She was one of the last four nurses to walk out of Princess Royal Hospital in 2008 after spending almost a quarter of a century caring for patients there.

Clare Norris felt mixed emotions as she travelled across Hull to the new £67.2m Queen’s Centre for Oncology and Haematology at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham.

Ten years on from that day, Clare will take a few minutes out of her busy day to think of the thousands of patients who have walked into the centre.

“I can’t believe it’s been 10 years,” said Clare. “I’ve worked in oncology since 1990 and working with such a supportive team makes a huge difference.

“But it’s the patients themselves. We look after patients who go through really aggressive, life-changing treatments. Despite that, they usually remain very positive about what they are going through.

“They are a very special group of people and it is very humbling to be a part of their journey.”

Clare qualified in 1984 and worked night shifts at Princess Royal, gaining experience very quickly as possible in different specialities including gynaecology, urology, renal and oncology.

However, she enjoyed working with oncology patients the most and has been with them for 28 years.

Since the move to the Queen’s Centre, Clare has been ward sister on Ward 32, heading the team which looks after haematology and oncology patients, and is currently on secondment as matron.

With her vast experience in the speciality, she tells student and newly qualified nurses they have to adjust their expectations when dealing with such poorly patients.

“Because we work with inpatients, we don’t tend to see the people who come as outpatients for the all-clear or their yearly reviews,” she said.

“We see them when they are so unwell, at their lowest points and it can be hard, especially when they require end of life care.

“I always say to student nurses that you have to change the goalposts. Sometimes, we can’t make people better.

“But what we can do is help them achieve what they want, to achieve a pain-free death with dignity, to die in the place of their choosing whether that’s at home, in a hospice or in hospital and to have the people they want around them in their last few hours or days.”

While the patients remain the focus, the nursing team also extend their care to relatives.

“We have to support relatives through this difficult time in any way we can,” says Clare. “We have to make it as special for them as we can and make sensitive memories of their last days with their loved ones.

“We see people who come in as inpatients and have their treatment, able to go off and enjoy the rest of their lives. But we also see people who aren’t going to get better and we need to look after them and their families.”

On the 10^th anniversary of the day patients first started arriving at Queen’s Centre, Clare will take a moment or two to remember the faces of the people she has cared for over the past decade.

“It’s hard work, like anywhere else in the NHS,” she said. “We face constant pressures and everything that goes along with that.

“However, it’s the patient/family feedback  – the cards, chocolates and, most of all, the thanks and acknowledgement people give us – that makes what we do so rewarding.”

On this day in 2008, the Queen’s Centre opened its doors, heralding a new dawn in health care for more than one million patients. Today, we mark the 10th anniversary of offering outstanding care to so many people.

A centre providing oncology and haematology services for more than one million people was announced by the Government in July 2002.

The Queen’s Centre for Oncology and Haematology was part of the Government’s Private Finance Initiative (PFI), hailed as the largest building programme in the history of the NHS.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was one of 13 trusts to be given approval by then Health Minister John Hutton to issue tenders for companies to build 100 new hospitals by 2010.

Hull’s plan was to replace isolated radiotherapy facilities and oncology wards at Princess Royal, where inpatient services were already being withdrawn.

Services for cancer and haematology patients were to be shifted to the new centre, with beds increasing from 1,495 to 1,533 while 118 extra clinical staff were to be recruited.

Along with oncology and haematology, the centre also offers neurological rehabilitation, immunology and allergy, haemophilia and lymphedema

Design firm HLM Architects spent 18 months collaborating with clinicians, patients and advisors and holding regular meetings with 19 departments to ensure every room and every light switch was fit for purpose.

With Shepherd Construction LTD as the main contractor, the Queen’s Centre cost £67.2m and had to fit the brief to create a “healing environment”.  Covering 20,000 square metres, the three-storey building was to support inpatient and outpatient facilities in calm and peaceful surroundings for patients and their families.

Work to clear the site began in 2005 and the foundation stone was laid by Professor Mike Lind, clinical lead for cancer services at the trust, in October 2006.

Nine courtyards with intimate walled gardens were incorporated in the design along with a high-level glazed walkway known as the “walk in the woods”.

The Cottingham countryside influenced the design, with the sloping site used as a natural way of reducing the thickness of the concrete protection required from radiation equipment.

Almost every one of the 800 rooms in the centre benefits from natural sunlight and views over the countryside.

The centre was officially opened by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on March 5, 2009.

