Staff have been praised for keeping the busiest clinic in Hull’s hospitals running after the heating broke down during this week’s Arctic conditions.

Maintenance workers at the Eye Hospital were called in after the heating system in the main reception area broke down on Wednesday.

Today, ophthalmology consultant Colin Vize paid tribute to the dedication of reception staff who kept the Eye Hospital and its outpatient clinic running smoothly with no cancellations despite the difficult working conditions.

He said: “Staff running the outpatients clinic were absolutely fantastic and put patients above any other consideration.

“They didn’t go home, they stuck it out and wore gloves and coats so they could still type in patients’ details and send out appointment letters.

“This department is busy at the best of times but these circumstances made it extremely challenging for the people who work there. They have our deepest gratitude for battling on for the good of our patients.”

The problems began on Wednesday when temperature plummeted to minus 10 degrees as the “Beast From the East” caused widespread disruption throughout the country.

Radiotherapy staff at the Queen’s Centre at Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham also battled through heavy snow and blizzard conditions from Sheffield, Brigg, Bridlington and Rotherham to ensure they were at their posts so patients’ cancer treatment could begin on time.

Team members covered for co-workers  who had been unable to get into Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, working well beyond the end of their shifts so patients continued to receive the best possible care.

Estates staff also worked round the clock to clear pathways and car parks, ensuring patients, staff and visitors were able to get into the hospitals.

The hospital’s heating system, like others throughout the city, developed problems as the worst of the weather hit and patients coming in through the main doors meant staff were hit by a blast of freezing cold air as they tried to do their jobs.

Staff were rotated to other departments so no one had to spend too long in reception

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust called in its estates team to repair the heating system as quickly as possible and work is now being carried out by contractors on sliding doors to the reception to minimise draughts when they were closed.

Mr Vize said: “Throughout the NHS, we’ve heard remarkable stories of people going above and beyond this week. Our staff are no different.

“The management team is truly grateful for their gritty determination.”

Critical care nurse Soo Hassall retires after 37 years in the NHS

A nurse who has helped to save countless critically ill patients at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital is retiring after almost 37 years of dedication to the NHS.

Soo Hassall, 54, started her nursing career as a student nurse in 1981 and worked in intensive care, cardiology and, finally, for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospital NHS Trust’s critical care outreach team.

Soo is one of the critical care specialist nurses who look after the most seriously ill patients recently released from the hospitals’ intensive care units and monitor patients on the wards whose conditions are deteriorating.

She will retire from the trust this month, although she intends to return to work part-time on a job share.

“If I had to do it all again, I’d do exactly the same again,” Soo said.  “I feel I have the best job in the world. But I can’t believe the changes I’ve seen during my career.

“The patients we look after now are far sicker than the ones I looked after at the start of my career. I think we are now seeing far more patients survive because of advances in medicine.

“One area where you really notice that is when patients suffer cardiac arrests. When I first started in intensive care, patients who suffered cardiac arrests and made it to ICU would end up with brain damage.

“Today, it’s amazing the amount of people that walk out of hospital as normal even after a cardiac arrest because they are resuscitated so quickly, we’ve got defibrillators in the community and people can do CPR.”

Soo started nursing in orthopaedics before moving into intensive care nursing on 1 April, 1985.

“I was fascinated with intensive care nursing and knew it was the right thing for me,” she said.

She worked in intensive care until 1989, aside from a six-month stint in A&E, before leaving to complete her one-year course to convert to a staff nurse.

Re-joining the trust, Soo spent four years in cardiology, working in what is now the cardiac monitoring unit before returning to intensive care in 1994.

She worked her way up to the position of charge nurse on ICU and joined the critical care outreach team, launched in 2000, in 2003, splitting half her year on the unit and then half with the outreach team. She joined the team full-time in 2011.

“Intensive care nursing has always been my passion,” she said. “I’ve loved looking after patients. In this job, we see some really sick patients and there’s that rush of adrenaline when you need to do everything you can to save them.

“We also get to build up relationships with the patients on the wards, seeing them improving and getting better every day.

“I’ve worked with a great team on outreach and I think we have a brilliant critical care team. We couldn’t do our job without them.”

Critical care outreach sister Mandy Price has worked with Soo for decades.

“With all her years of experience, she is like the matriarch of the team,” Mandy says. “Everything Soo does is all about the patients and when she hands over patients at the end of her shifts, you can see the compassion she feels for them when she’s talking to you.

