Women and their birth partners are being asked to observe safety measures at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital to prevent the need for further restrictions during the second lockdown.

Birth partners will still be able to attend 20-week scans and be with their partners when they are admitted to the Labour Ward or the Fatima Allam Birth Centre. They will also be able to book one-hour visiting slots on antenatal and postnatal wards.

However, maternity leaders are asking women and their birth partners to co-operate with contact tracing, social distancing and safety precautions as England prepares to enter a second lockdown from Thursday until December 2.

L-R Katie Headlam, Nicola Easby, Angela Rymer, Janet Cairns, Lorraine Cooper, Joanna Melia, Wendy McKenzie

Janet Cairns, Head of Midwifery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Everything we do is to keep women, their babies and our staff as safe as possible during the pandemic.

“We understand how difficult this situation is but we need everyone’s cooperation, patience and understanding to prevent the virus spreading.

“It is really important that women continue to access maternity services if they have any concerns. We are open 24/7, and we urge them to attend all their appointments.

“But if women are experiencing any symptoms of Covid-19, they must let us know as soon as possible so we can make appropriate arrangements for them to be seen.”

Birth partners must not come to hospital if they are showing any symptoms of Covid-19 such as a high temperature, a new, continuous cough or a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste. They should stay away from hospital if they have come into contact with anyone testing positive for the virus.

Women attending the antenatal clinic and antenatal day unit should follow the one-way system and the waiting area has been expanded into the former café to enable social distancing.

One birth partner can still attend the 20-week scan and women will be given details of how this will operate before attending the appointment.

Women staying overnight as an antenatal inpatient on Maple Ward can pre-book one-hour visits for one named birth partner with their midwife involved in their care on the ward.

Women admitted to the Fatima Allam Birth Centre and Labour Ward can be accompanied by one named birth partner on admission, who must remain in the birth room at all times until their partner is either discharged home or transferred to the postnatal ward.

Those women who need to stay in hospital after their babies are born can also pre-book a one-hour visit for their named birth partners.

In ward areas which allow visiting, only four birth partners can attend at any one time to protect women, their babies and hospital staff.

Women must give the contact details of their named birth partners to ward staff in advance and these will be kept for one month following the women’s discharge from hospital.

If they have symptoms of Covid-19, birth partners must stay at home, arrange a test and self-isolate in line with national guidance. If this happens, their partner will be supported to select another birth partner who must be part of their support bubble.

Staff will assess and support any woman with additional communication or care needs who may require more support.

For women giving birth at home, only the named birth partner can be in the room with the woman and the community midwife. Another family member from their support bubble can be in the house but not in the same room.

Parents with babies in Neonatal intensive Care are both allowed to visit the unit at any time but are asked to, where possible, limit themselves to one at the cot side as much as possible. They should wear hospital-provided masks and wash their hands regularly. Parents who think they may need a test for Covid-19 should speak to the neonatal nurse in charge.  All efforts are made to give parents the chance to be together with critically ill babies.

Anyone requiring more information on safety measures during lockdown should speak to their midwives or chat ‘virtually’ to a senior midwife via the Ask the Midwife on the Women and Children’s Facebook page. The live chat service is available Monday to Friday between 10am and noon and again between 2pm and 4pm.

Janet Cairns said: “Our measures will be kept under constant review and will not hesitate to bring in additional safety precautions should they become necessary.

“Until then, we ask everyone to wear face masks, wash their hands regularly, observe social distancing, stay at home when they can and only come to hospital when absolutely necessary.”

She remembers being fascinated by the Head of Midwifery, a tiny woman puffing on a cigarette who reminded her of Margaret Rutherford, as she spent her school holidays helping her hospital secretary mum put letters in envelopes.

Her interest in the NHS sparked at such a young age, Janet Cairns became a nursing auxiliary at 18 and qualified as a nurse in the early 1980s.

But she stumbled on a career which would see her lead a team transforming maternity services in Hull after taking a short cut through hospital grounds and spotting a recruitment advert for midwives.

L-R Katie Headlam, Nicola Easby, Angela Rymer, Janet Cairns, Lorraine Cooper, Joanna Melia, Wendy McKenzie

Now, after dedicating 42 years to the NHS, Janet – known as Jan to her friends and colleagues – is retiring as Head of Midwifery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Jan said: “I just feel the time is right to step back and let someone else take over the next stage.

