messages sent over the weekend being picked up on the following Monday.

Messages should be emailed to hyp-tr.greetingstolovedone@nhs.net along with the name of the patient, the ward, unit or department they are on, which hospital they are in, and any other detail/information which may help the team to identify the patient.

A hospital-based security team from Hull has received one of the profession’s highest accolades.

The security team at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has been named ‘Healthcare Security Team of the Year’ by the National Association for Healthcare Security (NAHS).

The team serves the two major local hospitals, namely Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, and comprises both directly employed NHS staff and contracted staff from APCOA.

This year, they beat off national competition to earn the award, which is made annually by the NAHS to a team considered most outstanding and worthy of recognition.

To earn the award, the Hull-based team was able to demonstrate how they:

• Have developed a much more customer focused service, for example by making themselves more available to patients/staff though 24/7 staffed offices on both hospital sites
• Worked with nursing and clinical staff to design and deliver safe, appropriate escalation procedures (the ‘Enhanced Care’ model) for patients with challenging behaviours
• Reduced the number of calls for police assistance and improved working relationships with the local force
• Invested in the professional development of team members through the delivery of extra training such as customer service, ICT, physical intervention and NHS core skills
• Took feedback from security team members working on the frontline with staff and patients and delivered service improvements as a result
• Improved team cohesiveness to ensure all team members feel valued, are working to a common purpose, and placing patients and colleagues at the heart of what they do

Chris Watson, security manager for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says:

“The past couple of years have been very difficult for everyone in the healthcare sector, but not least for security staff and I’d like to pay tribute to just how well they have all coped with the various challenges and demands made of them during the pandemic.

“In the middle of all this, the team has maintained its focus very much on supporting our staff, patients and visitors to the hospital as a single team. While members of the public don’t always see the full extent of what they do, we know hospital staff regularly rely on the team for support and hold them in very high regard.

“Over the past few years, our security team has become more visible, more innovative and more proactive, and they are thoroughly deserving of this award.”

Hospital chief executive, Chris Long (right) presents APCOA contracts manager, Joe Moore, with the NAHS award

Chris Watson’s view is endorsed by Kim Challis, APCOA’s regional managing director UK & Ireland, who says:

“This prestigious award recognises the impact of great partnership working. Since APCOA began the contract with the Trust in April 2020, our relationship has strengthened and we work closely together to identify ongoing opportunities for further improvements.

“APCOA has more than 500 SIA-trained security officers specifically specialising in NHS environments and awards like this recognise the important job they do to support NHS staff, visitors and patients in sensitive and sometimes challenging healthcare locations. We’re all very proud of our colleagues at Hull, who are great ambassadors for APCOA and the Trust.”

The award for the wider team supplements the  ACS Pacesetters Security Officer of Distinction Award earned by security team leader, Josh Welch, earlier in the year.

Hull Hospitals’ commitment to sustainability and to patient care have been recognised at a national awards ceremony this afternoon.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust had two projects shortlisted at this year’s Health Business Awards, which was hosted online by well-known TV medic, Dr Mark Porter MBE.

Emerging triumphant in the Patient Safety category was the Trust’s eco-friendly slide sheet. Made from recycled plastic and wrapped in biodegradable packing, the sheets are used to move patients safely in their beds and protect their skin from tissue damage. The sheets are particularly useful for bariatric patients, those who are recovering from surgery, or other patients with frail or fragile skin.

‘Field of Dreams’ – the Trust’s £4.5m solar field project

The Trust’s multi-million pound ‘Field of Dreams’ solar farm was also one of five in the running for the Estates & Facilities Innovation Award. It was narrowly beaten to the title by a project being led by our neighbours at Northern Lincolnshire & Goole NHS Foundation Trust, who are seeking to use renewable geothermal power for heating and hot water.

It was great to see innovation and healthcare sustainability within the Humber region so well represented on a national stage.

Congratulations to everyone involved in our shortlisted projects.

Visiting at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill is being restricted to exceptional cases only from this week to reflect global concerns over the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is stopping all visiting to patients except specific cases approved in advance by senior ward staff as national and international concerns mount over the increased transmissibility of Omicron.

Visiting will only be allowed for exceptional cases which must be agreed in advance with senior nursing staff such as patients at the end of their lives and patients with dementia and learning difficulties.

Birthing partners will be able to attend when a woman is in labour, to visit antenatal and postnatal wards and to attend antenatal appointments such as scans. One parent will be able to visit children in our paediatric wards and both parents as co-care givers on the neonatal intensive care unit.

All other visiting will be halted from tomorrow (Wednesday). All visitors who are given permission to attend must take a lateral flow test (LFT) before attending and confirm they have done so when attending the ward. A LFT should be taken before every such visit.

Chief Nurse Beverley Geary said: “Our duty must be to the patients in our care and we must do everything we can to protect them from the threat of Covid-19.

“We know the vast majority of the public understand that our patients are already vulnerable and catching the virus could have very serious – and indeed deadly – consequences for them.

