An NHS boss is undertaking a tower block challenge to raise funds for a sensory room for children with sight problems and additional needs.

Chief Finance Officer Lee Bond will run up 13 floors of the tower block at Hull Royal Infirmary on Friday, February 14, to raise money for WISHH, the independent charity supporting Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Lee is currently training for the London Marathon in April with the aim of raising £10,000 for WISHH to create a sensory room at Hull and East Yorkshire Eye Hospital.

Lee said: “Our tower block is a major landmark in the city so it seems the right thing to do to run up to the top of it as part of training for one of the biggest challenges in the sporting calendar.

“It’ll take a huge amount of effort but I’m certainly up for the challenge.”

The Eye Hospital in Fountain Street looks after 15,000 children each year, providing emergency medical and surgical treatment, monitoring of eye conditions and long-term treatment.

The new sensory room will include light displays and projections, bubble tubes, wall decorations, sensory toys and music to help calm children feeling upset or anxious about their treatment.

It will also help children with conditions such as autism, ADHD or ADD.

Lee has already raised £5,500 towards his target and hopes the tower block challenge will help add to his donations. Staff and visitors will be lining the stairwell to cheer him on and throw spare change in his buckets.

Sue Lockwood, Chair of the WISHH’s Board of Trustees, said: “We are incredibly proud of Lee taking part in this challenge.

“The WISHH Charity supports staff working in our hospitals by providing the ‘added extras’ above and beyond NHS to make a difference to the patients and loved ones our hospitals care for.

“The introduction of a new sensory room will have positive effect on the children and their patients who attend the eye clinic, creating a new magical and calming environment.”

You can make a donation to Lee’s marathon challenge to help fund the sensory room.

Hospital patients and visitors are being warned they face fines of £100 if they drop cigarette butts outside Hull Royal Infirmary.

Hull City Council is enforcing anti-littering legislation at the bus stop in Anlaby Road, close to the entrance of the hospital tower block.

Fines are now being issued to people caught throwing their cigarettes on the ground in the pavement outside the hospital.

Security investigator Chris Watson, part of the trust’s security team, said: “The bus stop outside the hospital is known as a problem area where people have been dropping their cigarettes.

“This is an antisocial act and we are in full support of the council stepping up their action to send a clear message to anyone coming to our hospital that this is not acceptable behaviour.”

Both Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital are non-smoking sites with signs displayed all over the hospitals reminding people not to smoke. Staff regularly ask people to put out their cigarettes when they are spotted smoking near the entrances to wards and departments.

The trust is now using the council’s action to step up its bid to prevent people sparking up on hospital grounds.

Mr Watson said: “We would like to remind smokers our hospitals are non-smoking sites and people coming here, whether they are sick or to visit a sick friend or relative, should not have to walk through clouds of their smoke to get into our buildings.

“Anyone caught smoking on our grounds will be asked to put out their cigarettes and dispose of them in the appropriate ashtrays.”

More than £100,000 of funding has been awarded to help improve accessibility, privacy and dignity for disabled people using local hospitals.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will receive £105,000 of government funding to create four new ‘Changing Places’ facilities across both Hull Royal infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Hull receives the lion’s share of half a million pounds of capital funding being awarded to ten NHS Trusts today.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will match-fund the money received, and create Changing Places in the main entrance to Castle Hill Hospital (above) and near to the main hospital restaurant, as well as in the Emergency Department at Hull Royal Infirmary and within HRI’s Clinical Skills Building.

Alex Best, Capital Development Manager for the trust says:

“The current lack of ‘Changing Places’ facilities across out hospital estate is an issue which has not only been raised through our partners at East Yorkshire Disability Advisory Group, with whom we work closely on such matters, but which has also been highlighted in previous patient-led inspections of our hospitals.

“We’re extremely pleased to have been awarded funding to support Changing Places as this means we can now further improve accessibility for disabled visitors across both of our hospital sites.”

The Clinical Skills Building at Hull Royal Infirmary will house one of four new Changing Places

Work to create the Changing Places will begin next month, starting in ED and at Castle Hill Hospital’s main entrance.  Each Changing Place will feature a disabled WC and wash basin, ceiling track hoist, height adjustable changing benches and an assistance alarm. Work will start on the subsequent two facilities in the Clinical Skills Building and by Castle Hill’s Nightingales restaurant in April.

There are currently only around 40 Changing Places on NHS premises across England but, over time, this tranche of funding will see the total number increase to more than 100.