“I was on holiday in June, thinking how I’d be 60 in November and realizing there’s a lot of things I would like to do with my life outside of work.”

Jan never envisioned that her connection with that first Head of Midwifery at a hospital in Bury near Lancashire as a schoolgirl would have such a profound impact on her life.

Back then, she cleaned the nurses’ home for nothing, just to be part of it. She remembers the Head of Midwifery asking if she’d like a job and Jan saying she’d like to work with the babies.

“Everyone wants to work with the babies,” the Head of Midwifery said. “But if you want to be a credible nurse, start by caring for older people. If you can care for old people, you can care for anyone.”

So, that’s exactly what Jan did. At 18, she got a job as a nursing auxiliary and went to work in geriatrics, caring for the elderly.

Again, an older woman had an impact on her life that resonates to this day – Minnie, a long-term patient on a ward with what we’d now call dementia but was probably put down to senility back then.

Jan said: “Back then, around 1977/78, elderly wards were almost like care homes and people were there for a very long time. Minnie was so lovely but she was completely in her own world. I never forgot her because she was so challenging to look after.”

It gave Jan a fantastic grounding in patient care and she went on to study nursing at St James Hospital in Leeds – Jimmy’s – from 1980. Always drawn to acute medicine, she worked in plastic surgery and then theatres.

A year after qualifying, she took the shortcut one day on her way from one block to another, past the School of Nursing, and saw the advert for midwives, applied and landed a place.

“I was in the right place at the right time, I suppose,” she says.

She qualified in 1986 and became pregnant with her son Iain that November. She remembers going for a promotion and being told she wouldn’t be interviewed because she was “having a baby.” The advancement of working mothers in the service has been just one of the changes she’s seen.

After her first baby, she returned to work part-time and had Fiona, her second, in 1990. She moved to Hull in 1997, landing a job at Hedon Road Maternity Hospital.

“That first day, I couldn’t believe what I was walking into,” she says, reminiscing about the prefab building which served the population for decades before it was replaced by the purpose-built Hull Women and Children’s Hospital. “It was like something out of Call the Midwife.

“But the warmth of the staff you were working with made it such a lovely place. The canteen there cooked their own food and it was a bit like being at home.”

She moved to the new hospital in the grounds of Hull Royal in 2003 and worked in practice development, sharing a job with Julie Jomeen, now Professor of Midwifery at the University of Southern Cross in Queensland, Australia.

“Taught her everything she knows,” Jan laughs, the sunlight catching a twinkle in her eye.

After a spell as Clinical Governance Midwife and managing a small team, Jan became Head of Midwifery in 2011. And that’s where she had stayed, overseeing and driving through major change such as the opening of the Fatima Allam Birth Centre and the Continuity of Carers teams.

“The opportunities I’ve been given at this trust have been phenomenal,” she said. “I’ve been supported to do a Masters, put through a leadership programme and I’ve been supported through every step of my career by senior people and a very supportive executive management team.”

But she’s repaid that faith in her talents by establishing Hull firmly at the heart of the national transformation of maternity services. The implementation of key recommendations in the Better Births programme for reform has attracted national attention, with visits from the report’s author Baroness Cumberledge to Professor Jacquline Dunkley-Bent OBE, England’s first Chief Midwifery Officer.

She puts those achievements down to the dedication of her team. “The best part of my job, without a shadow of a doubt, is the people I work with.

“Even on very difficult days, we pull together. We might not always see eye to eye or agree on steps we are taking but I have complete faith in their professionalism and everyone is doing what they believe is best for the development of trust services.”

She’s a no-nonsense type, is Jan, and is all the better for it. She knows what she wants and will go all-out to get it. And what she wanted was to put women at the heart of maternity care, to listen to them and adapt and change services to meet their needs.

“I have seen a sea change in maternity care,” she says. “Women’s voices have become stronger. We listen to what they have to say, more than ever before, and try to give them those services.

“We provide a service but we are listening to women about what they want.”

She’s toyed with retirement for a while. This time, it’s happening and she will leave the trust, and a job and team she clearly loves, on November 27.

“I used to say I’d go when the Birth Centre got sorted, then it was when the Continuity of Carer teams were set up. But there was always something else to do.