Young people from Hull aged 15 to 17 are rolling up their sleeves at an East Yorkshire hospital to help improve the surroundings for patients, staff and visitors alike.

Forty five teenagers taking part in the National Citizen Service (NCS) with Hymers College are to redevelop previously unused green space at Castle Hill Hospital and tidy other areas in need of attention.

The group will spend this week sprucing up a special garden near to ward 9 designed for the enjoyment of patients with dementia and their relatives, giving it a welcome injection of colour. They will also develop a courtyard area facing on to wards 10 and 11, and clear an area near to ‘The Folly’ of weeds and debris before transforming it into a beautiful wildlife garden retreat.

Their community work is part of a three-week National Citizen Service (NCS) programme, which sees young people taking part in outdoor activities, developing skills such as budgeting and cooking, visiting the fire service, and undertaking fundraising and projects to help their local community.

This summer, through the EFL Trust, thousands of teenagers from Yorkshire and Humber have taken part in the NCS, making a positive difference in their local community.

The NCS programme is delivered locally by Hymers College through the English Football League Trust (EFL Trust), providing teenagers with the opportunity to experience new things, meet new people, learn new skills and give back to their community.

Alan Parry, Estates Officer for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust says:

“The support and the enthusiasm of all the young people to help us create and maintain a pleasant, calming environment for patients and visitors has been incredible. In recent weeks, they have already helped to transform previously disused parts of the Castle Hill site with new plants and design ideas, and well as tidying up others which were in need of a bit of TLC. It’s great to see them giving their time to their local community in this way.

“No one really wants to be in hospital, but for those patients who do find themselves here, a nice view from the window or the opportunity to go outside and enjoy the fresh air in nice green surroundings can make a world of difference to their well-being and their recovery.”

Kris Walmsley, NCS Manager and Tom Geary, NCS Officer with Hymers College, have been coordinating the students across all seven participating schools. Tom says:

“NCS at Hymers has gone from delivering to 90 participants to 209 in the space of a year. With the increase in numbers, we needed new relationships with local charities and trusts in order to provide opportunities for the young people to really make a difference in their community.

“Thanks to Alan and all the Castle Hill team, we have seen more than 70 young people come in over the summer and transform areas for everyone who is involved in the hospital environment. The staff here have been wonderful and made the participants feel at ease which has led to some fantastic projects thus far.

“As part of their Social Action Project, the groups have also carried out fundraising activities, with all the groups raising over £2000 to go towards the gardens. Any leftover donations will be given to the wards. We hope to continue such a great partnership with future groups and we can’t thank the participants or Castle Hill staff enough for helping them achieve their projects which are very personal to a lot of us involved.”

A hospital team in Hull is taking part in a trial to train dogs to detect cancer in patients.

Researchers from Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are taking part in the three-year study to train dogs to diagnose colorectal cancer.

Dogs are renowned for their acute sense of smell and it has been known for centuries that some conditions and diseases emit characteristic odours.

Cancer cells release small amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the trust is working with the Medical Detection Dogs charity to train dogs to detect these compounds in urine and faecal samples.

If the specific smells relating to bowel cancer can be identified, an “electronic nose” could be developed in the future, allowing for faster identification and treatment for cancer patients.

Iain Hunter, Consultant in Colorectal Surgery, said: “The early detection of bowel cancer dramatically improves the effectiveness of treatment in achieving a long-term cure for this unfortunately common condition.

“The current methods used to screen for early bowel cancer invite people over 60 to test their own bowel motions for the presence of invisible amounts of blood, using special sampling kits.

“While this is a good screening test, it still doesn’t detect all cancers.”

He said people with abnormal test results are invited for a colonoscopy but only half will have cancer or precancerous polyps and the uptake is low, with just  60 per cent of people eligible for screening in Yorkshire and Humber carrying out the screening.

“This may be related to the inconvenience of having to test your own poo,” said Mr Hunter. “Finding new ways to screen for bowel cancer that are more accurate and less inconvenient,  such as a urine test, may reduce the number of patients having a normal and effectively unnecessary colonoscopy and increase the number of people taking part in screening.”

Around 2,000 patients are being recruited for the study over the next three years and samples will be taken from patients aged 18 and over who have been referred to the trust’s colorectal colonoscopy clinics to see if they have cancer.

Research Nurse Mandie Bulmer said: “If we have a test that says there is a high probability this patient has or hasn’t cancer, we would know which patients would need to be seen more quickly. In patients coming for follow-up checks, we could see whether there was an increased chance the cancer has or hasn’t returned.”

