The first helicopter to land on a new £500,000 helipad in Hull touched down on Friday.

A five person crew from Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance was the first to fly in and step foot on the newly completed helipad to the rear of Hull Royal Infirmary.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has undertaken a major construction project so patients seriously hurt in accidents across East and North Yorkshire and parts of Lincolnshire can be flown into the hospital grounds, the Major Trauma Centre (MTC) for the area.

Following demolition of the old Haughton Building to the rear of the hospital and many months of planning, clearing work and development, the helipad construction work was finally signed off week.

And within minutes of getting the ‘thumbs up’, the opportunity for the first test landing arose as Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance had just flown a patient in to the existing helipad, on the opposite side of Argyle Street, and were awaiting a call to their next job.

Intensive Care Consultant Dr Tom Cowlam, the trust’s clinical lead for the MTC, said:

“The new helipad looks very impressive. The fact that we were able to complete the first test landing so quickly after construction was completed was down to pure chance, but now that we’ve seen the first helicopter land, we’re looking forward to being able to complete all of the tests with our partners and bring the helipad into permanent use.”

The helipad, situated behind Hull Royal Infirmary’s £12m Emergency Department, has been funded entirely by the HELP Appeal.

Robert Bertram, Chief Executive of the HELP Appeal said:

“Everyone is aware of the vital roles that hospitals and air ambulances play in treating a critically ill patient, but having a helipad beside the Emergency Department (ED) can play a significant part in saving vital minutes when transporting a patient to the expert care they need to save their lives.

“As the only charity in the country funding life-saving helipads we are pleased to be able to cover the entire cost of the helipad. We know the difference having a ground level helipad right outside ED would make.

“With the support of the air ambulances and the excellent emergency care team at Hull Royal Infirmary– this incredible mix of helicopters, helipad and hospital medical staff – will make a huge difference to those people who may urgently need life-saving treatment.”

Test flights will continue over the next few weeks until all 15 agencies who regularly fly patients in to Hull Royal Infirmary, including Yorkshire Air Ambulance, the Search & Rescue helicopter, and the Embrace children’s air ambulance have all completed at least one landing.

Patients are currently flown to the helipad on the other side of the hospital car park at Anlaby Road and have to be transferred to Hull Royal in an ambulance. Once all agencies have been able to test land successfully, the new helipad will be opened up for regular use and the current one decommissioned.

Dr Cowlam continues:

“The new helipad will shorten the journey by a quarter of an hour and remove the need for the patient to be transferred in a second ambulance to the Emergency Department.

“It will make the transfer quicker and more seamless for the trauma patient.

“When you have a really poorly person, this might be the difference between life and death because this could be the time when they are having surgery or a massive blood transfusion to save them.”

Trust Chief Executive Chris Long said: “We are deeply grateful to the HELP Appeal for its £500,000 donation, which has allowed us to construct the helipad directly behind our Emergency Department.

“There is no doubt that having a helipad so close to our highly skilled major trauma team means we will be able to save more lives in situations where every second counts.”

Duncan Taylor, Director of Estates, Facilities and Development, said the trust funded the demolition of the Haughton building among others and clearance of the site before main contractor Unico Construction could begin work on the helipad.

Measuring 30 metres by 30 metres, 900 tonnes of concrete were brought onto the hospital site, over the course of one day in September.

An access road for fire engines and service vehicles has been built alongside a second pedestrian route where patients will be carried out of the air ambulance and rushed into the emergency department.

Special double fences have been erected around the helipad as “baffles” to reduce noise pollution and the majority of the site will be turfed with pinned grass covered with mesh overlay to act as a “soakaway” to remove water from the helipad.

Lights have been imported from Holland to be set into the concrete, now covered in specialist paint.

Hull is one of the country’s 27 Major Trauma Centres (MTCs), credited with saving an additional 1,600 people’s lives since they were established in 2012.

Lincs and Nott Air Ambulance use the Hull helipad most often, with Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Derbyshire, Leicester and Rutland Air Ambulance also flying casualties to the city.

The Search and Rescue helicopter, based at Humberside Airport, also lands in Hull with people winched off mountains or those injured on oil rigs or out at sea.

The helipad will also be used by the Children’s Air Ambulance, which can fly specialist medical teams into Hull to treat seriously ill children as well as fly children from here to hospital with specialist paediatric services.

To support the HELP Appeal please call the donation helpline on 0800 389 8999 or text HPAD22 plus the amount and send to 70070.

Two members of the neurophysiology team have become the first apprentices at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to qualify with degrees.

Beth Walker and Mike Duke achieved first-class honours health care science practitioner apprenticeship degrees after completing their courses at the University of the West of England in Bristol.