Alex continues:

“We’re really pleased to be able to start work on our new Changing Places facilities. They’re important as not only will they improve the offering that we are able to make to disabled patients, staff and visitors using our hospitals, but they will also serve as facilities for the wider local communities of Hull and Cottingham.”

For more information in Changing Places, visit www.changing-places.org

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 Paediatric emergency consultant Dr Liz Herrieven has told how her teenage daughter’s dual diagnosis of Down’s syndrome and autism has had a positive impact on her life.

Dr Herrieven has taken part in the Shifting Perspectives Podcast to talk about life with 13-year-old daughter Amy.

She explained how life-threatening illnesses when Amy was younger has helped her role as a consultant in emergency medicine at Hull Royal Infirmary, given her great insight into what it’s like to be the parent of a seriously ill child.

In a message to parents of children with Down’s syndrome, Dr Herrieven said:  “Take one step at a time, particularly in the early days. Be kind to yourself. It’s ok to feel things are awful, it’s ok to be sad and it’s ok to have that grieving process.

“You will get through the other end. There will be good days and there will be bad days but, in the end, you will have far more good days than bad.

“Your family may not look like the wonderful family on the front of all the parenting magazines but, actually, your family is your family – unique and special to you.

“Don’t worry what anyone else is doing.”

The podcasts have been produced by the Down’s Syndrome Association and hosted by photographer Richard Bailey to share stories of people with Down’s syndrome as well as of their families and carers.

Amy was born 10 weeks early and spent her first few months in neonatal intensive care. In her early years, she spent weeks in high dependency and intensive care units with life-threatening illnesses including severe chest infections, pneumonia and sepsis.

Dr Herrieven said: “I was so used to being on the other side, being the one that makes the decisions.

“Suddenly, I had lost control and it was my small child lying there. That taught me a massive amount of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of challenging news.”

Amy was diagnosed with autism at the age of eight, enabling her family to make adjustments to make life easier by reducing her levels of anxiety.

While looking after Amy’s needs, Dr Herrieven and her husband ensure Amy’s eight-year-old brother Toby has time for fun and the family sticks to familiar routines to help Amy such as going to the same place on holiday every year.

“Amy is Amy and Down’s syndrome is part of her,” Dr Herrieven said.

“Although we have changed our expectations, we still manage to have a really good family life.”

Dr Herrieven realised being Amy’s mum could help other medical professionals in the treatment of people with Down’s syndrome.

Together with Linda Dykes, an emergency medicine consultant and GP in Bangor, she has produced an infographic for other clinicians with top tips on triaging and treating children with Down’s syndrome.

The infographic has received 100,000 hits and has led to Dr Herrieven blogging for the Royal College of Emergency Medicine as well as speaking at a conference of paramedics.

Dr Herrieven is also working hard to challenge “diagnostic overshadowing” when the judgement of medical professionals is clouded by a person’s condition.

She said: “As medical professionals, we tend to use scoring systems and lists of signs and symptoms to see how sick a person is but sometimes, these things don’t work and that’s particularly true of people with Down’s syndrome.”

Dr Herrieven called on doctors to consider “soft signs” where a person’s behaviour has changed, such as they are not interested in something which normally engages or distracts them.

She said: “Families are probably better than medical professionals at recognising these things and it will be different for every person.

“We need to start listening to these things families are telling us about when someone’s behaviour is different.”

You can hear Dr Herrieven’s podcast through the Down’s Syndrome Association website.

The driving force behind the transformation of maternity services is coming to Hull to see changes attracting national attention.

Baroness Julia Cumberlege CBE chaired the major NHS review of maternity services which led to the publication of the “Better Births” report in 2016.

Now, the Conservative peer is coming to Hull Women and Children’s Hospital this week to meet the midwives introducing sweeping changes to the way they look after pregnant women.

Baroness Julia Cumberlege

Janet Cairns, Head of Midwifery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “It is a great honour for us to welcome Baroness Cumberlege to see our new practices.

“Our team has responded really well to the recommendations in the “Better Births” report and we have received very positive feedback on the work we have undertaken so far. New ways of working are now embedded across our service to help women make the best choices for them and their babies.”

NHS England commissioned a national maternity review called “Better Births – Improving outcomes of maternity services in England” and the report in 2016 produced seven key recommendations.

More personalised care, better postnatal and perinatal mental health care and “continuity of carer”, where every woman has the same midwife through pregnancy, were among those key recommendations.

The trust has introduced four Continuity of Carer teams in the past 14 months, with another four about to be introduced.