“She is an all-round good egg and we’re so glad she’s coming back part-time because she would leave a big hole in this team.

“She has so much experience and knowledge and when you have a patient with complicated needs, Soo is the person you turn to for advice.”

Vicky Kirkby, critical care outreach team lead nurse, said: “When I first met Soo in 1989, I was so impressed by her knowledge and because she was such a proactive nurse.

“Now, I see Soo as someone I have a massive amount of respect for and a role model.

“I’m genuinely pleased she’s coming back part time as it would be such a loss to the trust to lose the kind of experience and care Soo has.”

Dozens of prospective parents braved snow storms to attend a special event at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital last night.

The HEY Baby Carousel attracted 64 mums-to-be, dads, partners and friends despite the “Beast From the East” forcing widespread disruption.

Midwives from Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust were on hand to answer questions, give advice and practical information to people preparing for the arrival of their new babies.

Mel Lee, part of the HEY Baby team, said: “We were really pleased that so many people had made the effort to come to our event despite the weather.

“We hope people found it useful and we’d encourage all people awaiting their new arrivals to come to our next event.

“There’s a great atmosphere, you’ll get lots of help and advice on a whole range of subjects and you can have a chat over a cuppa with other people who are also expecting their babies.”

FitMums, aquanatal swimming group Puddle Ducks and exercise and wellbeing support group Us Mums attended the event giving out information to people.

Andy’s Man Club, a group offering support to prospective dads who may be feeling overwhelmed as the birth of their child approaches, also came along to the event.

Ashley, one of the group’s members, said one of the partners who attended a previous Carousel had now come along to the group and was benefiting from the service.

“Coming here has been worth it because we’re actually helping people,” he said “They’re coming up to the stand, they’re finding out what we d and then they’re coming along to a meeting so it’s great.”

Healthy lifestyles midwife Caroline Clark was educating people about the sugar content in snacks, illustrating the 16 sugar cubes in a single strawberry milkshake on her stand.

Stop smoking services and breastfeeding supporters were also handing out information along with the team of newborn hearing screeners who can pick up potential hearing problems within hours of a baby being born at the hospital.

As well as midwives who could talk to mums about the delivery ward, staff from the Fatima Allam Birth Centre were also giving out information about the midwifery-led unit, an option for those women considered at low risk of complications.

Holly Nobbs with son Junior and friend Hannah Seekings

Holly Nobbs, 26, came along with best friend Hannah Seekings and seven year-old son Junior to find out about delivering her third baby at the birth centre.

She said: “It’s a great event and they give you loads of information. I would have loved it if it had been here when I was having my first because you don’t know a lot and it would have been a big help.

“But even though this is my third, I’m still finding out things. I wanted to find out about the Fatima Allam Birth Centre and the pictures look great. I hope I’ll be able to have my baby there.”

The next Carousel will be held on Wednesday, March 28, between 6pm and 8pm at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital. There’s no need for an appointment, just drop in and get a wam welcome from our team.

Families are benefiting from a new hospital service supporting families to find the right care home or respite care.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is commissioning a new service to help families through the difficult decision of placing a loved one in residential or nursing care.

Under the new scheme, people who have been assessed by local authority social care teams as requiring residential or nursing care are ‘matched’ with homes best suited to their needs.

They and their families are then taken to visit the selection and are supported by fully trained staff as they make their decision, with the team able to place patients in care homes within an average of three days.

Michelle Veitch, the trust’s deputy chief operating officer, said: “We understand the decision to place a loved one in a residential or nursing home is not an easy one to make.

“But, for many families, there comes a time when people who have cared for a husband or wife or a parent can’t manage anymore.

“Over the years, we have seen many families struggle through the process and we wanted to introduce a new way of working that would relieve some of that burden.

“It’s early days but we believe this service will make a real difference to the people in our care and prevent them staying in hospital where their health needs can be better met elsewhere.”

The trust has commissioned CHS Healthcare, which already works with hospitals to reduce the length of time a person stays in hospital once they are fit enough to be discharged while families decide about their future care.

Although that may mean some people going into residential or nursing care, it can also mean short stays in respite care until someone is well enough to return home.

Kelvyn Casson was supported by the new service to find suitable respite care for his 92-year-old mother after she fell and broke her hip at her flat in East Yorkshire.