Colonoscopy is used to determine the presence of colorectal cancer and patient samples will be divided into those with and those without bowel cancer.

The samples will be frozen before being transported from Castle Hill Hospital to the charity’s lab in Milton Keynes where they will be used to train the dogs.

The dogs will initially be trained to detect colorectal cancer by using samples from both patients with and without the disease.

Once training has been completed, the study will then move into the testing phase. Samples from participants already diagnosed with colorectal cancer, non-malignant disease or are free from colonic disease will be used to measure the dog’s ability to detect cancer.

A three year project designed to honour those lost to leukaemia and other cancers will receive its official unveiling at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham this week.

Over two hundred pairs of hands have been involved in making the ‘Quilt of Memories’, a giant patchwork quilt which includes 140 individually hand-crafted quilt blocks.

Staff, patients and visitors will gather along with the quilt’s creator, Sylvia Priest, in the main reception of the Queen’s Centre on Friday to celebrate the installation.

Sylvia, from Gunness in North Lincolnshire says:

“My husband was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2015, and to make sense of this, I turned to what I feel happiest with, and that’s quilting. It was a source of help to me, but I also wanted to do something which would help others too; both those who had loved ones affected by cancer but also those who may be coming to terms with a diagnosis of their own.

“There is a strong quilting community around the UK, so once I put an initial appeal out for help, the responses came thick and fast, and the arrival of quilt blocks was like an avalanche!”

The Quilt of Memories was created by members of the online group, Helping Hands – Stitching and Sewing for Good Causes along with UK Quilters United and others who contributed their own heart shaped blocks.

With help from members of the Cottingham-based East Yorkshire Embroidery Society, Sylvia stitched the initials of people whose lives have been touched by any cancer in return for a small donation.

The quilt initially raised £350 in donations from across the UK, money which has been donated to Castle Hill Hospital as a thank you for the care shown to Sylvia’s husband, Tony.

Since its completion, and prior to its arrival back in Cottingham, the quilt has also been on tour around the country. It was displayed at the 2017 Festival of Quilts, where Sylvia used it to raise funds for Bloodwise, a national blood cancer charity for which she is an ambassador.

The official celebration to mark the installation of the Quilt of Memories will take place at 12:00pm in the main reception of the Queen’s Centre, Castle Hill Hospital.

Fancy joining a team attracting national attention for setting standards in the care of older people?

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is offering nurses the chance to take their careers to new heights in its nationally-acclaimed Department of Elderly Medicine (DME).

Undergoing a significant transformation in the last two years, the department pushes boundaries to achieve excellence in patient care while maintaining its top ten ranking in the care of older people.

Now, the trust is offering nurses, either newly qualified, already qualified or almost qualified, the opportunity to join its DME team as part of its Remarkable People, Extraordinary Place recruitment campaign.

Nurses will be offered an outstanding training and education package to progress their careers and develop their nursing skills to the highest of standards.

Stacey Healand, Senior Matron in DME, said: “Our patients benefit from the best the NHS has to offer because we work as a team to drive up standards and achieve excellence.

“However, nurturing new staff is equally important to us so we make it our mission to support them in the development and progress of their careers.

“Working with older patients is a demanding job and we make no secret about that. But for those seeking a highly rewarding career in nursing, there can be few that beat this job.

“Not only will you work to the highest of standards in a supportive and friendly environment, we’ll ensure the hours you work are flexible to your needs and fit around family and home life.”

The team is also encouraging nurses who may have been working outside the health service for some time the chance to return to the NHS.

Stacey Healand said: “This is a perfect opportunity to come back to the NHS if you’ve been working in the care sector or elsewhere. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been away for years or months, we will support your return.”

As part of the recruitment drive, the trust has produced a video with Kirsty Norris, a Sister on Ward Nine in the DME.

Kirsty told how she thought she might not have the grades to study to become a nurse at the University of Hull but was able to begin her studies as an adult learner at the age of 21.

By the end of her first year at university, she knew she wanted to work with older people and now loves the multi-disciplinary approach to DME, with physiotherapists, dieticians and pharmacists working alongside clinical staff to look after patients.

She said: “What makes DME different is the support from management. Any problems or concerns, there’s always someone there.

“In DME, it’s all about team spirit and it’s like having that sort of family life in your working life.”

If you’re interested in joining the DME, call Stacey Healand or Kay Brighton on 01482 674131.

