Midwives are offering antenatal classes to couples from Hull’s Polish community who are expecting a baby to ensure their children get the best start in life.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will offer the free class to Polish couples at its next Carousel event at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital on Wednesday night.

Held on the last Wednesday of every month, the HEY Baby Carousel offers advice, support and information to help women and their partners throughout their pregnancies.

An interpreter will be present to help midwives and child care experts talk to 22 Polish mums-to-be and their partners, answering their questions and providing them with information about the trust’s maternity services.

Child birth educator Melanie Lee

Child birth educator midwife Melanie Lee said: “We are here for every woman in the city so they can access the best support and advice as they prepare for their babies.

“Hull has a growing Polish community and it is right that maternity services in the city adapt and evolve to ensure every woman and their partners can benefit from the help our midwives can provide.”

The trust has produced posters in Polish to promote the new service, with details posted on its social media pages on Facebook and Twitter.

Members of the HEY Baby team have also been touring Polish shops and community venues around the city to put up their posters and inform people of the special service.

The class will take place on May 30, between 5pm and 8pm, at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital. Women are welcome to bring along a partner, family member or friend and an interpreter will be on hand if required.

Any woman who wishes to take part in the class should book her place by emailing hyp-tr.hey.baby@nhs.net or by calling 07769 671449.  

Hull Royal Infirmary staff have created a boutique on a hospital ward to help patients out of their pyjamas and into their clothes.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is taking part in #EndPJParalysis to get patients wearing everyday clothes after studies showed keeping patients in pyjamas can reduce mobility and independence, increase the risk of falls and lengthen hospital stays.

Now, Senior Sister Stephanie Hazell has created “Steph’s Boutique” on Ward 70 for patients with diabetes, endocrinology and general medical conditions at Hull Royal Infirmary.

She said: “When I managed Ward 1, staff used to bring in unwanted old clothes so patients could go home in clothes rather than nightwear to allow them to maintain their dignity when they were discharged.

“We used to get quite a few homeless people and we were able to give them new clothes when they left and I’ve just extended that idea.

“Staff have been bringing in old clothes belonging to them or members of their family so patients can wear comfortable clothes once they’re feeling better and able to get out of bed.

“We know it makes a massive difference to their wellbeing and makes them feel less vulnerable.”

The 70-day initiative will run until June 26 as part of the NHS’s 70^th anniversary celebrations.

Staff at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital are using an app to record how many patients are wearing their own clothes in an attempt to reach a national target of one million patient bed days.

On Ward 70, staff have been bringing in comfortable clothes such as jogging and tracksuit bottoms, sweatshirts, jumpers and long-sleeved tops for patients as part of their recovery.

Families and care homes are being asked to take the clothes home for washing before returning with the patient’s own clothes.

Stephanie Hazell said the ward would be grateful for donations of comfortable clothes suitable for older people.

She said: “Older people tend to feel the cold so we use jumpers, cardigans and long-sleeved tops and comfortable trousers and skirts rather than jeans or blouses with lots of buttons.”

Pub-goers are being urged to use our NHS wisely over the bank holiday as Hull’s emergency staff cope with increasing numbers of sick and injured people.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is stepping up its #SeriousStuff campaign to encourage people to use alternative services for less serious problems.

The hospital trust is working with pubs in Hull to spread the word about alternatives to A&E in case drinkers require medical attention.

Posters, beer mats and leaflets are being distributed to bars and pubs across the city to remind people about the many other health services available away from Hull Royal Infirmary.

Landlord Mark Hall, who runs The Welly, Fruit and Polar Bear, said: “We are always advising people not to go to A&E or call an ambulance unless it’s really needed so we are 100 per cent behind this campaign.

“Lots of people end up in A&E who really need to be there and yet they can’t be seen because of people turning up with minor problems.

“We’re happy to support the message that people should be going elsewhere for medical attention unless it’s a genuine emergency.”

Out-of-hospital services have improved dramatically in the last few years with a range of alternatives available closer to people’s homes to reduce waiting times.

Three Urgent Treatment Centres in Beverley, Bridlington and Goole are open from 7am to 11pm every day to help people with illnesses and injuries which are not considered emergencies. A 24-hour Urgent Care Centre is available at Bransholme Health Centre.

Many GPs are now using eConsult where patients can submit symptoms online, preventing the need to visit the GP, saving time, money and effort. All you need to do is visit your own GP’s website to see if they take part in the scheme.

