A Hull-based project designed to improve outcomes for asthma patients and reduce climate change has been shortlisted for a national award

A Hull-based team seeking to reduce the environmental impact of asthma care and deliver better outcomes for patients has been recognised for its work.

The SENTINEL project, spearheaded by Hull University Teaching Hospitals working with NHS Hull CCG, Hull York Medical School, Hull University and AstraZeneca, has been shortlisted for ‘Environmental Sustainability Project of the Year’ at the Health Service Journal’s 2022 Partnership Awards.

At the heart of the project is the basic principle of good clinical education, encouraging clinicians and the region’s 40,000 asthma patients to manage their condition proactively to reduce asthma attacks and reduce the environmental impact of asthma and its treatment.

Since it began in 2020, over the course of the project SENTINEL has saved the equivalent of 424 metric tonnes (approx.) of carbon emissions or, put more simply, around 530 transatlantic flights from Leeds to New York.

Dr Michael Crooks

Dr Michael Crooks, lead for the SENTINEL project, senior clinical lecturer at Hull York Medical School and respiratory consultant based at Castle Hill Hospital explains:

“Most asthma patients use two inhalers; a ‘preventer’ inhaler which is used to control the condition and prevent acute attacks, and a blue ‘reliever’ inhaler which is used to temporarily relieve symptoms.

“Overuse of reliever inhalers is known to indicate poor asthma control and is a sign that person is at increased risk of having an asthma attack. These blue reliever inhalers are typically metered dose inhalers (MDIs), the type of inhaler with the greatest impact on the environment, making up 70% of the carbon footprint of all inhalers in the UK.

“At the start of the project, Hull and East Yorkshire were among the biggest prescribers of blue reliever inhalers in the country.  We could see that there was a potential benefit to be had for patients’ health in reducing reliance on these devices, but that there would be a significant environmental benefit too.

“Working together with hospital colleagues, those from primary care and the University, we designed a package of measures to help reduce reliance on blue inhalers in asthma. These measures included providing education for both patients and prescribing clinicians, reviews for asthma patients and real time data monitoring, but crucial to our success was the promotion and use of Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (MART) for appropriate patients. MART is an approach to treating asthma that uses the same inhaler as both the preventer and reliever. This approach is well known to reduce the risk of asthma attacks and has the potential to reduce the need for blue reliever inhalers and the environmental impact of asthma and its treatment.”

Dr Crooks continues:

“The outcomes to date have been really positive; just taking our first primary care network as an example, following the implementation of SENTINEL they went from being among the top 5% of reliever prescribers nationally to below the national average in the space of just three months.

“Collectively, across all participating practices to date, we have seen 15,154 fewer blue inhalers issued as a result of this project, equating to an approximate carbon footprint saving of 424 metric tonnes and this figure doesn’t take into account further potential benefits from also using preventer inhalers with lower environmental impact.

“In reducing over-reliance on reliever inhalers we hope to have brought more people’s asthma under control and reduced the number of people suffering asthma attacks. These are outcomes that we are continuing to evaluate as the project continues.

“We believe that this is the first project of its kind in the UK where a programme has been designed and implemented at scale to help reduce the environmental impact of a disease and its treatment at the same time as achieving better clinical outcomes for our patients, and that’s what makes us really proud.”

Owing to the ongoing success of the SENTINEL project, it is now being adopted by more GP practices in the Hull and East Yorkshire area, while SENTINEL Plus has also been developed to enable the programme to be further rolled out across the UK.

SENTINEL is one of just three finalists vying for the title of ‘Environmental Sustainability Project of the Year’ at the 2022 HSJ Partnership Awards, and the winner will be revealed at a special ceremony taking place in London tonight.

For more information on the SENTINEL project visit https://hullasthma.co.uk/

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has teamed up with some of the city’s biggest names to further its ambitions to become carbon neutral by 2030.

The Trust, which runs Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, has joined ‘Oh Yes! Net Zero’, the Hull Net Zero Collaborative which seeks to deliver a low carbon economy with the support of local business, organisations and individuals.

Now joining the likes of Reckitt, the University of Hull, CBI and Cranswick plc, the Trust is reinforcing its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint and work with colleagues across both public and private sectors to create a greener city for all.

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

“Our trust is one of the biggest employers in Hull, with over 10,000 staff and a range of services which operate round-the-clock.

“We know that we could achieve significant levels of carbon reduction on our own, and have ambitious plans to do so, but the pace at which we can deliver that, with the support and insight of partners across the city, now makes this infinitely more achievable.”