The Ivy Team looks after mothers in Beverley , the Primrose Team (above) cares for women with additional needs in East Hull, Willow supports women planning to give birth at the midwifery-led Fatima Allam Birth Centre and Linnea helps women expecting more than one baby.

Four new teams will be introduced in the coming weeks – Rainbow, for mothers expecting a baby after a miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a child shortly after birth; Lavender for women who require additional emotional support; Fern for women with diabetes and the Fetal Medicine team for women whose babies require support in the womb.

Baroness Cumberlege was junior health minister and the Government‘s spokeswoman in the House of Lords and will visit the trust on Thursday.

She will be taken on the tour of the hospital by Janet Cairns and Lead Midwife Lorraine Cooper, meeting staff at Rowan and Maple Wards, the Antenatal Day Unit and the Labour Ward as well as the Fatima Allam Birth Centre.

She will also be introduced to some of the midwives working in the Continuity of Carer teams to find out more about their work and meet some of the families they have helped.

Lorraine Cooper said: “We have thought hard about how best to support the women of Hull and our teams reflect the population we look after so our Continuity of Carer teams are different to many other cities.

“Feedback from women supported by the new teams tells us they feel more able to build good relationships with their midwife, which benefits both the woman and the baby.

“We are looking forward to showing Baroness Cumberlege the work we have undertaken and meeting the midwives who are providing such an important service.”

 Families are being asked to bring their own bottles and formula milk into hospital to reduce the risk of infection among newborn babies.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is advising parents-to-be that it will no longer be providing bottles or teats if they opt to bottle-feed their babies.

The change is being introduced to follow infection control guidance and to protect all infants on the wards at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital.

Janet Cairns, Head of Midwifery, said: “If parents opt to bottle feed their babies, we’re asking them to bring in small, prepared single-use feeds as we will no longer hold a stock of bottles, teats or formula milk in the hospital.

“Previously, we allowed families to decant milk into bottles but spilt milk was not being cleared up. This was causing contamination of the cupboards below and introducing the risk of potential infection issues.”

As well as ending the contamination of ward cupboard, the new rules will help new families by protecting privacy and dignity of everyone on the ward.

Janet Cairns said: “Having their own bottles of formula milk will stop mums and their birth partners having to move away from their babies to make up feeds, especially at night.

“It also means other families won’t be disturbed, improving the privacy and dignity for everyone on our wards.”

A new social care unit, the first of its kind in the country to help patients regain independence after stays in hospital, has been set up at Castle Hill Hospital

The 14-bed facility, set up by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, will help people who are well enough to ‘step down’ from the intensive support provided by Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust but can’t go home until out-of-hospital support is in place.

The East Riding Social Care Suite aims to reduce pressure on both Hull Royal infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital by providing additional capacity for people who need a little more support.

Teresa Cope, Chief Operating Officer at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We know now that ‘winter pressures’ are no longer confined to the colder months as we have seen sustained pressure on beds and staff all year long.

“However, it intensifies even further in December, January and February as seasonal illnesses take hold and the colder weather affects our most vulnerable.

“Having this facility at Castle Hill means there is somewhere to care for people who no longer require the intensive support and treatment provided by the hospital and its staff. We can then free up beds for the very sick patients who need to be admitted to our wards.

“This is a really positive development, testament to the work going on between the trust, East Riding Clinical Commissioning Group and East Riding of Yorkshire Council.”

People invited to spend time in the suite will have short-term care and support, able to take part in a range of activities to show them what is available close to their homes. They’ll also be given advice on how to live healthily and independently for longer.

John Skidmore, director for adults, health and customer services at the council, said: “We are aiming to provide engaging and interesting activities from a range of services that will enhance the emotional and physical wellbeing of users while strengthening social networks in the community

“This means people will be more confident and better connected once leaving hospital.”

More than 400 people regularly arrive at Hull’s Emergency Department every day, and around 100 of those patients could have received their treatment in other services such as at the Urgent Treatment Centres at Bransholme, Beverley, Bridlington and Goole or at the GP Walk-In Service at Wilberforce Health Centre, or via their own GP Practice.

“Patient streaming” is being introduced at Hull’s Emergency Department to redirect people who come to the hospital with less serious and minor illnesses and injuries which could be treated by alternative services in the community.

However, among those coming to A&E, many are seriously unwell and require admission to hospital, highlighted by an eight per cent rise in the demand for ambulances in the past few months.

Other patients with existing health conditions are also being admitted directly to wards in the departments where they are already undergoing treatment, such as oncology or cardiology wards.