People can also visit any pharmacist for help and the NHS 111 telephone helpline can offer you advice, arrange a call-back by a clinician or direct you to the best possible service.

The GP walk-in centre at Wilberforce Health Centre in Story Street, Hull, will be open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week, including the bank holiday. You don’t have to be registered with the practice and you don’t need an appointment. Just walk in.

Chief operating officer Teresa Cope said: “People often think their only option is A&E but we need people to change their mind set.

“Our emergency staff must be there for people who need them most. That means the seriously ill, injured and dying. It does not mean people who can’t get an appointment with their GP, those who have had too much to drink or those with hangovers.”

“We need to take responsibility for our own actions and blocking up our emergency department with minor problems which could be treated elsewhere is not a good use of our NHS.”

A new £1.63m ward will open at Castle Hill Hospital tomorrow to assess and treat patients with complex infectious diseases.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the UK’s designated centres for treating patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (TB) and for the assessment of possible haemorrhagic illnesses such as Ebola, dengue and yellow fever.

Ward 7 will open today with 12 specialist rooms treating patients with these highly contagious viruses and drug-resistant infections.

Infectious diseases consultants, senior nursing and ward staff have worked with a dedicated team from the trust’s Estates and Infrastructure department to design the new unit enhancing Hull’s reputation as a regional centre for the treatment of infectious diseases.

Dr Hiten Thaker, one of the trust’s infectious diseases consultants, said: “We have already become a regional hub for the treatment of HIV and hepatitis and have the authority to prescribe specialist antibiotics for drug-resistant TB.

“We already had the status because of the expertise of our personnel. Now, we have the facilities to match.

“This is an inspiring environment for our staff and it is really exciting for all of us, from the housekeepers to the auxiliary nurses, the staff nurses and the consultants.

“People now feel there is recognition for the work they have been doing and all we have achieved in the last 25 years or more.”

Five rooms are “negative pressure” isolation facilities with lobbies and en-suite showers, including one designed to care for vulnerable adults. Special ventilation systems prevent contaminated air escaping to other parts of the ward.

One room is patients with Ebola or similar conditions who are awaiting transfer to specialist treatment centres in London or Newcastle.

The first room of its kind in the Humber region, the high-level isolation room has a dirty/clean route where staff are able to take personal protection equipment on and off – known as “donning” and “doffing”.

Six other high-specification rooms will also help patients with drug-resistant TB or other infections resistant to more than one form of antibiotic.

The trust has also created a family room on the ward where relatives can stay close to seriously ill loved ones.

Hull has been treating patients with infectious diseases since the 14^th century, when sailors with syphilis, the first known cases in the world, were nursed at an Augustinian friary in the city.

Garrison Hospital opened at Sammy’s Point in 1866 and a ship’s bell used to ring in the docks to signal the arrival of a ship carrying sailors with fever. The bell now hangs outside Nightingales Restaurant at Castle Hill Hospital.

Despite having more than 200 beds treating patients with infectious diseases at one point, just one 15-bed ward remained at Castle Hill before the opening of the new ward.

Since 2012, 1,956 patients with infectious diseases have been admitted to the ward and more than 40 people with meningitis and 43 people with tuberculosis have also been treated on the ward since 2012.

Kim Pennington, pathology divisional general manager, has worked with the consultants and the estates team to ensure the smooth transfer of services from the former ward to Ward 7.

Dr Thaker said the new ward would help the trust to attract the best staff working in infectious diseases.

He said: “It provides us with the opportunity to highlight ourselves as a training centre which has all those facilities to train junior doctors to a very high level of specialist training in this area.

“It will encourage junior doctors to come and work with us and this will be very good for recruitment.”

Parents-to-be are to be given a virtual tour of Hull Women and Children’s Hospital to explain the care they can expect before, during and after the birth of their babies.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has produced a video providing an insight into maternity services provided by more than 280 midwives, midwifery assistants and clerical staff.

With around 5,000 babies born each year, the video takes viewers through the pregnancy journey from the moment women walk through the front entrance of the hospital.

Hull and East Yorkshire Women and Children’s Hospital from HEY Hospitals NHS Trust on Vimeo.

Janet Cairns, the trust’s Head of Midwifery, said: “Pregnant women and their birth partners were once able to come to hospital so they would be familiar with their surroundings when the time came for their babies to be born.