The Trust’s £4.5m ‘Field of Dreams’, consisting of 11,000 solar panels, is already in place in Cottingham and has started to generate electricity for the Castle Hill Hospital site. As part of its ZeroThirty ambitions, the Trust has committed to achieving a number of additional self-made targets, including:

• Sending nothing to landfill by 2025
• Reducing anaesthetic gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2025
• Cutting building emissions in half by 2028

Dr Kim Caines, an anaesthetic registrar for the Trust, says:

“There are so many opportunities within surgery and surgical theatres to reduce our environmental impact, from the types of gases we use to disposal of waste and much more.

“Anaesthetic gases make up 2% of all NHS emissions, which might not sound like a lot but is actually huge. Consider how many operations are carried out across the health service every day, and then consider that one of our anaesthetic gases, desflurane, has the same global warming effect as burning 440kg of coal in just one bottle. The scale of the problem really is huge, but reducing just some of our anaesthetic gas usage could really benefit the world around us.”

Chris Long (centre) visits the Trust’s £4.5m ‘Field of Dreams’ with President of COP26, Rt Alok Sharma MP (left) and Alex Best, Head of Capital

Chris adds:

“Forty per cent of all carbon emissions in the NHS come from acute trusts like ours, and that comes in many forms, from transporting food and heating our wards to washing bed linen, sedating patients and staff travel to work.

“If we’re going to safeguard our city and our environment for the generations to come, we have to see beyond the here and now. For a challenge as big as climate change, we know every little helps, but we also know there’s strength in numbers, and we’re really proud to be part of this emerging and exciting movement for change.”

Patty O’Hayer, Reckitt’s Global Head of External Communications & Affairs adds:

“Our aim with Oh Yes! is to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing to accelerate Hull’s progress toward net zero. Cooperation is vital. Businesses, working alone, can’t get us there. Nor can local authorities. We need everyone in the city to buy into the plan and work together: companies large and small; hospitals and schools; children, adults, families. Only a collective effort will do it.”

Organisations and individuals across the city region are all being asked to sign up and support the campaign via www.ohyesnetzero.co.uk and to follow the new social media channels @ohyesnetzero for the latest tips and advice about reducing carbon emissions at home and work.

Work on a wall mural to commemorate the work of NHS staff during the pandemic begins this week.

The 13m x 14m (42 x 46 foot) mural of a nurse in PPE will grace the side of Hull and East Yorkshire Eye Hospital in Fountain Street in the grounds of Hull Royal Infirmary.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals (HUTH) have arranged for the mural to be spray-painted onto the side of the three-storey building to thank staff for their continuing efforts more than two years into the declaration of the pandemic by the World Health Organisation in January 2020.

Costing £2,500, the mural will also be a focal point to remember the 1,086 people who have died in Hull’s hospitals from the virus, including three of the trust’s own members of staff. It will feature the inscription: “We thank you, we think of them.”

HUTH Chief Executive Chris Long said: “We wanted to create a lasting tribute to thank staff for the outstanding efforts over these past two years.

“Our staff are still dealing with the pandemic and will continue to feel the impact on their workload and our hospital services for years to come so we wanted something that shows our city how much we appreciate everything they have done and are still doing every day.”

Spray Creative, a Hull-based collective of local graffiti artists, mural painters and urban decorators, will begin the mural this week and it is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

• Innovative collaboration between business, local government and the community will catapult UK’s net zero ambitions
• Living Lab approach will see 35+ businesses, representing 30,000 employees, take actionable steps to reduce their carbon footprints
• Hull and Humber region is critical to the UK reaching its net zero targets and supports the Government’s Levelling Up agenda

Reckitt, the maker of Dettol, is joining forces with over 35 businesses and community representatives in its birthplace, Hull, on a net zero initiative known as ‘Oh Yes! Net Zero’, that will lead the UK on its way to becoming carbon neutral. Hull is critical to the UK’s net zero ambitions as the Hull and Humber is the most carbon intensive industrial cluster in the UK: without Hull reaching net zero, the UK will not reach net zero¹.

The aim of the net zero initiative is to develop an innovative economic model in Hull to reduce carbon emissions and support a net zero future. By bringing together the private, public and education sectors, this collaboration supports the Government’s Levelling Up agenda.

The net zero collaboration is based on a ‘Living Lab’ approach, where learnings will be shared at individual (household), organisational and community levels, allowing the Hull experience to help other cities both in the UK and across the world achieve the same net zero ambitions.