The pair were supported throughout their apprenticeships by Jo Smith, who set the trust’s Educational and Development Advisors Anne Burdis and Debbie Elton the task of recruiting the trust’s first healthcare scientist apprenticeship roles.

They  have been supported by their new manager Donna Caldo since Jo’s retirement earlier this year.

Beth was in her second year studying ‘A’ levels when she got the neurophysiology apprenticeship.

She said: “I’d always had an interest in medicine but I didn’t get the grades to be a doctor. This seemed like a good opportunity for me.”

Mike was already studying health and sports science at the University of Hull but decided to switch to the apprenticeship.

“It was a great opportunity to get more hands on,” he said.

They completed the year of their Level 2 apprenticeship and then started the second year of their degree course, travelling to Bristol for a week each semester and taking part in online lectures and Skype classes with their lecturers while putting their skills into practice.

Their job mainly entails working with patients with neurophysiology conditions such as epilepsy and they conduct diagnostic tests including EEGs.

Their hard work paid off when they both achieved first class honours degrees, graduating as Clinical Neurophysiologists after a ceremony at Bristol Cathedral this week.

Beth said: “I couldn’t believe it. I’d to read it about 10 times before it sank in.”

Mike said: “I’m just glad we have both done really well but I’m also glad for the trust. It has invested a lot of time and money in us and Anne and Debbie really helped and supported us so well.

“It was nice to finish it on a high note.”

Educational and Development Advisor Anne Burdis said: “They have worked their way up to this and are a real success for their department, the trust and apprenticeships.

“They demonstrate that apprenticeships can really help you grow your career, develop the service, and are now both qualified as a result.”

The team’s third degree apprentice Charlotte is due to qualify next year.

Two years after it opened Fatima Allam returned to the birthing centre which carries her name at the Hull Women and Children’s Hospital.

Accompanied by her two daughters Eman and Enais, Mrs Allam met some of the mothers and their children who were born on the unit, as well as unit sister Katie Headlam and other staff members. The family spent time in the birth centre, which has seen over 1000 births since it opened in April 2017, to understand how it has operated over the last two years.

Chief executive Chris Long with Fatima Allam

Mrs Allam said she was “delighted to be returning to the Fatima Allam Birth Centre to meet with the staff and celebrate a very successful two years.”

She said: “I am immensely proud of what we achieved here, creating such a relaxing and homely environment for women and ensuring they have a wide range of birthing choices in our city.

“It is particularly nice to see some of the mums and babies who were born in the centre and to listen to their experiences. I hope that we will continue to provide this valuable service for many years to come.”

Work began on the construction of the birth centre in November 2016 after a donation of £370,000 from Fatima Allam and her family. Hull University Hospitals NHS Trust contributed £100,000 to the total cost of the centre.

The centre provides facilities for women to give birth without the need for medical intervention, supported by midwives. The birth centre was created to meet the needs of women with “low-risk” pregnancies who wish to birth their babies naturally, supported by midwives.

Fatima Allam with newborn baby Edie-Lee

Although the unit is self-contained on the second floor of the main Women and Children’s Hospital, it was built next to the labour ward to provide swift access to medical assistance should this be needed

With valued input from Mrs Allam, three rooms – Lotus, Jasmine and Persia ­ – were decorated in the style of luxury hotel rooms each featuring a birthing bed, birthing pool, en-suite wet room and a muted colour changing light scheme. Faux wood panelling conceals medical equipment, all within easy reach of midwives.

Midwifery sister Katie Headlam, who runs the Fatima Allam Birth Centre, said: “I know I speak on behalf of the team when I say how much we all love working in the birthing centre and we will always be grateful to Mrs Allam and her family for enabling us to open such a fantastic midwifery-led unit in the heart of Hull.

“We have had wonderful feedback from the women who have chosen to have their babies at the Fatima Allam Birth Centre. It is a real gift having it here in our city and we expect the number of women using the centre to continue to rise.”

Fatima Allam, centre, with staff from the Fatima Allam Birth Centre

The Birth Centre team has also just launched a continuity of care pathway, known as the Willow Team. This is where women can book to be cared for by the team of Birth Centre midwives throughout their pregnancy, the birth and in the postnatal period too. Women are welcomed to book onto this from early pregnancy, or before 28 weeks.

Mums to be who would  like to find out more about the Fatima Allam Birth Centre or the Willow Team can speak to their midwife or attend one of the monthly HEY Baby Carousel events held on the last Wednesday of every month, 6-8pm, on the ground floor of the Women and Children’s Hospital. They can also call the birth centre on 01482 607860.