“One of the midwives has been waiting for a new laptop and I used to joke I’d retire when she got her laptop. She got it the other week and offered to give it back so I’d stay.

“But it’s time for me to do something else now.”

Quite what that something else will be, she’s not sure. “I’ve no idea what I’m going to do,” she laughs, that twinkle back again. “My son’s just got married, my daughter lives in Tunbridge Wells so it’ll be great to go and see them without having to get back to work or thinking about work. It’ll just be time for myself.”

Chief Nurse Beverley Geary said: “Women across Hull and the East Riding have a lot to thank Jan Cairns for because her commitment and dedication has driven through real and lasting changes in maternity services.

“There is no doubt we will miss her but we thank her for her decades of public service and her passion to provide the best possible maternity services for the women in our care.”

We received an incredibly positive response to a story we shared recently from Katie, who had her baby Jack during lockdown.

In light of the current coronavirus situation and the associated restrictions, we felt it would be good for you to know that, when it’s time for your baby to arrive, we have all the family’s best interests at heart and we’ll do all we can to make your birth experience a positive one.

With that in mind, mum-of-two Rachael has also given us permission to share her experience with you. Rachael’s experience of giving birth to baby Austin was not without its clinical difficulties, but she says the staff looking after her kept her safe and feeling well supported all the way through.

“I had my son Austin in lockdown in June and received absolutely amazing care. 

“Before he was born, I had lots of hospital appointments due to recurrent miscarriages and previous problems in pregnancy with my daughter. 

“I was already more anxious because of our history, and dreaded the thought of going to appointments on my own in case something was wrong. Thankfully everything was okay, and at each appointment all of the staff were so friendly, chatty and professional.

“I needed to attend the hospital several times due to reduced movements, and each time I called up the staff were brilliant, encouraging me to go in, and it was very reassuring to be checked over and put on the monitors.

“I had to be induced, which I was a bit upset about as I knew at the time my husband and two-year-old wouldn’t be able to visit. All of the staff were incredibly friendly and chatty and provided amazing care. Most of the staff who looked after me this time around had looked after me during my induction with my daughter two years ago, so I knew I was in great hands as they were all brilliant then too.

“One of the midwives, Alison, kept my spirits up by trying to guess what my son was going to be called. We hadn’t told anyone his name as we wanted him to be the first to know, so Alison affectionately and jokingly kept referring to him as “baby Bert” when she was looking after me. Little things like this just really helped to keep me smiling while I had to stay in. 

“Unfortunately, my induction wasn’t successful, so I was able to go home and was told to return the following day when I’d either have a Caesarean section or an attempt to break my waters would be made.

“Robin, the doctor, was brilliant; I’d seen him in the clinic for my plan and he had booked my induction. He reviewed me on the day I returned and gave me, in his words “a heroic sweep”, again said in such a joking and reassuring way, and it did actually start my labour and saved me from having a C-section. He had also nicknamed my son “Baby Top Secret” as he also wanted to know what he was going to be called!

“My labour initially progressed quite quickly, and the staff on Maple Ward were brilliant. I was unwell and in quite a lot of pain, but Cat was brilliant with me, she was so caring, even ringing my husband for me when I got upset – she was so sympathetic. 

“When I got to the labour ward, my epidural was arranged quickly and my husband arrived just in time for this. During my son’s birth, both mine and my baby’s heart rates began to drop, and I was having difficulty pushing. Our midwife, Jo, was really calm and promptly arranged for doctors to review me and they approved the use of forceps to help deliver my son.

“All the staff in the room were incredible, they were very caring and explained what was happening. Our son, Austin, was delivered safely, and they were great with my husband too. 

“We were transferred to the post natal ward around 7 hours later, and the outstanding care continued there too. 

“The day after Austin was born, Robin popped in to see us on the postnatal ward, had a cuddle and said he was glad his sweep had worked. He was so kind and caring, and was clearly pleased to see my son had been delivered safely. The continuity of care was incredible and I felt so valued. I really appreciated him “visiting” us when nobody else could. 

“I genuinely cannot fault anything or anyone, and despite the complications which arose, I felt totally safe and well cared for. 