“However, these days, we can no longer offer that service to protect the dignity of the women using our service, to respect their privacy and to ensure good infection control procedures.

“But we appreciate there is still a need for women to be familiar with their surroundings and what they can expect.

“This video gives women a fantastic insight into the care they will receive from our amazing team throughout pregnancy, birth and after their babies are born.”

The video features the scanning department, where women find out when their babies are due, and the Antenatal Day Unit and Clinic, where midwives and doctors provide routine and urgent services for women before their babies are born.

It highlights the work of the community midwifery team, which supports women with antenatal and postnatal care and those choosing to give birth at home, and the antenatal and newborn screening teams, ensuring women  are empowered to make the best choices for themselves and their babies.

The work of the trust’s parent education service is showcased as the team supports antenatal classes and post natal classes across Hull and the East Riding. The HEY Baby Carousel, held on the last Wednesday of every month, has also been filmed with staff providing practical demonstrations of bathing, changing and helping babies to fall asleep safely.

The video, filmed by trust communications officer Chris Turner, also shows Maple Ward, the antenatal inpatient ward for women requiring more specialised inpatient care and where women can recover after their babies are born by caesarean section.

The Labour Ward, with teams of midwives, midwifery assistants and medical staff providing specialist care during labour and birth, also features in the video, with a pregnant woman filmed resting against a birthing pool in one of the ensuite labour rooms.

Viewers also get a virtual tour of the Fatima Allam Birth Centre, the midwifery-led unit where women with healthy pregnancies can have their babies in surroundings likened to a home from home environment rather than a hospital.

Specialist staff working in the obstetrics theatres helping women who need extra care and where babies are born by caesarean section are also shown during the seven-minute film.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, looking after the sickest babies in the region, is also part of the video to show how the trust is able to care for those infants most in need of medical attention after birth.

Filming also took place on Rowan Ward, where women are taken after they have their babies in either a two-bed or single ensuite rooms.

The trust’s healthy lifestyle midwife, hearing screening team and infant feeding co-ordinators are also introduced to the public as well as the specially trained staff helping women with their emotional wellbeing at any stage of their journey to becoming a mum.

Midwife Melanie Lee, who leads the parent education team, said: “This is a fantastic video which shows women what wonderful services we have available.

“We hope it will help reduce anxiety and prepare them by showing them what is inside the doors of our amazing hospital.

“From our antenatal services right through to birth, whether that’s in the labour ward or the Fatima Allam Birth Centre, our staff are here to help parents throughout pregnancies and in those first few days after having their babies.”

A Hull eye surgeon has become the first in UK to trial new equipment allowing greater surgical precision in the removal of cataracts.

Ophthalmology consultant Colin Vize was asked by American eye firm Bausch and Lomb to trial the new Stellaris Elite Vision Enhancement System at the Eye Hospital in Hull.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust became the first hospital trust in the UK to use the equipment during cataract removals when the equipment was brought to the Eye Hospital in April.

Results are currently being evaluated but it is thought the advanced equipment will enable patients with complex cataracts to be treated in a safe environment with greater precision and better outcomes than before.

Mr Vize said: “I’m really pleased our team was selected by Bausch and Lomb to try out the equipment. It shows we are going from strength to strength and our work with patients is being recognised on an international stage.”

Cataracts are a natural part of the ageing process and cause patchy clouding of the eye’s natural lens. Cataracts can appear in both eyes although not always at the same time or develop in the same way.

Over time, the patchiness can increase to blur vision, causing problems with driving and other daily activities.

Cataract removal is the most common operation performed in the UK where surgeons use special equipment to break up the cataract, which is then aspirated out. An artificial lens is then inserted inside the eye during the operation, which lasts around 30 minutes and is often performed as day surgery under local anaesthetic.

Last year, the Hull eye surgery team treated 5,000 people requiring cataract removal.

Mr Vize said the new equipment being developed by Bausch and Lomb could allow patients with more complex cataract conditions

He said: “This equipment is more stable and would allow us to see patients with more complex conditions. Complication rates may well be lower.

“It was a great opportunity for us to try it out and to give us an idea of what is on the market ahead of the replacement of our surgical equipment later this year.”

A surgical team working at Castle Hill Hospital is taking part in an international trial comparing two different forms of heart bypass technology.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has one of only two teams in the UK using a special bypass technique routinely to stop patients’ hearts so surgeons can carry out life-saving procedures.