His mother was assessed as requiring care by the in-hospital assessment team after undergoing a partial hip replacement and Mr Casson, who lives 120 miles away in Northamptonshire, was put in contact with the team.

They then took him to visit care homes and he had made up his mind after visiting two of the three on the list and his mother now settled in her new environment as she gets back on her feet after surgery.

Mr Casson said: “This is a wonderful service and helped me so much in making these tough decisions. If you have people around you with experience of these things, they can help you without forcing you into any situation and it makes the decision easier.”

Mandy Griezans, business manager at CHS Healthcare, said:  “We’ve got a bespoke database with all the information on all the homes available in the area so we can help families find places that can offer the care their loved one needs.

“We then contact the families and take them to two or three places to visit at a time to suit them, even at night or at weekends if people are working.

“The final decision is left to the family or the patient if they have capacity.”

The new service has received 32 referrals since it was introduced on January 29 for patients living in the East Riding. Patients requiring residential or nursing care and have Hull GPs will benefit from the service from this week.

With research showing patients over 80 suffer 10 years of muscle ageing for every 10 days spent in a hospital bed, the new service is allowing people to be discharged to a facility more suited to their health needs more quickly.

Michelle Veitch said: “Our aim is always to get people home from hospital as soon as they are well enough to leave our care.

“But if people require further support, we will do what we can to ensure they and their families get the help they need.”

Women who suffer miscarriages in the early stages of pregnancy are to be offered ultrasound images of their babies.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust recently introduced special “Forget-Me-Not” memory boxes to help women cope with the loss of their child in the first few weeks of pregnancy.

Now, the trust is introducing a new policy to ensure parents enduring the loss of their babies will be offered scan photographs.

Chief medical officer Kevin Phillips, a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, said: “We understand and appreciate how difficult it is for parents to lose a child, regardless of when that occurs in a pregnancy.

“We are determined to offer compassionate care to every women and this new service is part of the work we are undertaking to support women miscarrying in the first few weeks.

“Some women will want to keep an image of their baby and, where that is possible and the image can be picked up by the sonographer on the ultrasound, we will be able to provide that service.

“We understand some women will not wish to have an image but we feel it is important to let women know we can now provide this service.”

The trust introduced the memory boxes last year to help parents who lose a child to miscarriage, ectopic or molar pregnancy.

While memory boxes were already provided for women losing babies in later stages of pregnancy or shortly after birth, staff nurse Hayley Ellenton came up with the idea of providing the boxes for women on Cedar Ward at the Woman and Children’s Hospital and in the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit.

She set up a fund to buy and fill the box with items including a packet of forget-me-not flower seeds to plant in remembrance, a journal and candle, a bespoke pendant and a memorial certificate to mark the day the pregnancy was lost.

A major teaching hospital is extending its job opportunities to student nurses after interviewing record numbers in the past week.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has offered new careers to around 165 students, set to qualify as adult nurses in September, so far.

Now, following the latest success of its “Remarkable People, Extraordinary Place” recruitment campaign, the trust is increasing the number of career pathways open to students to attract more applications.

It is also making the application process easier, with students able to select their own interview days and times.

Simon Nearney, director of workforce at the trust, said: “We’re opening up most of specialties to student nurses to allow them to experience career paths they may not have considered during their training.

“We’re introducing 18-month rotations as an option, where students will spend six months in three diverse areas across the range of hospital services to enable our new recruits to experience the full spectrum of nursing.

“From theatre and frontline emergency work to ward-based nursing in specialities including medical elderly, neurology and women’s health, we can offer students complete grounding in the profession and allow them to determine where they would like to work.”

The trust, which runs Hull Royal Infirmary, Castle Hill Hospital, Hull Women and Children’s Hospital and Hull Eye Hospital, is on course to hire record numbers of newly qualified nurses in 2018/19 to boost existing staff levels.

While the majority of applications have come from the University of Hull, applications have also been received from students at universities in Lincoln, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Manchester and Tees-side.

As part of the latest recruitment drive, the trust is attending university recruitment fairs and is holding open days to encourage more students to apply for roles upon qualification.

The trust has simplified its application process, allowing candidates to select their own interview times to suit the rest of their commitments through its “choose a date” service

Visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/join-hey-interviews-then-a-career-in-adult-nursing-registration-41457964889 to find out more.