“I’d like to offer a huge thank you to all the midwives, everyone on Maple Ward who looked after me during my induction, especially Alison, Karen, Becky, and Cat who got me up to Labour Ward, Jo who delivered Austin, and Tracey on Rowan Ward, our consultant Keith and, of course, Robin whose heroic sweep saved me from a section. The anaesthetists and doctors who helped deliver Austin during what turned out to be a bit of a dramatic birth were also fantastic.

“You are all amazing and we’re so grateful for the outstanding care we received.”

“I cannot imagine how we would have made it through without your wonderful staff” 

We understand that local families who are expecting a baby right now may be worried about the COVID19 situation or have questions about current hospital access arrangements.  That’s why we thought we’d share with you the story of Katie, who had her baby, Jack, at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital a few weeks ago.

We hope Katie’s story* – told in her own words – helps to reassure you if you’re concerned about your birth partner not being able to spend time or be involved with you and your newborn.

If you have any questions at all, please speak to your midwife for up-to-the-minute, accurate information, or use our daily ‘Ask the Midwife’ facility on our facebook page. Please be assured we’re committed to doing all we can to keep your family safe and make your birth experience a positive one, and we thank you for your understanding in these most testing of times.

*Forenames have been changed at the family’s request

“My husband Connor and I recently welcomed our son at your hospital, and I just wanted to highlight the incredible care I received from your staff. 

“Given the COVID restrictions, I had been very anxious in the lead up to delivery, largely around attending alone without Connor being able to support me.

“From the first call from the induction clinic, I was offered reassurance, had my options explained to me, and advised on the earliest opportunity my husband could join me.

“As soon as a bed was available for me on the labour ward, the staff let me know I could call Connor to join me.

“While on the labour ward, the midwives were wonderful. They involved both me and my husband throughout, ensured he was as comfortable as possible and offered reassurance. They gave me lots of notice as the end of their shift approached, and time was given to introduce us to our next midwife, who then remained with us through to delivery.

“As my labour failed to progress, our baby became distressed but all of the midwives had open and frank conversations with us. We appreciated this so much, and felt fully informed in decision making around our care.

“The decision to undertake a caesarean section was made, and my midwife, the medics and anaesthetists involved were all calm, reassuring and informative throughout.

“When our baby needed support to breathe and I became unwell during surgery, the team looked after me, and particularly my husband, wonderfully. The anaesthetists in particular supported me while my husband was with our son.

“While the delivery was traumatic for us both, the team of staff ensured my husband was supported which will forever mean so much to me. 

“Our midwife stayed with us throughout the night in recovery, sensitively supporting all three of us at such a stressful time. She enquired as to our wishes and helped me to begin breastfeeding our son. Despite the difficult circumstances around his arrival, we have successfully breastfed so far, and I put this down to staff respecting my views and helping me to achieve this. 

“Unfortunately, I remained unwell and continued to need hospital care for almost a week afterwards. Staff on the postnatal ward went above and beyond to care for and support my son and I. Despite the obvious clinical pressures staff were facing each shift, those I saw regularly ensured that I felt looked after and able to ask for any support I may need. 

“Given the understandable restrictions currently upon visiting, at times it was incredibly difficult to care for my new born son despite being so ill myself, but I genuinely cannot imagine how we could have made it through admission and be at the point we are now – recovering well at home – without your wonderful staff. 

“When my husband was able to visit the ward, they supported him to be involved in our care. One key action which meant so much to us was the staff ensuring that both my husband and I had a full debrief in order to understand and process the circumstances around delivery. 

“I have no doubt that for these amazing clinicians, all of this was simply ‘another day at the office’. And yet I’m not sure words can ever fully express how grateful we are for the care and support we received during a period which was quite simply the scariest time in our lives. We will never, ever forget them or their work.”

The first wave of the COVID19 pandemic asked a lot of all hospital staff. From doctors and nurses to porters and housekeepers, life on the frontline of hospital care took a rapid and unexpected twist in just a matter of days, but what of the other teams working behind the scenes?

Today is Clinical Engineering Day, so it seems only right to highlight how the work of this small but perfectly formed team supported frontline staff, enabling the carers to continue caring for critically ill patients while the techie bits were taken care of.

Professor Andy Beavis, head of medical physics for the trust, takes up the story:

“Every one of us working for the trust was impacted in some way by COVID19 back in the Spring, and many people stepped forward to contribute their skills in different ways.