In addition to the new Social Care Suite, the trust has also opened a new 22-bed general medicine ward at Hull Royal Infirmary.

Additional capacity is also being commissioned in the community through further community capacity is also commissioned for Winter 19/20 to enable the system wide Delayed Transfer of Care (DTOC) targets to be consistently achieved.

Tis the season of coughs, snuffles and viruses so Hull’s emergency team have produced a handy guide if your child develops a high temperature over the next few weeks.

The 10 facts guide will be posted on Facebook and Twitter by Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust over the coming days to help parents determine the best course of action when their children become ill.

Dr Liz Herrieven, Emergency Consultant at Children’s A&E at Hull Royal, said: “It can be frightening when your child becomes ill and we understand you want to make sure they get the best possible treatment.

“But sometimes, keeping them at home and making sure they’re drinking plenty of fluid is the best course of action as most infections don’t require antibiotics.

“By producing this guide, we hope to help parents understand a bit more about fevers in children and to know when they need to seek urgent medical treatment.”

Ophthalmology Outpatients  named most festive hospital department of 2019

A passing comment made by a patient with sight difficulties has led to Ophthalmology Outpatients being named as the trust’s most festive ward or department of 2019.

Last December, an elderly lady told a staff member from the department how she had a tin of rice pudding for Christmas dinner and didn’t see or speak to anyone all day.

This led Sister Katy Rutter and her 115-strong team to ensure this lady and many more like her had a much more positive festive experience this year.

Ophthalmology Outpatients have been delivering a festive treat every day this December for patients young and old, from visits from Father Christmas and lindy hop dancers to school choir performances and knitting group sessions.

The team has made decorations inspired by The Polar Express, turning the reception desk into a ticket office where younger travellers are each given a golden train ticket inviting them to ‘Believe’. A huge cardboard steam engine stands in the outpatients waiting area and there’s a 6ft sign for the North Pole. Add in free mince pies bought by staff and offered daily to patients, sensory gifts bought by staff for visually impaired children and a Christmas tree decorated with glasses at patients’ request, and it becomes clear to see why the team took this year’s crown.

Chief Nurse Beverley Geary took time out of her busy schedule yesterday for judging visits across HRI, Hull Women and Children’s Hospital and Castle Hill Hospital, and to see and hear how staff have been creating festive cheer for patients, co-workers and visitors. She says:

“It’s been a real privilege to judge the competition and to see and hear from staff across the trust about how they’ve really pulled together and delivered a positive difference in the well-being and the recovery of their patients.

“While the entries were outstanding again this year, the Ophthalmology Outpatients team have clearly put so much thought into making a positive difference for patients who may be only with them for a few minutes per visit, and they have seen a massive benefit within their team too.”

As the winning department for 2019, the Ophthalmology Outpatients team has been presented with a luxury hamper to share and awarded temporary custody of the Dr Hermon Cup. The cup dates back to 1938, when the then-famous radiologist presented the shiny silver trophy to the best decorated ward in the old Anlaby Road Hospital.

Katy Rutter, Sister with the Ophthalmology Outpatients team has remarked how much of a difference the competition has made to her patients and staff:

“I have been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of my team. I have always felt lucky to manage them, however this project of ours has really shown me they are very special. Staff have made such an effort, morale has had a big boost and relationships between team members are stronger than I have ever known. It really has had such a beneficial effect on all of us.

“We are already planning what we can continue into the New Year for patients and staff. It has shown to have had such a positive impact on people’s mental health that we want to continue this into the darker months of winter which follow Christmas.”

Neuro rehabilitation Ward 29 and the Radiotherapy Team, both based at the Queen’s Centre, Castle Hill Hospital, were chosen as this year’s runners up.

Occupational Therapy and nursing staff on Ward 29 have seen first-hand how crafting Christmas decorations has led to improvements in manual dexterity and cognitive rehabilitation among patients recovering from brain injury . At the end of each craft group, their patients have regularly been clamouring to continue making decorations, further enhancing their recovery.

The Radiotherapy Team, who won the competition last year, themed their efforts around the “Twelve Days of Christmas Kindness”, delivering something different for patients in each of the 12 days leading up to December 25^th, including home baking, positivity notes and a Christmas card for all patients.

Beverley adds:

“Every single team I visited yesterday really impressed me with the amount of effort they put in, the amount of time they gave and their overall thoughtfulness for patients and colleagues. I loved seeing the difference our competing teams have made, and I’m incredibly proud of all of them.”