Visiting restrictions are to be eased at Hull’s hospitals next week as the number of people infected with Covid-19 continues to fall.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals (HUTH) NHS Trust is easing restrictions to allow one family member or friend to visit a patient in most parts of Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital.

Visiting slots of up to one hour must be booked in advance with the ward sister or charge nurse and the visitor must be the same person for the duration of the patient’s stay in hospital.

The named visitor must also carry out a lateral flow test to prevent people with the virus coming to hospital and spreading the potentially deadly virus to already sick and injured patients.

Chief Nurse Beverley Geary said the new visiting arrangements will come into force from Monday, February 21.

Mrs Geary said: “Our visiting policy has been kept under constant review because we know how hard it is for families not to see their loved ones while they’re in hospital.

“We’re now seeing fewer people admitted to our hospitals with the virus and the community infection rates in Hull and the East Riding are falling so we feel it is safer to allow visiting once again.”

Visiting arrangements for children’s wards, Intensive Care Units and maternity services remain unchanged and people attending the trust’s Emergency Department must come on their own.

Patients with suspected or confirmed Covid-19 cannot have visitors unless in exceptional circumstances.

Restrictions remain for oncology wards in the Queen’s Centre and in some surgical wards because these patients are at much higher risk of becoming gravely ill if they catch Covid-19. Please check arrangements with ward staff before attempting to visit.

Anyone coming to hospital for any reason must also wear a face masks as soon as they enter any hospital building although the requirement to wear a face mask on hospital grounds has been lifted. Please note people cannot come into any hospital building unless they are wearing a mask, even if they have a medical exemption, to ensure the protection of our patients and staff.

All visitors should wash their hands thoroughly when they walk into a ward, use hand sanitizer when they leave their relative’s bedside and wash their hands for at least 20 seconds as they leave the ward. People should also follow the two-metre social distancing rule on hospital grounds and in our buildings.

Despite the new arrangements, people should not visit any part of Hull Royal Infirmary or Castle Hill Hospital, including wards, diagnostic areas, clinics or outpatient departments, if they are showing any symptoms of Covid-19 or are unwell for any other reason.

Hull’s hospitals have been selected to take part in a new vaccine trial targeting the Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Around 150 staff working at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital and members of the public who are in good health and over the age of 16 are being asked to volunteer for the trial.

Dr Patrick Lillie, Consultant in Infectious Disease at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Hon Senior Lecturer at Hull/York Medical School, is leading the trial at both hospitals.

“This study is important as it will help answer the questions around fourth doses of vaccines, in particular do they need to be adapted to Omicron or if the original vaccines give good responses still,” Dr Lillie said.

As part of the  mRNA-1273-P305 clinical trial, participants will be given one injection in the upper arm, receiving either the  investigational booster vaccine, mRNA-1273.529, or the already authorized booster, Spikevax.

Researchers will measure the immune response to the investigational vaccine by collecting blood samples, testing them for antibodies to understand if the investigational vaccine is working.

Over the following 13 months, people’s health will be closely monitored by the clinical trial team and they’ll visit Castle Hill Hospital between five to seven times.

Hull’s Infectious Diseases team, who identified and treated the first patients confirmed with the virus at Castle Hill Hospital in January 2020, have participated in a serious of ground-breaking trials to protect people against Covid-19.

The trust played a major part in the development of the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine in the first year of the pandemic, when one in every 45 participants was recruited by the Hull team. They are currently involved in a trial to understand the effects of receiving different forms of the vaccine.

Email the team at INFECTIONRESEARCH.GROUP hyp-tr.infectionresearch.group@nhs.net if you’d like to participate.

Clinical Trial assistant Paul Harper is undertaking a major fundraising effort to raise money for independent hospital charity WISHH.

Paul with HUTH Harriers Ann-Marie Tyrer (centre) and Monicah Oakley (right) as they ran the virtual London Marathon last year

Paul, who works in Cardiology Research, has pledged to run at least 5k a day, so 3.1 miles, throughout the year, covering at least 1,825k or 1131,5 miles to raise money for WISHH, the independent charity supporting Hull’s hospitals.