“One of the great positives that came out of the situation was the spirit of how staff pulled together and worked to deliver services in the middle of the biggest challenge we have ever faced. For me, nowhere was this more evident than within our own clinical engineering team.”

Clinical engineer Dean Young tests a ventilator

At any given time, this team of 36 engineers has an enormous inventory of medical equipment to service and maintain, from equipment used in the care of premature babies right through to the care of older people. Among the items on their lists are heart rate monitors, thermometers, pressure relieving mattresses and ventilators, anaesthetic machines and ultrasound scanners, and the list is always increasing. Last year there were 22,000 pieces of equipment in the inventory, but with the arrival of COVID-19 came a growth in the amount of equipment being used, and that figure is now closer to 30,000.  The team must also ensure items don’t get stuck in the service cycle, and that equipment is freely available to wards and teams whenever and wherever it’s needed.

Towards the start of 2020, as the scale of the COVID19 challenge was becoming more apparent and as ventilators became the most sought after item of the year to date, the team soon realised that demand for their knowledge and skills within the trust would skyrocket.

“From the outset, the team was worried about the availability of equipment for frontline clinical teams such as ventilators and infusion pumps, and the associated implications for patient care; such items were considered essential in the initial management of the effects caused by the virus,” Andy continues.

“A significant part of the engineers’ work in the early weeks, therefore, was helping to source, locate, collect and transfer equipment from wards and theatres to those parts of the hospital which were most in need. The engineers made sure those staff on the receiving end were briefed on how to use the items and manage any risks, but it soon became apparent that there was still an unfamiliarity for some staff around using equipment in ways they may never have done before.

“At this point, this small team of engineers put their own convenience to one side and decided to establish 24/7 technical cover in order to support and reassure those staff working on the frontline of the coronavirus effort. This was not without its challenges as the team is ordinarily designed to work a ‘standard’ five day working week, but support for our patients and intensive care staff was central to all our discussions, and the engineers were really keen to step up and play their part.”

Andrew Mills sets about fault-finding on a humidifier

Almost immediately, the team agreed and put in place a split shift system, providing on-call cover throughout the night for more than 16 weeks.

“One of the other issues we had to overcome was that the team members each had different specialisms and areas of expertise, meaning not all of the team were familiar with troubleshooting or maintaining all types of systems. Before the on-call system was started, the team overcame this by developing service packs of information and cross-training each other to ensure they, and the staff they were supporting, could be confident that any given problem could be dealt with.

“While delivering this high level of support, the team also ensured that extra new equipment being supplied to the trust to support the COVID effort was brought into use as soon as possible, and kept more routine non-COVID equipment maintenance going.

“The team would say they simply provided what was expected of them at such a time, but what I saw was a genuine willingness to help and a real commitment to supporting others.

“Just like many other frontline workers, they too sacrificed their own personal or family time to support the COVID19 effort. The team underwent appropriate Fit testing and PPE training to be able to work in the most high-risk areas around our hospitals and ensure patients could receive the high quality care they needed. I’m incredibly proud of our clinical engineers.”

A piece of artwork created by world famous artist, Damien Hirst, will be displayed in Hull Royal Infirmary from November.

Reproduced on perspex the Butterfly Rainbow was created by Damien Hirst to show support for the NHS during the Coronavirus crisis and this is one of a number of donated artworks to several hospitals within the NHS.

The donation to Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (HUTH) supports the Trust’s commitment to the arts, outlined in Flourish – HUTH’s hospital arts strategy, which recognises that the arts and culture can keep people well, aid recovery, and help meet major challenges such as ageing, long-term conditions, loneliness and mental health.

HUTH Chief Executive, Chris Long, said: “There is overwhelming evidence that shows just what a difference the arts, creative thinking and creative projects can make to hospital environments, patients, carers, visitors and staff.

“We support arts and creativity in our hospitals, and we are committed to growing this work so that we can make the best of what creative approaches and professionals can offer to healthcare – alongside our medical treatments, doctors, nurses and other clinical staff. We are very grateful to Damien Hirst for giving us this opportunity and for acknowledging the contribution of the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Butterfly Rainbow is made up of bands of coloured butterfly wings, one of the artist’s best‐known motifs. A limited edition of the work was produced with all profits donated to NHS Charities Together, raising a total of £1,508,172.