New mothers are risking a serious infection by ripping off their dressings to post images of their caesarean section scars on Facebook, hospital midwives are warning.

The Hey Baby team at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is urging women to keep dressings over their wounds to prevent infection which could lead to sepsis.

Midwife and Hey Baby Co-ordinator Melanie Lee

Hey Baby co-ordinator Melanie Lee said: “We are becoming increasingly concerned about the number of women who are removing their dressings so they can take photographs and post them on Facebook.

“Women who have just given birth and those who have just had surgery are at increased risk of developing infection already so it is essential their wounds remain covered until a health professional says dressings are safe to be removed.

“We’re sharing more and more on social media and sometimes, people post these images on their pages because they want to know if their wound is ‘normal’.

“But they need to realise that they increase the risk of the wound becoming infected if they remove the dressing and these infections could lead to sepsis.”

There are around 250,000 cases of sepsis in the UK every year and it claims the lives of almost one in five of those who contract the severe infection.

Women who have just given birth or had a caesarean section are at greater risk of developing sepsis along with pregnant women, the very young and the very old, people with compromised immune systems, people with cancer or liver disease and those who have undergone surgery.

According to the Sepsis Trust, it normally begins with a bacterial infection and the most common types of infection leading to sepsis are pneumonia, urinary tract infections, meningitis, cellulitis and wound infection after surgery.

Symptoms include confusion, feeling cold and shivery, feeling hot and sweaty, feeling very tired and short of breath, vomiting, nausea or diarrhoea, not passing urine, cold, blue or mottled skin and developing an increasing sense of doom and feeling like you are going to die.

Melanie Lee said anyone who is concerned about their wound following a caesarean section should speak to their midwife or another health professional  such as a GP.

When she broke her arm at the age of six and had to spend the night in hospital, Denise Rose knew she wanted to be a nurse.

Now, 38 years after beginning her training, Denise is retiring from her role as Emergency Nurse Practitioner in Ophthalmology at Hull Eye Hospital.

Despite dedicating almost four decades of her life to caring for other people, Denise is modest about her contribution to health care.

“I’m nobody special, “ she said. “I come in, do my job to the best of my ability and go home. I try to be kind and I try to be nice but I’m just me.

“I’ve just been part of an excellent team.”

Denise Rose assisting Humberside Police with motorbike safety training

Denise, who grew up in Glasgow, started her nurse training with Ayrshire and Arran College of Nursing and Midwifery in 1981. After one week of training, she was sent to her base hospital, Ayr County Hospital, to learn nursing basics.

During her training, Denise found her passion when she went to work on the ophthalmic surgical unit at Heathfield Hospital in Ayr.

“I loved it so much,” she said. “I realised that was what I wanted to do. I understood it. It was where everything fell into place for me.

“I understood the anatomy, the physiology. And the patients were so diverse, from babies right through to the elderly.”

She set herself the task of building up her knowledge of general medicine. After qualifying as a State Registered Nurse in 1984, she worked at Biggart Hospital in Prestwick, which cared for the medical elderly and the young chronically sick, such as those with head injuries or neurological conditions such as motor neurone disease.

She then moved to Moorfields Hospital, the world famous eye hospital in London, to undertake her post registration diploma in Ophthalmology and spent a year working there  before moving to Peterborough District General Hospital where she spent one year as a full-time night duty staff nurse, first in ENT and then moving to acute medicine.

She arrived at Hull Royal Infirmary in 1987, starting in the Eye Clinic, the only full-time staff nurse supporting the full time sister.

After two years she then moved and became sister in Occupational Health in 1989 at Kingston General Hospital and then Princess Royal Hospital.  Just before she went on maternity leave to have her second child, she spotted a job as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner within the Eye Clinic. She applied and got the job.

Twenty –four years later, she’s still there, witnessing the creation of a separate Eye Hospital in Fountain Street and massive advances in treatment for people with sight problems.

“The first thing has been the success rate of cataract surgery and the fact that we can get patients in and out within hours,” Denise said. “Before, years ago, you’d be in for days. Now, we can do sight-preserving surgery in hours.

“The second thing is the evolution of treatment for age-related wet macular degeneration and the creation of the ophthalmic Nurse Practitioners who perform intravitreal injections

“Fifteen years ago, there was nothing we could do for people except signpost them to the Blind Institute on Beverley Road. Now, we can often preserve their sight and keep them driving rather than patients having to be registered blind.”

In her role, Denise helps patients who have suffered minor trauma to their eyes, such as bits of metal from welding or foreign bodies which end up in their eyes.