WISHH will use the £1,000 Paul aims to raise to support its projects to make life better for patients, visitors and staff at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Paul, who is also one of the run leaders for HUTH Harriers, has put a contingency plan in place to deal with bad weather or injury.

“While I’ll hope to complete the daily mileage by mainly road running, I will use a treadmill if needs must. though I don’t envisage this happening,” he said.

“If I get injured, ill or have to self-isolate, which is very plausible, given the current climate, I will roll the days over in to the start of 2023.”

Paul has linked his JustGiving page to his Strava account so people can follow his progress and would appreciate any support from staff.

“No matter how big or small your donation, it all helps,” said Paul, who aims to donate 10p for every mile he runs so aims to contribute £120 by the end of his challenge.

Paul with some of the HUTH Harriers based at Castle Hill Hospital

WISHH manager Lisa Whitton said “We are really grateful to Paul for his support. It’s a great challenge and Paul’s commitment to supporting HUTH Harriers, as well as taking part in fundraising for WISHH is fantastic, helping us make a difference to patients, loved ones and staff across our hospitals.

“We wish him all the best of luck for his great challenge.”

To find out more about the WISHH Charity and how they help our hospitals, visit www.wishhcharity.org.uk or follow them on social media @WISHHcharity

A 3D tour of Hull’s new £8m Intensive Care Unit (ICU) has been created to give people a chance to see some of the best critical care facilities in the country.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust opened its new 24-bed unit at Hull Royal Infirmary, just before Christmas.

Critically ill and injured patients from across Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire can be brought to the unit for life-saving treatment as part of the trust’s role as a major trauma centre for the area.

Now, the virtual tour has been produced for the trust’s Capital Development team to support families and patients and to assist in the training and recruitment of staff to the department.

Amy Lockyer, Commissioning and Support Services Manager with the trust’s Capital Development team, said: “We believe we’re one of the first trusts in the country to offer this tour of our ICU unit.

“With visiting restrictions in place, we know it is not always possible for relatives to visit their loved ones in ICU unless it’s exceptional circumstances so this tour gives people the chance to see where their loved ones are being cared for by our team.

“It also gives people who are coming to hospital for planned major surgery to see where they’ll be cared for after their operations and to familiarize themselves with the unit.

“The tour’s also a valuable training tool to help staff who may be redeployed or recruited to the unit and to showcase the wonderful facilities available at our trust as part of our mission to recruit the best possible staff to our part of the country.”

The 3D tour allows viewers to explore some of the three-storey unit, next to Hull Royal Infirmary’s Emergency Department.

They can take a look inside one of the 12 glass-fronted cubicles where patients receive specialist one-to-one care from the highly skilled and dedicated clinical team.

The tour enables people to “walk along” corridors, taking in views of the central observation area for staff, the donning and doffing lobbies used by staff caring for patients with Covid-19 and other infectious diseases and the “quiet room” for relatives of patients, decorated in calming turquoise and blue tones.

People can use their cursor and keyboards to look inside cubicles, featuring Draegar ceiling pendant for essential services including medical gases to maximize the floor space and allow doctors, nurses and other health professionals such as physiotherapists will be able to perform their tasks more easily around the patient’s bed.

Meet just some of the people we’re supporting into fulfilling and rewarding careers with Hull’s hospitals.

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is shining a spotlight on just some of the people working in all aspects of health care at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

From finance managers and painters to student nurses and trainee scientists, our apprentices get their careers off to a flying start when they join us after leaving school, sixth form colleges, or simply after wishing to pursue a change in direction.

Since our programme launched in 2013, Anne Burdis and Debbie Elton, who spearhead our apprenticeship scheme, have supported more than 400 people onto apprenticeship programmes across 30+ different departments and directorates.

Anne said: “It’s an absolute privilege to be able to support our colleagues to grow our future workforce through apprenticeships.

“For every new apprentice we recruit, there are at least 15 people working in the background to get them into their posts.

“We are also proud of the huge commitment existing colleague make in balancing apprenticeship study, work and home life especially during these challenging times.”