Damien Hirst said: “I wanted to do something to support the many people who are risking their lives to help those in need during this time of crisis. The rainbow is a sign of hope and I’m so pleased to have released these prints to help fund the brilliant work being done by NHS staff across the country.”

Flourish – HUTH’s hospital arts strategy was launched at a Yorkshire and Humber regional event at Hull Royal Infirmary in 2018, attended by Lord Howarth of Newport, Co-Chair with Ed Vaizey MP of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing. Also present were key figures from the NHS, local authorities and arts organisation across the region.

David Haire, Project Director Fundraising at HUTH, said: “Our hospital arts programme is being recognised at a national level as good practice, as this latest donation illustrates. We are very proud of how far we have come since launching our strategy, and our projects are allowing the Hospital to really embrace the many ways in which creativity can enhance its work with patients, visitors and staff. Our programmes are highly valued by all who come into contact with them, because they make such a positive difference.”

Since then, the Hospitals Trust has been busy delivering several innovative arts and health programmes in its wards, corridors, waiting rooms and at patient’s bedsides. For example:

Talking Pictures: a set of 11 bespoke images, designed in a unique collaboration between HUTH speech and language therapists and illustrator Simon Crook – to stimulate patients and enable a more comprehensive range of assessments and treatments for adult stroke patients.

Dementia-friendly ward environments: a coordinated visual programme in HUTH’s elderly wards using bright colour stripes, large flower-images and corridor artwork to help patients with dementia orientate and find calm

Reading Rooms: in partnership with Hull Libraries, with funding from the James Reckitt Library Trust, this is a pioneering project using specially trained volunteers to read poetry and prose to patients and visitors – to inspire, uplift, stimulate positive conversations and spread moments of joy.

A new website has launched across the Humber, Coast and Vale area to help pregnant women stop smoking – with their loved ones also encouraged to quit at the same time to help them succeed in kicking the habit.

Humber, Coast and Vale, an area which includes the cities of Hull and York and large rural areas across Northern Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire, has one of the highest smoking at delivery rates in England with 14.4% of women in the area known to be smokers when they give birth, compared to a national average of 9.8%.

Smoking is harmful to your unborn baby so quitting is the best thing you can do to give your child a healthy start to life. It can be challenging to give up but it’s never too late to quit – even if you’re in the latter stages of pregnancy.

When you stop smoking you reduce your risk of complications in pregnancy and birth, and are more likely to have a healthier pregnancy and healthier baby. Stopping smoking also reduces the risk of stillbirth and sudden infant death syndrome, also known as cot death.

The Bump the Habit website contains lots of information and features to help pregnant women give up smoking, including a service finder tool which shows where their nearest stop smoking service is located to enable easy access and improve their chances of successfully quitting as you’re up to four times more likely to quit with their expert help and advice.

It also includes real-life stop smoking stories, a myth-busting section and an area for health and care professionals which contains guidance from national organisations.

There are also financial benefits to stopping smoking, with the average packet of 20 cigarettes costing £11.15, and the Bump the Habit website features a quitting calculator which works out how much money you would save if you were to give up.

A person who smokes 20 cigarettes a day could save almost £340 per month on average if they were to quit – which could pay for the redecoration of the nursery, or for a new television (for all those sleepless nights).

Beverley Geary, Chief Nurse at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Senior Responsible Officer for the Humber, Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership’s Local Maternity System said:

“It can be challenging to stop smoking but it’s the single best thing you can do for your health and the health of your unborn baby. If your partner, friends or family members also smoke you could suggest you stop together so you can support each other to make the process that little bit easier.

“You’re more likely to stop smoking with the right assistance rather than willpower alone so speak to your midwife and local stop smoking services as they can provide effective non-judgmental help and support, while the Bump the Habit website contains lots of information and advice to help you with your journey to becoming smoke-free.”

For more information, please visit www.bumpthehabit.org.uk

A new GP referral service will be trialled at Hull Hospitals this winter to prevent patients having to make unnecessary trips to A&E.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is opening a new Acute Care Navigation Hub at Hull Royal Infirmary as part of a four-week trial.

GPs taking part in the trial will be able to use the hub to discuss patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week instead of sending them to Hull Royal Infirmary’s Emergency Department (ED) for assessment.