“We are not introducing this step lightly. We know it distresses relatives and the patients themselves when they can’t have visitors.

“But we must do everything we can to stop the spread of Covid-19 and to address the risk of this specific variant until the world understands more about the danger it poses.

“We thank the public in advance for their understanding and reassure them that restrictions on visiting will be eased as soon as we are sure our patients will be safe.”

In response to the Government’s tightening of restrictions, face masks must be worn by all staff, visitors and patients on hospital grounds as well as when they enter any hospital building.

All members of the public should stay away from hospital if they are showing any symptoms of Covid-19.

A new £8m Intensive Care Unit (ICU) has been unveiled at Hull Royal Infirmary to treat critically ill and injured patients from all over Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is opening the 24-bed unit next week to provide some of the best critical care facilities in the country.

The three-storey unit, next to Hull Royal Infirmary’s Emergency Department, also features modern isolation facilities to make sure the hospital can cope with further waves of Covid-19 or another pandemic in the future.

Chief Executive Chris Long said: “This fantastic unit will support our outstanding critical care teams by providing some of the best facilities in the country.

“As a major trauma centre for the entire region, our new unit will help us save more lives and provide our sickest and most critically injured patients, as well as their relatives and our staff, with cutting-edge equipment in a modern environment.

“It puts our area in the best possible position to deal with any future waves of the virus or, indeed, any other pandemic in the future.”

Patients will receive specialist one-to-one care in glass-front cubicles, double the size of the cubicles in the two existing ICUs in the tower block.

There are 12 cubicles on each floor, split into identical halves separated by a central observation area for staff.

Every cubicle has a Draegar ceiling pendant for essential services including medical gases to maximize the floor space. This means doctors, nurses and other health professionals such as physiotherapists will be able to perform their tasks more easily around the patient’s bed.

Electric hoists have also been fitted so staff can lift patients safely, reducing the risk of musculoskeletal problems in the future.

Cubicles will be fitted with negative air extraction systems to assist infection prevention and control. Six of the 12 on each floor have “donning and doffing” anterooms so staff can care for patients with Covid-19 or any other infectious disease.

The new ICU is being constructed in line with the trust’s Zero Thirty campaign and will be as energy efficient as possible with its own heat pumps, air conditioning, chillers and heat recovery systems. This means the unit will remain cool enough for patients and staff in the summer but warm enough in the cooler months.

A dedicated bed lift connects the ICU to the theatre complex in the main Hull Royal Infirmary tower block via a link bridge over Lansdowne Road. This will also be used to take patients from the ICU for MRIs or scans, preventing the need for them to be wheeled outside to the MRI suite.

A staff-only link staircase will also be created to ensure teams can access the tower block without having to leave the building.

A separate area with staff rest rooms, offices and support services including Medical Physics has also been created as part of the unit.

As part of the ongoing project, two new trauma theatres will be created on the top floor, with six to eight recovery beds to monitor patients in those critical first few hours after surgery.

The new theatre floor will also act as a decant space so the existing ICUs can undergo routine maintenance.

An extension is being built next to the ICU to provide support accommodation for staff including rest rooms, offices and support services including Medical Physics.

Duncan Taylor, Director of Estates, Facilities and Development, paid tribute to the trust’s Capital Development team and other Estates staff who have managed the project.

He said: “Our team has worked hand-in-hand with our clinical colleagues who deliver the care to design the unit with their needs and the needs of the people they care for at the forefront of every decision and plan.

“The result is an Intensive Care Unit which symbolizes the futures of critical care and we’re very proud that Hull and our trust is at the forefront of this innovation.”

Dr Kasfiki’s contribution to medical education has earned her this prestigious Royal College award

A Hull doctor has received a prestigious Royal College honour for her contribution to medical training.

Dr Eirini Kasfiki, a consultant in acute and general medicine based at Hull Royal Infirmary, has been awarded the Chiron Medal from the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE).

For the past five years, Dr Kasfiki has worked with the Trust’s simulation laboratory, pioneering modern methods of teaching that are both responsive to clinical need and, more recently, effective under pandemic-related restrictions. For example, she has been leading work to convert some traditional face-to-face educational sessions into a 360° virtual reality experience for trainee doctors.

As well as her skills in clinical simulation and medical education, Dr Kasfiki, who is also the Trust’s training programme director for acute internal medicine, is known for her genuine interest in the welfare and working lives of trainee doctors. Dr Kasfiki still kept in contact with trainees during a period of maternity leave, for example, and made sure to reach out to them during the Covid pandemic to find out how they were coping with challenges and ensure their training needs were still met.

Dr Kasfiki’s proficiency in training and teaching is said to be best reflected in the confidence her colleagues and fellow medical educators place in her to deliver effective training, which enables a culture of excellence to flourish across Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

She says:

“I’m honoured to receive this award. I think it’s a reflection of the values and commitment of the wider Acute Medical Team at Hull University Teaching Hospitals.”