She said: “It can be extremely painful for people so making sure they are pain-free and reassuring them that they are not going to go blind is one of the best parts of my job.

“I always say that, as a nurse, I’m here to deal with the more minor cases so the doctors are free for the more major stuff.

“But sometimes, all those minor cases , the people who have been poked in the eye or have metal from welding or grinding, matters to that person. Removing that and making sure they don’t develop an infection and can get back to work in a few days is rewarding.”

Denise has been sharing her skills and knowledge with the Emergency Nurse Practitioners in the Emergency Department and is hoping to spend 22 hours of her week teaching health care staff in the community.

Denise Rose on her bike

She’ll also be making the most of her free time, riding around on her beloved Triumph Tiger 800, often seen parked outside her window at the Eye Hospital, with another tour of Germany and Austria planned for September and continuing her voluntary work as an advanced tutor with RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Riders East Yorkshire.

Ask her what she’ll miss most about her job and she falls silent, drawing herself together.

“I’m going to miss my colleagues,” she said. “This has been my life and I have made some lovely friends here.”

Senior Matron Terri Wainman said: “We are all going to miss Denise so much. She has been a fantastic member of our team and we would like to thank her for all she has done to help patients over so many years.

“We know they will miss her as much as we will.”

Hull nurse with 55 years’ service competes for NHS Parliamentary Award after local MP’s nomination

A Hull woman who has dedicated 55 years of her life to the NHS will travel to London next month to discover if she has won a national parliamentary award.

Madeline Large from Walkington, known to her friends as Maddie, was nominated in the ‘Lifetime Achievement’ category of the NHS Parliamentary Awards by Hull West and Hessle MP, Emma Hardy.

Maddie joined the NHS as a cadet nurse back in 1964, aged just 16. She has worked in numerous different hospitals in and around the city, but has spent the last 47 years working at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham.  Over the years she has worked as a staff nurse, scrub nurse and sister, and has served as a mentor to hundreds of operating department colleagues.

Maddie’s career highlights include working as part of the team which opened the first cardiac surgical unit serving Hull and East Yorkshire in the early 1970s, and being part of the surgical team to carry out the first heart donor transplant in Hull alongside Sir Terence English.

Maddie says:

“It was a complete surprise to be told I’d won an award and that I’d been invited to the House of Commons for an awards ceremony; I thought it was a joke at first!

“Working in theatres, no one is more important than anyone else, and no one person can do their job without the others. Being part of a team where everyone pulls together has kept me motivated throughout my career, so this award is not just for me, it’s for everyone who I’ve worked with and who has supported me over the years.”

The NHS Parliamentary ‘Lifetime Achievement’ Award seeks to honour those who have dedicated their lives to working in the NHS, and have left a lasting legacy through a better service for patients and/or a better place to work for those who will follow them.

Having stormed to victory in the regional (Yorkshire and Humber) heats of the NHS Parliamentary Awards, Maddie will attend the national awards ceremony at the House of Commons on Wednesday 10^th July. She will be accompanied by Heather Jaques, former cardiac theatres sister at Castle Hill Hospital (pictured right, with Maddie) who has known Maddie for some 20 years, and the pair will discover if Maddie has beaten off the other regional competition to win the overall national ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award.

Heather says:

“Maddie is really deserving of this award. She has given so much to people over the years, both her patients and the people she’s worked alongside, that it’s only fitting that she be recognised in this way.

“Her work to establish the region’s first cardiac surgical unit really was ground-breaking, and lots of people living across Hull and East Yorkshire have a lot to thank her for without even realising it.”

Volunteers who help patients and staff at Hull Hospitals will get their own taste of Wimbledon next month to thank them for their dedication.

Staff at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are throwing a strawberries and cream tea during Wimbledon fortnight for around 70 volunteers at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Louise Beedle, Head of Patient Experience, will also present long-service awards to some volunteers who have been volunteering their time for the trust for upwards of 20 years.

Louise said: “We have more than 450 volunteers and we are just so grateful to them for all they do for us, our staff and our patients.

“They give up their time, day in, day out, week in, week out to help and the hospitals wouldn’t be able to provide the standard of care we wish to provide without their vital support.

“From meeting and greeting our patients at Castle Hill and Hull Royal to answering phones on busy wards, they are our army of dedicated and compassionate people and we would like to thank each and every one of them for what they do.”

The strawberries and cream tea will be held at Nightingales Restaurant at Castle Hill Hospital on Wednesday, July 3, from 3pm to 5pm.

Lindyhop dancers will provide the entertainment at the event, attended by senior members of the trust board to pass on their thank to the volunteers.

Volunteers at last year’s event