A student has told how she developed life-threatening sepsis on the day she was supposed to be leaving home to start university.

Olivia Young, 19, was rushed to Hull Royal Infirmary after experiencing a severe headache, fainting, vomiting and agonising pain in her stomach.

However, staff realised she had sepsis, the life-threatening condition featured in Coronation Street after character Jack Webster, played by Kyran Bowes, contracted the illness and had to have his foot amputated to save his life.

Now fully recovered from her ordeal, Olivia will be one of the guest speakers at a conference organised by the Sepsis team at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in September to urge all health professionals to be on their guard for signs of sepsis.

Olivia, who lives in Kirk Ella, said: “If I had gone to university that day, I don’t think I would have been here.

“It’s just so important that people know about sepsis as it could be the difference between someone dying and someone surviving.”

Sepsis is a life-threatening syndrome triggered by an infection in any part of the body. It affects people of all ages and, without swift treatment, it can lead to multiple organ failure and death.

Early administering of antibiotics is vital and most people who receive antibiotics quickly go on to make a full recovery.

Around 250,000 in the UK develop sepsis each year and up to 44,000 will die. It is difficult to diagnose, with symptoms similar to flu.

Olivia will share her story with delegates attending the sepsis conference at the Medical Education Centre at Hull Royal Infirmary on September 13. During the conference, health professionals will learn about a range of topics including how to identify sepsis early, how to manage sepsis in children and how to recognise sepsis in the community.

She will tell how she woke up in the early hours of September 16 last year, the day she was due to move to university in Manchester to begin her chemistry degree course, feeling freezing cold although her boyfriend told her she was burning to the touch.

She said: ”I was supposed to take my sister to dance class that day but felt so bad, I’d to call my grandmother to take her instead.

“I had the worst headache I’ve ever experienced and every time I moved, it was just throbbing.”

With a temperature of almost 40 degrees and feeling clammy to the touch, it was thought that Olivia had experienced a severe reaction to the meningitis vaccine she had been given only days before.

However, when her mother Nichola, a nurse in endoscopy at Castle Hill Hospital, called 111 and described Olivia’s symptoms, an ambulance was dispatched immediately to rush Olivia to Hull Royal’s emergency department.

Olivia was seen in initial assessment before being transferred to the resuscitation unit while tests were carried out.

Although it was initially suspected that she had developed a blood clot on her spleen, staff realised she had sepsis and she was given intravenous antibiotics.

“When I was in the hospital to begin with, I couldn’t move by myself due to the agonising pain that was all over my body,” she said.

“It felt like I was being stabbed and my dad needed to pick me up to sit me up when family came to visit.”

She spent 13 days in hospital before she was allowed home and started her university degree. Although she was six weeks behind the rest of the course, she passed her first year with flying colours and is now about to start her second year.

Hull’s A&E department sees at least 50 patients with sepsis every month while other people already in hospital with other illnesses and injuries can also develop sepsis from a severe infection.

Since the trust introduced the sepsis team in 2015 as part of a national initiative to drive up survival rates, around 90 per cent of patients brought to A&E with signs of severe infection are now screened for sepsis.

And round 80 per cent of those diagnosed with sepsis receive life-saving antibiotics within an hour.

Donna Gotts, one of the trust’s clinical nurse specialists for sepsis, said: “We are really grateful to Olivia for attending our conference to help reinforce the message to health professionals.

“Simply asking “Could it be sepsis?” and taking immediate action if a patient shows any of the sepsis red flags could mean the difference between life or death.”

If your child is under five, call 999 or head straight for A&E if they have any of these symptoms – looks mottled or bluish, is very lethargic or difficult to wake, feels abnormally cold to the touch, is breathing very fast, has a fit or convulsion, has a rash that does not fade when pressed.

In older children or adults, early symptoms of sepsis may include a high temperature or low body temperature, chills and shivering, a fast heartbeat, fast breathing.

Symptoms of severe sepsis include feeling dizzy or faint, confusion or disorientation, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, slurred speech, severe muscle pain, severe breathlessness, less urine production than normal, cold, clammy and pale or mottled skin and loss of consciousness.

Pregnant women can reduce their risk of miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight and stillbirth by taking up the offer of vital protection against flu from next month.

Ten midwives at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital have received specialist training to administer the flu vaccine to women attending antenatal appointments, admitted to the wards for monitoring or visiting the HEY Baby Carousel event on the last Wednesday of the month.