Mr Nearney said: “People are attracted by our message that we’re a trust on the up which can offer them first-class training to pursue attractive and rewarding careers.

“We’ve attracted a high standard and calibre of students and we’re pleased to be able to offer so many opportunities to begin their careers here with us, surrounded by dedicated teams of professionals who put patient care at the heart of everything they do.”

As well as rewarding career pathways, the trust will pay bridge fees for students living in the south bank for the first year and offer relocation packages for students living further afield.

Four interview panels featuring nurses already employed at different levels in the trust will conduct the interviews this week, with successful candidates notified within 24 hours.

To take up the job offer, students must submit their dissertation and pass their final exams at the end of their three-year degrees.

They will be hired by the trust as Band 2 health care assistants until they receive their nursing PIN numbers from the Nursing and Midwifery Council, allowing them to familiarise themselves with their new working environment and start earning.

New recruits will benefit from a fully-supported “Let’s Get Started” induction process as they put their academic skills to practical use working alongside fully qualified staff on the wards and theatres.

Patients well enough to be discharged from hospital are returning home sooner after the launch of a new seven-day service.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is teaming up with the British Red Cross to offer the assisted discharge scheme to patients ready to be discharged from Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham.

And, for the first time, the service is operating seven days a week between 10am and 6pm and patients with East Riding GPs are now benefiting from the extended service as well as those living in Hull.

Michelle Veitch, deputy chief operation officer at the trust, said: “Many of our patients are living with complex health conditions. While they value their independence, they do require some form of support in the immediate aftermath of hospital stays.

“Offering this service means our patients are being supported in those first few days at home while they are getting back on their feet.

“It also means we are able to free up beds to cope with increasing admissions of patients with complex health conditions seen at hospitals all over the country this winter.”

Research shows 10 days in a hospital bed causes the equivalent of 10 years’ ageing in the muscles of patients over 80 so it is imperative older people are discharged as soon as they are well enough to go home.

The scheme was running five days a week for people registered with a Hull GP. However, after additional funding was released by NHS England to help hospitals cope with additional winter pressures, the scheme was extended to seven days and to include patients from the East Riding.

The assisted discharge service sees the Red Cross working with hospital teams to identify patients ready to be discharged from hospital with additional support.

In the six weeks since the scheme was extended in January, 215 patients have been helped by hospital staff and the Red Cross to return home sooner from Hull Royal Infirmary. The service from Castle Hill is due to begin shortly.

Patients must be well enough to travel in salon-type cars and are then driven home by Red Cross drivers without having to wait for an ambulance or patient transport services, freeing up vehicles and reducing the length of time they have to wait in patient discharge lounges.

Once home, Red Cross staff and volunteers will check on the person in their own environment, ensuring they have provisions, family or friends have been contacted and alert systems such as Lifeline are working.

Judith Lund, British Red Cross independent living service manager for East Yorkshire, said: “Our role is to make sure the patient is safe and well and then stay in touch with them signposting to other services where necessary.

“We find that the emotional support and care given by our staff is important in the first hours after discharge and makes it less likely that a vulnerable person will call for further medical assistance.

“Having our services available in hospitals means we’re on hand to help people get home as soon as it’s medically safe for them to do so.”

Fathers and partners feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of becoming a parent will be supported at a hospital event next week helping couples prepare for the birth of their baby.

Midwives and health teams trained in pregnancy support, birth, home safety and child care will be at the next Hey Baby Carousel at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital on Wednesday, February 28.

Mental health teams and voluntary group Andy’s Man Club will be on hand to speak to people who may be feeling overwhelmed by the thought of parenthood.

Childbirth education administrator Hayley Rust said: “Becoming a parent can be an overwhelming feeling for both parents but support is there for everyone, right through a pregnancy and beyond.

“Often, the focus is on the woman and the baby and some partners feel left out and unable to share their feelings.

“But no-one needs to feel alone and we’re all here to help. People can speak to us privately at the event or arrange to attend a follow-up service at a more convenient time.”

Carousel events were launched by Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in September and the drop-in events, which run from 6pm to 8pm on the last Wednesday in the month, have proved hugely popular.

Hundreds of couples have attended the Carousels and the Hey Baby team are now seeing couples who first attended shortly after they discovered they were expecting a baby who are now preparing for the birth.