The Chiron Medal for excellence in teaching and training is awarded to an individual physician every year by the RCPE.

Dr Kasfiki will be presented with the Chiron Medal at the College’s annual St. Andrews Day symposium, to be held virtually this year, on Thursday 25 November.

Extra nurses, doctors and porters, an additional ward and increased capacity for tests in hospital labs are among a £1m package of measures to prepare Hull’s hospitals for winter.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals is introducing additional measures to ensure Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital are best equipped to cope with an anticipated surge in admissions of patients with Covid-19 and other respiratory illnesses such as flu and RSV.

Winter measures include

• extra emergency nursing staff
• extended operating hours for hospital labs to increase testing capacity
• a Winter Ward dedicated for seasonal viruses
• additional consultants and medical registrars
• extra porters to move patients from the Emergency Department to hospital wards

HUTH is also spending almost £300,000 on “Point of Care Testing” so patients are tested for Covid-19, flu and RSV shortly after they are admitted to hospital to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Michelle Cady, Director of Strategy and Planning, chairs the trust’s Covid-19 and Winter Command Response Group and said senior staff have been working on winter preparations for months.

She said: “This winter is predicted to be very challenging because of the impact not just of the usual winter pressures but because of the continuing prevalence of Covid-19.

“The pressure on our staff and services has only intensified for every week of the pandemic and it’s now almost 22 months since we treated the UK’s first two cases of patients with the virus in January 2020.

“We’re seeing more people attending our Emergency Department than ever before and we’re also working hard to reduce our waiting lists hit hard by the impact of the pandemic.

“People needing help should also come forward through 111 online so that NHS staff can help patients with the best option for their care. It remains as important as ever to get your life-saving Covid jab, and with winter approaching, your flu jab too.”

As well as preparing for the trust’s fourth surge of Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses, hospital staff are also planning for adverse weather like snow, freezing temperatures and ice.

Special measures are also being put in place to support frontline staff, who have faced unrelenting pressure for almost two years, including one-to-one counselling, psychological support and a range of after-work activities to help staff unwind such as yoga, walking groups and drama classes.

Hospitals in Hull are looking to beat government targets for carbon reduction and become net zero by 2030.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is today publishing its ZeroThirty Strategy and Green Plan, seeking to become carbon neutral up to 15 years earlier than the targets set by the Department of Health*.

The Trust’s flagship project is its £4.5m ‘Field of Dreams’, a solar field comprising 11,000 panels over almost 8 hectares which is under construction now. By the summer of 2022, it is expected to be generating enough energy to supply the whole of the Castle Hill Hospital site in Cottingham where it’s based.

But this is just one of a number of initiatives, planned or underway, which hospital bosses hope will put Hull at the forefront of the green movement within the NHS.

The Trust is already in the final stages of a relighting project, replacing over 20,000 traditional bulbs across its estate with LEDs, and putting the finishing touches to building insulation work which is predicted to save the trust around 15 per cent in energy use.

Among other things, the Trust has also set itself ambitious targets to:

• Send nothing to landfill by 2025
• Reduce anaesthetic gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2025
• Slash building emissions in half by 2028

Chris Long, Chief Executive of Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says:

‘Field of Dreams’ – the Trust’s £4.5m solar field project

“In 2020, our Trust declared a climate emergency.

“While our recent focus has been very much about protecting patients, staff and the public in the face of a global pandemic, we in the NHS must not lose sight of the imminent health emergency that climate change could bring; more intense storms and floods, more frequent heat waves, and the wider spread of infectious diseases.

“As a major employer in the city and a major contributor to carbon emissions, we recognise we have a huge role to play when it comes to climate change. Not only must we take steps to reduce our own carbon footprint, but we also have a role in influencing and encouraging others to do the same, whether that’s through the suppliers we contract with, the people and partners we work with, and even the patients we care for.

“The publication of our ZeroThirty strategy and Green Plan today is a bold statement of intent, representing our commitment to work towards a greener, healthier planet, now and for the generations to come.”

Marc Beaumont, Head of Sustainability for the Trust says:

“Climate change and the impact of it is particularly important for this region. With 90 per cent of Hull being below the high tide line, the advent of sea level rise means Hull potentially is at real risk. That’s why it’s so important that we work on projects like our solar field to help reduce our impact on the environment, reduce our carbon emissions and help slow the pace of climate change down.

“The Field of Dreams is a great visual indicator of the Trust’s intent to achieve net zero, and will hopefully help the local community as well by improving awareness of the availability of renewable technology, renewable energy sources, and the Trust’s ZeroThirty ambitions.”

ZeroThirty: Why not here? Why not now? Why not us?

For more information on the Trust’s ZeroThirty plans, visit www.zero30.uk

* Current NHS guidance asks all NHS organisations to become net zero in respect of the carbon emissions they directly control by 2040, and those they can influence by 2045. Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is aiming to become one of the first hospital trusts in England to reach zero carbon emissions by 2030.