Examples of commitments from partners so far include:

• Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has pledged to reach net zero by 2030. A £4.5m solar panel “Field of Dreams”, is expected to generate enough energy to power the whole of Castle Hill Hospital. The Trust is also reducing anaesthetic gas emissions by 50% by 2025. Anaesthetic gases make up 2% of all NHS emissions. Using a single bottle of desflurane, the most common anaesthetic gas, has the same global warming effect as burning 440kg of coal.
• Hull City Council’s investments include £56m in carbon-neutral, green and net zero capital projects over the next four years (wind, solar, and district heating), as well as electrification of the council’s 300-strong fleet of vehicles by 2030. As part of its housing growth plan, Hull City Council is investing £50m to make energy saving improvements in the existing housing stock, and is committed to building new, modern council housing with enhanced levels of insulation to reducing energy demand.
• Reckitt has committed to, and delivered, using 100% renewable energy at its Science and Innovation Centre in Hull, as well throughout its manufacturing globally. Reckitt is also committed to generate 50% of net revenue from more sustainable products and reduce virgin plastic use by 50% by 2030.
• Reckitt, the Hull City Council and 1851 Trust have committed to empower 13 local secondary schools with science-based knowledge to take positive action against climate change with new ‘Protect Our Future’ programme. To kick start 18-months of action, will see students conducting a packaging recycling practical activity to improve their understanding of how to take action now and develop skills for the future.  They will be joined by 1851 Trust ambassador, Olympic sailor, Hannah Mills OBE.
• Ideal Heating and Hull City Council are conducting a study investigating the impact associated with using air source heat pumps to drive energy efficiencies and cost savings for residents.
• The Ron Dearing University Technical College (UTC) is investing in an employer-led school to provide local young people with the skills to support the city region’s aspirations to lead the way in decarbonisation and renewables.

Out of the six largest industrial clusters in the UK, the Humber region, where Hull is located, is responsible for the most CO2 emissions (around 37% of the clusters’ total)¹.  The Oh Yes! initiative’s innovative approach, uniting private and public communities in the city and putting the place at the heart of the net-zero strategy, is crucial to achieving the UK’s net zero strategy.

It will also encourage local residents to make small changes that together can make a meaningful difference in reducing our collective carbon footprint. Across the country, emissions from homes generally make up more than a quarter of all emissions², highlighting the opportunity that each of us has to make a difference.

COP26 President, Alok Sharma said:

“This is a unique campaign, illustrating the action we need to see as the UK becomes carbon neutral by 2050. It brings private and public sectors together, and asks every individual, household and organisation to help and make a difference across the Hull and Humberside areas.

“I look forward to seeing their success in driving down emissions, raising innovation and hope to see their ideas being replicated across the UK.”

Laxman Narasimhan, CEO of Reckitt said: “I’m delighted that Reckitt, along with our coalition of partners, is bringing together the people of Hull and the Humber to shape the region’s net zero future.  We’re extremely proud of our 182 years’ heritage in the city and are committed to the role Reckitt plays in creating a cleaner, healthier world for all.

“The Oh Yes! initiative, focused on one of Britain’s biggest industrial clusters, aims to unite and galvanise the city region behind the central aim of reducing carbon emissions and supporting the UK’s target to become net zero by 2050.”

The Oh Yes! Net Zero campaign will be launched at an event at Reckitt’s Science and Innovation Centre on 14th March, with Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP, Reckitt CEO Laxman Narasimhan and leaders of businesses and organisations from across Hull. Local students, involved with the local pioneering education project ‘Protect our Future’ will also attend the event, which will be hosted by former BBC environmental correspondent David Shukman.

The event will be lived streamed at the following link: https://event.sparq.me.uk/oh-yes/

Individuals, households and organisations can say Oh Yes! to making small changes to drive down carbon emissions by signing up for tips and advice at www.ohyesnetzero.co.uk.

Anyone waiting for a hospital appointment, operation or treatment, can now access the NHS My Planned Care Patient Digital Platform – www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/ney/hull/ – which gives direct access to the latest average wait time information for our trust (excluding cancers), as well as helpful advice and support whilst you wait.

Updated weekly, the site is easy-to-use and is open to all, meaning a patient’s carer, friends, relatives and NHS team can also access the same information.

We encourage those on waiting lists to look at the site as they may find the information they want without needing to contact their GP or hospital for an update.

Important: While still in its early days, the website will only provide an average waiting time for all procedures across a particular specialty, and therefore this should not be taken as an exact measure of how long you will wait. Some procedures will happen more quickly, while others may take longer than the average wait time stated.  More detailed information is expected to be included on the platform over time, as the site develops.

As well as waiting time information, My Planned Care also includes helpful details about how to manage pain, mental health, keeping healthy and accessing financial help and other support whilst you wait. It can also help you to prepare for your appointment/operation, including how to make a plan for your care and treatment alongside your healthcare professional.

To access waiting time information for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, visit www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/ney/hull/

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.”