The theme for this year’s National Apprenticeship Week (#NAW2022) is Building the Future. Here at Hull Teaching Hospitals we have been doing exactly that, growing our workforce from the foundation upwards through the incredible support of our colleagues. We’ve produced a special “wall” to showcase just some of the staff who help make our apprenticeship programme such a success.

Throughout the week, running from today to February 13, profiles of just some of our successful apprentices will be showcased on our social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

We’ll be sharing their stories and highlighting the staff in the trust who champion our apprenticeship programme, supporting our apprentices in their roles as they take the first steps in their careers or progress in their chosen fields.

Bethanie Ireland

Apprentices like Bethanie Ireland. Bethanie is a Trainee Nursing Associate in our Emergency Department at Hull Royal Infirmary.

She works in her role for 30 hours each week, taking patient observations, assisting the clinical teams on medication rounds and taking blood samples under supervision. She also studies 7.5 hours to learn the theory as part of her qualification.

“I’ve lived in hull my whole life and always wanted from a young age to go into nursing. I applied for the trainee nursing associate post as I wanted to better myself while still working and without the stress of a university debt,” she said.

“I work within accident and emergency, hoping to specialise in emergency medicine. No two days are ever the same and we never know what could come through the doors.”

Robert Dyer has worked his way up through four promotions to his current position as Finance Manager with our Imaging and Specialist Services division, just seven years after beginning his apprenticeship.

Robert Dyer

Unsure of what he wanted to do after leaving Sixth Form, Robert joined HUTH as an Apprentice Finance Assistant, supported by our Education and Development team.

They smoothed his path from education into the workplace and he achieved his AAT qualification while building up valuable experience. After completing his apprenticeship, Robert was able to land a full-time job with the trust and was supported by his team to achieve his chartered accountancy ACCA qualification.

Robert said: “I would wholeheartedly recommend the apprenticeship route. It not only grows you professionally but personally too and the value in that is immeasurable.”

Saskia Hiatt

Saskia Hiatt works for the trust’s Estates Team after she secured an apprenticeship at the end of her Painting and Decorating Level 2 course. She takes pride in her work, ensuring our hospitals and departments look as good as possible for patients. As well as her work for the trust, Saskia also volunteers to paint the Withernsea Lighthouse in her spare time.

Debbie Elton said: “We’re incredibly proud of Saskia and her hard work and dedication are a credit to her.”

More than 8,000 people in Hull, who may be at increased risk of lung cancer, will be next to benefit from an NHS lung health check service, which is helping to improve earlier diagnosis of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.

Since its launch, the service has welcomed over 6,000 people, helped to diagnose more than 40 cases of cancer, identified other respiratory diseases at early stages, and provided opportunities for earlier treatment that has saved people’s lives.

The lung health check service has just arrived in North Hull and will be based in the west car park at North Point Shopping Centre before moving to Tesco Hull Superstore on Hall Road. Anyone living in north Hull, who is a former or current smoker aged 55 to 74, is eligible for a lung health check and will receive an invite from their GP over the next few weeks.

Map of where the mobile unit will now be sited

Detecting lung cancer in the early stages is extremely difficult as often people don’t experience any symptoms and are not diagnosed until stage 3 or 4. A lung health check can help find any problems early, often before someone notices anything is wrong, and at a stage when treatment could be simpler and more successful.

The lung health check takes place in two stages. The first is an initial phone assessment with a specially trained respiratory nurse. If the assessment finds the person to be at high risk, they will be offered a low dose CT scan of the lungs for further investigation. The CT scanner is housed on board a high-tech mobile screening unit that has previously visited Lidl and Castle Hill Hospital in West Hull.

Dr Stuart Baugh, Clinical Director at Humber, Coast and Vale Cancer Alliance, said: “The Hull lung health check programme is helping us achieve the NHS long-term plan ambition of diagnosing more cancers early by providing quick, effective and easily accessible checks in convenient community locations. We are incredibly grateful to North Point Shopping Centre and Tesco Hull Superstore for providing space in their car parks to ensure we can deliver lung health checks in North Hull.