With around 5,500 babies born in Hull every year, pregnant women are particularly susceptible to flu which can cause miscarriage in the early stage or stillbirth in the later stages of pregnancy.

Protect your baby

Healthy lifestyle midwife Caroline Clark said: “Pregnant women are more susceptible to flu because their immune systems are more suppressed in pregnancy and it can make them really ill.

“But still, most people don’t realise how serious flu can be if a woman catches it during her pregnancy.

“Studies have found links between flu and miscarriage in the early stages or early labour, resulting in premature births. There are also possible links to stillbirth.

“It’s just not worth the risk and we’ve made it as easy as possible for women to get vaccinated when they’re coming to hospital anyway, without the hassle of making a separate appointment.”

Women who already received the flu vaccine earlier this year at the start of their pregnancies will require a second vaccination from September to protect them and their babies against the most current strain.

Caroline Clark said: “Different vaccines are produced every year to protect us from different strains of the flu virus so those in the early stages of pregnancy who receive a flu jab in March will need a second one now in the later stages of their pregnancies.”

Midwives can also give women the vaccine to protect them and their babies from whooping cough, also known as pertussis, from the 20-week scan.

Women will still be able to receive the flu vaccine in the community from pharmacies or from their GP.

Driving round the country as a medical rep, Chris Jarratt piled on the pounds as he grabbed food on the go between client appointments.

By the time he’d decided to return to clinical practice as a physiotherapist at Castle Hill Hospital, he weighed 16 stone.

“I bought myself a cheap bike and thought it would be quicker than walking and cheaper than the bus so off I went,” he said.

“It was two and a half miles from my house to Castle Hill, it was all uphill but it got easier every day. Then I moved to Hull Royal and it only takes me 10 to 15 minutes.”

Now two stone lighter, Chris cycles to the hospital every day to start work on Ward 11 with patients recovering from strokes and those with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and MS.

Cycling has become his passion so he’s traded up his bike through the CycleScheme and even raised £300 for the ward after taking part in the Humber Bridge sportive in June.

He said: “Cycling to work has huge benefits. It used to take me 40 minutes to drive home through the rush-hour traffic. Now, I’m home in 15 to 20 minutes, even at the busiest times.

“It’s a great way to wind down and you get half an hour’s exercise in your day, which is the Government’s recommendation, before you’ve even tried or had to think about going to the gym.”

Chris’s advice to anyone thinking about cycling to work is to build up their confidence on a bike first, especially if it’s been a while since you’ve been on one.

“Practise on quieter roads first to get your confidence up,” he said. “Traffic is the main reason why people don’t want to cycle because they’ll be in the middle of the road so practising will give you confidence to use the bigger road junctions.

“Most of the roads now have cycle pathways so that can help you if you’re planning your route.”

She was used to cycling along Cornwall’s quieter, winding roads and thought cycling to work from Barton to Hull would be an ordeal.

But cycling over the Humber Bridge has become a highlight of her route when senior matron Trish Prady cycles to and from work at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital twice a week.

Taking around 40 minutes each way, Trish, who heads a team of specialist nurses and works in gastroenterology, urology and endoscopy, started cycling to work a year ago after much thought.

She said: “I was nervous initially when I first moved here about a year ago because I was used to different kinds of roads.

“But, actually, I think it’s safer to cycle here because you have dedicated cycle pathways.”

Once she’s crossed the bridge, Trish heads towards Castle Hill or Hull Royal, depending on where she’s working that day.

She said: “I’m used to exercising every day and I suppose it’s now a lifelong habit. I’m a runner originally but now we do triathlons and sportives so I suppose I’m confident on a bike.

“Still, I cycled to work for the first time with my husband so I could get used to the route and I was worried about cycling in the winter months.

“But I’ll be cycling this winter without a doubt. “

Although Trish has a key to one of the cycle sheds at work, she is hoping facilities for cyclists, like showers, lockers and cycle schemes, become more common in all businesses and workplaces.

Working in the NHS, she knows cycling is a major benefit in her everyday life.

She said: “We all do really stressful jobs and cycling to work is a really good beginning and end to the day. I love cycling over the bridge.”

Her best advice for anyone thinking about cycling to work is to find themselves a cycling buddy to make the journey together.

“If anyone is thinking about cycling over from Barton, I’m happy to link up. It’s just getting over the hurdle of doing it the first time because once you’ve done it, you’ll want to do it again.”