Melanie Lee, birth education midwife who leads the HEY Baby team, said: “The great thing about the Carousel events is that even if people came before, they can pick up new information on the next stage of their pregnancy or start thinking about their options for birth as their due date approaches.

“We’ve got information to help couples during pregnancy, at the time of birth and beyond so people can always find something which will be of benefit to them, regardless of which stage they are at.”

Midwives working at the hospital and in the community can talk women through their options and birth plans, offering support and guidance to help women make the best choice for them and their babies.

They can also sign MAT B1 forms required for maternity payments for working women and to enable them to benefit from free prescriptions and dental care.

Midwives from the Fatima Allam Birth Centre will also attend the event to outline the service available to women with uncomplicated pregnancies  and couples can also find out information about home or water births. Midwives from the Labour Ward at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital will also be available to answer questions women may have about their birth options on the obstetric led unit.

Humber Fire and Rescue will also be available to discuss home and fire safety alongside dental health and child care teams.

Drop into the HEY Baby Carousel in the foyer and café area of Hull Women and Children’s Hospital on Wednesday, February 28, between 6pm and 8pm if you’d like to attend. There’s no need to book a place and refreshments will be available from the hospital café on the ground floor.

A children’s surgeon is raising awareness of the dangers of magnets after saving the lives of children falling victim to a new ‘body piercing’ craze.

Hull Royal Infirmary’s paediatric surgery department has treated three children who have swallowed high powered ball-bearing magnets in the past three months.

Sanja Besarovic, a consultant paediatric surgeon at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, has written to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents as the latest craze where young people attempt to mimic body piercings sweeps schools.

Ms Besarovic, known to the parents of seriously ill children in East Yorkshire as Miss B, said: “We have seen three cases in the past three months alone and I am concerned about the growing incidence of this problem.

“Parents and schools should be aware of this craze so they can warn children of the life-threatening risks especially if swallowed at different times.

“Most of children are asymptomatic and first symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting develop only after damage had been done.”

Consultant paediatric surgeon Sanja Besarovic

It is believed youngsters are attempting to mimic body piercings, unaware that the magnets stick to each other through loops of gastrointestinal tract and could cause bowel perforation or intestinal blockage uf they are swallowed.

Three children, including a four-year-old, were rushed to Hull Royal after swallowing ball magnets. The four-year-old child was lucky to escape injury as the magnets stuck to each other and passed through their digestive system without complications.

However, the two others were admitted to the children’s ward with significant internal damage.

One suffered a perforated stomach and duodenum after swallowing nine ball magnets while another had a small bowel perforation. Both underwent major surgery including a laparotomy and bowel resection.

Ms Besarovic said: “We have been able to save these children but I’m growing increasingly concerned that this is happening more often.

“Both of the children recovered well after surgery but the next child may not be so lucky.”

People have been turning up at Hull Royal Infirmary’s A&E department to ask emergency staff to remove acrylic nails and squeeze their blackheads.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is producing a video revealing the non-medical requests from the public as emergency frontline teams come under the toughest winter pressures in recent years.

In the video, nursing staff tell how people have arrived at the emergency care area at Hull Royal Infirmary to ask them to remove false nails and even squeeze blackheads.

Others have turned up in the department with stomach upsets despite the widespread availability of over-the-counter remedies and the risk of spreading the bug throughout the hospital.

Kevin Philips, chief medical officer at the trust, said: “The staff working in our emergency department must be free to deal with people facing life-threatening emergencies.

“However, some of the ‘problems’ staff are asked to deal with are not emergencies or even problems requiring medical attention.

“We are trying our best to cope with the demands of winter as we see increasing numbers of patients with complex health conditions who need to be admitted to hospital.

“We are asking for the public’s help to ensure our staff are there to help those most in need of attention and use alternative services if they do not have a medical emergency.”

The video has been produced as part of the trust’s “A&E: It’s Serious Stuff” advertising campaign to urge the public to use alternative health services such as their GP, pharmacies, minor injuries units and the urgent care centre at Bransholme.

Bus advertising, billboards and posters have been produced with slogans including “Give A&E a break. Not a sprain” and “A&E. That’s emergency care. Not emergency contraceptives”.

Posters are also appearing in pub toilets with the message “Being drunk isn’t an accident. It’s not an emergency either”  in an attempt to persuade drinkers not to visit A&E with hangovers or the effects of excessive alcohol consumption.