“If you or a member of your family receive a lung health check invitation, do not delay – book your appointment as soon as you can. This free lung health check could save your life by diagnosing lung cancer or other respiratory diseases at an earlier stage, when curative treatment may be available.”

Jo Thompson, Lead Nurse for lung health checks in Hull, said: “If you are invited for a lung health check, one of our friendly specialist nurses will provide a telephone assessment that lasts around 25 minutes and, if appropriate, participants will then be invited to attend a CT scan on board the mobile unit.

“We have received fantastic feedback from people who have already attended a lung health check in West Hull and as well as helping to diagnose respiratory diseases at earlier stage, the service is also helping to reduce the risk of lung cancer by offering free support to those who wish to stop smoking. Many people who have been smoking for years and who have tried to quit multiple times have successfully stopped after being put in touch with free stop smoking services by a member of the lung health check team.

“There are lots of safety measures on board to reduce any risk of Covid-19 and the team are available to answer any questions you may have either before or after your appointment.”

Dr Masood Balouch, a local GP and NHS Hull Clinical Commissioning Group Board member, said: “As a general practitioner seeing many patients with advanced lung cancer each year, I know how vitally important it is to book your lung health check appointment when invited, even if you feel fine, as some conditions don’t display symptoms until later stages. The programme is designed to check those most at risk of developing lung cancer in order to spot signs earlier, at the stage when it’s much more treatable, ultimately saving more lives.

“We have had some great success with this programme in other areas of Hull and look forward to supporting more patients to come forward for a lung health check. If you receive an invitation, don’t ignore it – book your appointment without delay.”

For more information on the Targeted Lung Health Check programme please visit www.lunghealthchecks.org.uk

A hospital team treating patients with cancer has become the first in the country to be awarded special accreditation for their work.

The radiotherapy department at Hull University Teaching Hospitals (HUTH) has received national accreditation for its work using CT imaging to target cancer cells with radiation.

Based at the Queen’s Centre at Castle Hill Hospital, the team is the first radiotherapy service to be awarded BS70000:2017 (MPACE) accreditation for its CT localisation process, the beginning of radiotherapy planning which is a specialist treatment minimising damage to healthy tissue and organs in patients with cancer.

Radiotherapy Manager Clare Hutton, professional lead for this team, praised the team for their outstanding efforts to establish their service at the forefront of patient care despite the impact of the pandemic.

She said: “I would like to thank all the staff for their dedication to patients and for the positive and professional manner they’ve shown in gaining accreditation.

“I fully appreciate all the hard work and effort during a very difficult time operationally.”

Left to right is Barbara Whitaker (Dep Radiotherapy Manager), Paula McLoone (Pre-Treatment Lead Therapeutic radiographer), Amelia Kramer (3rd year Sheffield Hallam Student Therapeutic Radiographer and future HUTH employee) and Lyndsay Smith (Advanced Practitioner for Professional Education).

The UK Accreditation Service (UKAS), appointed by the Government to ensure organisations deliver appropriate standards of service, visited the Queen’s Centre in October 2018 when Radiotherapy Physics participated in the pilot for BS700000 accreditation.

Although HUTH’s radiotherapy services have met the 1SO9001 standard for years, the scope of the MPACE accreditation was broadened to include CT localisation.

Radiotherapy had to meet exacting challenges in technical competence to prove the treatment was “fit for purpose” when a Therapeutic Radiographer, acting as a technical assessor, and a lay assessor, considering the service from a patient’s perspective, carried out the audit in July.

Staff were praised for being welcoming, open, honest and professional during the audit as they provided evidence and explained why processes were designed in specific ways.

After addressing eight further recommendations from the assessor by the October deadline, the department has now been awarded the successful accreditation.

Clare Hutton said: “We’re going to use our forward-thinking approach to continually improve our service and patient care across the entire radiotherapy pathway. We are confident we are able to meet the highest standards in quality set by national auditors.”