Stacey Healand, the trust’s project lead for the Acute Care Navigation Hub, said: “GPs will be able to ask our experts in specialties like elderly medicine, respiratory or orthopaedics for advice about their patients in a single phone call, at any hour of the day or night.

“We are hoping this new hub will prevent around 60 patients having to make unnecessary trips to ED by giving their GPs immediate access to the information, support and expertise they require.

“We expect this new system will give patients a far better experience, sparing often elderly people the inconvenience of having to come out in the cold and wait in our Emergency Department for long periods of time. We want to see if we can use the hub to turn emergency, unscheduled care into scheduled care at every opportunity.”

The new hub is part of the range of measures being introduced by the trust this winter to ensure patients continue to receive the best possible care over winter when pressure on services could increase because of the pandemic, bad weather and seasonal illnesses like flu, RSV and norovirus.

A new winter ward, additional nurses, admin and portering staff and three new additional wards behind Hull Royal’s tower block to support, assess and treat patients with respiratory illnesses or suspected Covid-19 are also among the measures.

Opening on November 2, the hub will run for four weeks initially. Results will then be analysed and if it proves a success, the hub will be extended to all GPs using our hospitals.

A national campaign will be virtually launched on Wednesday, October 7th at the Castle Hill Hospital to support recruitment to the health and care workforce in Hull and East Yorkshire.

Under the banner, East Yorkshhire: ‘the secret’s out’,  the new campaign will seek to attract more people to vital roles in Hull and East Yorkshire from around the country and beyond. Through a microsite, social media, street advertising, mini-brochure, and a series of short films, the campaign will be ‘confident and slightly mischievous’ in celebrating a ‘warm and wonderful, green and gorgeous, distinctive and diverse’ region that is ‘well educated, well connected and almost ridiculously affordable’.

John Skidmore, Director of Adults, Health and Customer Services, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, explains:

“Like most people who are lucky enough to live in this region, I happen to think that this place is something of a ‘hidden gem’. That’s why we have based our campaign around the stories of those people who came to work here, fell in love with it, and now want to let others in on the secret.

“We have always faced competition from major population centres for the best talent, but things are changing, heads are being turned and more and more people are looking at our region. This is the first time that every public sector organisation has got together to shout about our incredible patch, and I think we’re onto something!”

The unprecedented campaign has the support of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Hull City Council, City Health Care Partnership CIC, Hull CCG, East Riding of Yorkshire CCG, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, Humberside Fire and Rescue Services, Humberside Police, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Hull York Medical School, and the University of Hull.

It will feature those people who have come to live, work and play in the area from as far afield as Nigeria, Poland, India, USA, and every corner of the UK. One person behind the campaign, which will share information about the region’s schools, housing, standard of living, and quality of life, is former cabinet minister, Alan Johnson, who now lives in the area, and will be a keynote speaker at the launch event. John Skidmore continues:

“As a former Health Secretary, who has become ‘one of us’, we are thrilled that he has agreed to support the campaign, and become an honorary ambassador, one of many who have come forward to share their incredible and varied stories.”

Clare Killingback, Programme Director for Physiotherapy, University of Hull came to the region earlier this year from Bournemouth to start a physio department from scratch:

“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to have a blank slate. Everything has been brilliant. I’ve loved it. We couldn’t quite believe what we could get for our money. We were living in a one-bedroom flat in Dorset. Here, we have a fantastic house with a garden. I’m growing vegetables and (my partner) has got a music studio in the loft. It’s fabulous … but you do want to keep it a bit of a secret!”

Chris Long, Chief Executive at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, who will also speak at the event, said:

“Many regions claim to have a unique identity, but I have honestly never known anywhere quite like Hull and East Yorkshire. It constantly offers so much in a charming, funny, understated, warm and welcoming way.

Our trust alone has almost 10,000 employees from every corner of the UK, and over 80 nationalities. A shared experience for those new to the area is the quick transition from knowing little about it, to shouting about it from the rooftops. I really think this campaign captures that.

It may go a little against the grain, but it’s about time we let people know just what we have here.”

East Yorkshhire: the secret’s out will be streamed live on YouTube from 9-10am on October 7th and can be viewed through: www.tinyurl.com/thesecretsout2020

www.eastyorkshhire.co.uk