Left to right: Barbara Whitaker (Dep Radiotherapy Manager), Paula McLoone (Pre-Treatment Lead Therapeutic radiographer), Amelia Kramer (3^rd year Sheffield Hallam Student Therapeutic Radiographer and future HUTH employee) and Lyndsay Smith (Advanced Practitioner for Professional Education).

* Figures updated February 24, 2022. Please note we will no longer be posting details of inpatients or the number of deaths from Covid-19 after February 25, 2022. Visit NHS England for details of the daily deaths at each trust

There are 130 patients currently in Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital with Covid-19. Of those patients, one is in Intensive Care.*

Sadly, we can confirm 1,067 patients have died at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust since 19 March 2020 after testing positive for the virus. Their families have been informed and our deepest sympathies are with them at this very difficult time.

We would appeal to everyone to book appointments for their booster vaccination as soon as possible as our best defence against the virus and its latest variation Omicron. Book online at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/  or by ringing 119.

Remember, it’s not too late to get vaccinated. We’ll be happy to see you.

Its sleek design and bold frontage are a far cry from what may traditionally be thought of as a hospital building, but then the new Allam Diabetes Centre is anything but ordinary.

The latest building to open on the Hull Royal Infirmary site has been generously supported by local businessman and philanthropist, Dr Assem Allam, with a donation of £3m. The balance has been provided by Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, with the overall cost of the building development amounting to some £7.5 million.

After 12 months under construction and now boasting a light and airy feel, this new centre of excellence is serving as a hub to treat more than 9,000 people every year for diabetes and metabolic bone diseases such as osteoporosis. In addition, it is providing a significantly expanded range of accommodation for world-class diabetes and endocrinology research and other research teams.

The Allam Diabetes Centre on Anlaby Road

The vision originally set out by Dr Allam for the building’s curvaceous design has been made a reality with the support of the Zenith Development Group, and now enhances both the hospital estate and the gateway to the city centre as you travel along Anlaby Road.

Dr Allam says:

“It is a privilege for my family to be able to play a part in providing such a much-needed facility, which will not only care for the needs of patients with diabetes, but also support world-class research in the field of diabetes and endocrinology and related research activities such as vascular surgery. Bringing together both the clinical and research staff and facilities in one building will, without doubt, enhance the standard of care as related research informs the development of treatments in the coming years.

“Not only does the building do justice to the care and dedication of the existing clinical and research teams, but also it will play its part in continuing to attract high calibre staff to the area. Whilst the planning and development of this facility has taken a number of years, it has been well worth the wait.”

On the ground floor there is a large open waiting area leading to generously proportioned clinical facilities for all of Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s diabetes and endocrinology outpatient services. Expanded diabetic eye screening facilities are now housed here and there is dedicated space for diabetic foot care.

The bone densitometry service, which helps to identify and manage bone conditions such as osteoporosis and which regularly performs in excess of 5,000 bone scans each year, also has a base here. This service has been on the receiving end of another generous donation from the Osprey Charity recently, having been gifted a further two bone scanners valued at £75,000 each to expand its diagnostic capacity.

Diabetes and Endocrinology research

The Allam family donation has facilitated a significant increase in research accommodation within this building. This has resulted in purpose-designed, spacious and modern accommodation in which to undertake diabetes and endocrinology research, and the new centre is now helping to reaffirm Hull’s reputation as a global leader in research too.

The entire first floor has been given over to diabetes and endocrinology research and the staff supporting this work, which seems fitting given this team is the most successful recruiter into endocrine studies in the whole country.

Their cutting-edge research facilities now include dedicated laboratories, a sports science laboratory, ultrasound, ECG and consulting rooms plus day case facilities for complex clinical trials. The team currently has over 200 people involved in 12 active clinical trials right now, the findings of which will go on to benefit people with long-term conditions by significantly advancing treatment options and medical knowledge.

Patient education sessions are already being delivered on the second floor, and further research teams, including those specialising in vascular surgery and neurology, are due to move in there over the next few weeks.

The Allam Diabetes Centre, on the Hull Royal Infirmary site

Dr Belinda Allan, consultant diabetologist, says the accommodation for the Hull diabetes service now reflects the high quality of care the team already prides itself upon:

“The ambition of the clinical teams at the Allam Diabetes Centre is to deliver world-leading care for individuals with diabetes, endocrine and metabolic bone conditions.

“The purpose-built outpatient facilities provide a bright, welcoming and modern environment, modelled around the needs of the patient. Integration of services means that patients can access specialist nurses, specialist dietitians, retinal screening, vascular surgery, podiatry, bone density scans and phlebotomy all on the same floor. The larger multi-purpose clinic rooms make it easier to bring the skills of specialist staff together to deliver the best possible care for our patients. The building also creates a great atmosphere for teaching and training the next generation of healthcare professionals serving the local communities of the Humber, Coast and Vale regions.”

Professor Thozhukat Sathyapalan

Professor Thozhukat Sathyapalan is an honorary consultant endocrinologist. In addition to providing clinical care to patients, he will also be leading on research projects and henceforth teaching students of Hull York Medical School in some of the most advanced, purpose-built educational facilities around. He says:

“The new Allam Diabetes Centre is a crucial next step in our journey to enhance and expand upon our established, world-renowned diabetes and endocrinology research. This facility houses the core infrastructure required to enable us to deliver an ambitious and innovative programme of diabetes and endocrinology research in an environment designed to stimulate collaboration, passion and growth.

“Bringing both clinical and research teams together under one roof allows us to promote research opportunities for all, and further enables us to deliver real and lasting improvements to patient experience and the quality of clinical care we provide within diabetes and endocrinology.”

Chris Long, chief executive of Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says:

“It has been fantastic to watch this building take shape and we are incredibly grateful to Dr Allam and his family for their continued generosity in supporting our hospitals, our patients and our wider city.

The entrance to the Allam Diabetes Centre

“The new Allam Diabetes Centre is a striking building and we trust that our patients will appreciate their new surroundings. When combined with the innovation, experience and significant expertise of our clinical and research teams, I’m confident that Hull can now cement its reputation as a global leader in the fields of diabetes and endocrinology service provision and research.”

This most recent donation towards the Allam Diabetes Centre is just one a number of contributions made by the Allam family to enable Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to enhance the provision of clinical care and clinical research facilities for people across Hull, the East Riding and wider region.

Previous donations amounting to multi millions of pounds have supported the development of robotic surgery at Castle Hill Hospital, for example, delivered the Fatima Allam Birth Centre within Hull Women and Children’s Hospital, and contributed to research into cancer, cardiac and neurological conditions through the Daisy Appeal’s Molecular Imaging Research Centre, also based at Castle Hill.

Work is currently underway on a new digestive diseases and endoscopy facility at Castle Hill Hospital which has also been supported by Dr Allam and his family with a donation of £3 million. This facility is due to open in late summer 2022.

Some national ‘Plan B’ Covid restrictions are being lifted from today, but patients, staff and visitors are being reminded that there are no rule changes on the Hull Hospitals sites.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is still caring for more than 100 inpatients with Covid-19 right now, and as local community infection rates remain high, people are being asked to continue with Covid-19 precautions to protect patients and safeguard hospital services.

Masks and hand sanitising are among the rules which remain in place at Hull Hospitals

Patients and visitors to all hospital sites, including Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, should continue to:

• Wear a face covering inside all hospital buildings
• Attend appointments alone (a limited number of exemptions apply, e.g. a parent with a child, or someone caring for a loved one with learning disabilities or advanced dementia)
• Wash or sanitise hands regularly while on hospital premises, and
• Practice social distancing wherever possible

Up to 1 in 3 people may have the Covid-19 virus without any symptoms and still be able to infect others, so it is recommended that a lateral flow test be taken and a negative result produced before attending any of the hospitals.

There are also no changes to ward visiting restrictions, which will continue in their current form for the time being.

Full details on the current visiting guidance and exemptions can be found at www.hey.nhs.uk/visiting

Patients and the public are asked to be polite and cooperative if asked by staff to comply with any of the above rules. Abusive language or aggressive behaviour towards NHS workers will not be tolerated.