Now, the team is taking part in a major global study with other countries including Greece, Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy, France and Israel to study how the technique affects 3,500 patients over the next three years.

Chief clinical perfusion scientist Lindsay McLean said: “We are the only trust in the UK apart from Plymouth to use this mini bypass technique. Of our five cardiac surgeons, four of them use the technique.

“Despite producing great results for our patients, it is still not widely accepted that this is a better way of bypass, with less impact on people than the conventional method of heart bypass.

“Taking part in this study with other teams across the world will allow us to collate a huge volume of evidence so we have a clear picture of the benefits.”

Perfusionists are highly skilled scientists playing vital roles in mainly open heart surgery. They use machines to keep oxygen flowing through the patient’s whole body while the lungs and heart have been halted deliberately to allow the surgeon to perform their life-saving work.

The scientists control equipment which breathes for the patient and circulates their blood, cleaning the blood and infusing it with red blood cells to boost recovery and reduce reliance on transplanted donor blood.

Most hospitals in the country use conventional cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) to halt the patient’s heart. However, CPB can trigger a life-threatening condition known as severe inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), similar to sepsis, in some patients when their blood comes into contact with foreign bodies during surgery.

To prevent that risk, the Castle Hill team uses a technique called minimally invasive extracorporeal circulation (MIECC).

MIECC was developed in 2005 by perfusion scientists and bioengineers to minimizes side effects and reduce the need for donor blood, meaning the patient has an improved chance of a faster recovery from surgery.

The Hull trust is considered so skilled in the technique, its staff were invited to present two master classes by Heart Research UK last year.

Mr McLean said: “This is a great opportunity for Hull to showcase our work in the field.

“We are helping to lead the way on techniques used during open heart surgery and that can only be good news for our patients now and those who will come to us in the future.”

A team of consultants, nurses, midwives and health care professionals saved two women and their babies within two days after they both developed the same rare, life-threatening complication.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust brought together the highly skilled, multi-disciplinary teams of 25 health professionals to save the mothers with morbidly adherent placenta, a life-threatening emergency which can cause women to bleed to death.

Consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician Uma Rajesh said: “We normally see two to four cases a year but it is extremely rare to do two in two days.

“Both operations were planned around two or three weeks apart but one of the women became an emergency and we just had to do it.

“We brought the whole team together and everyone had a part to play. At one time, we had nine consultants in the operating theatre.

“Both operations went well, with both mothers and their babies doing well.”

Hull Women and Children’s Hospital

In pregnancy, the placenta attaches itself to the uterine wall to nourish the baby through the umbilical cord. It then detaches from the uterus after the baby is born.

However, in morbidly adherent placenta, the placenta grows too deeply into the wall of the uterus and cannot detach itself at childbirth, leading to massive blood loss threatening the life of the mother. Hysterectomies have to be carried out as soon as the baby is born to prevent the woman bleeding to death.

Affecting around one woman in every 2,000 pregnancies, the trust normally carried out four planned caesarean hysterectomies for morbidly adherent placenta a year.

However, the two cases occurred within two days at the end of March, leading to the rapid assembly of consultants, surgeons, anaesthetists, paediatric nurses, interventional radiologists, operating department practitioners and midwives.

Trust staff had diagnosed the conditions early in the two women, including one mother referred to Hull from Scarborough, and plans were being put in place for the operations at the end of March and in the second week in April.

However, one of the women started bleeding and was rushed to Hull Women and Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery on March 22, requiring the rapid assembly of the team three weeks earlier than anticipated and the day before the planned operation involving the other woman.

Ms Rajesh said: “We had already held multi-disciplinary team meetings attended by the specialists so that we could trouble-shoot any problems that may arise.

“When the woman was brought in as an emergency, we had to assemble the whole team within two to three hours.”

Both operations were successful, with the mothers and their babies saved. Both women, who are not being identified, are currently completing outpatient assessments to monitor their recovery after major surgery.

Uma Rajesh said the trust was establishing a reputation as a centre for the complex surgery.

“Both surgeries went beautifully and we have secured good outcomes for both women,” she said.

“We are starting to see more units nearby refer cases to us because we have been able to achieve good outcomes by providing this specialist care.

“We are hopeful that we can become one of the regional centres undertaking this work in the future alongside Sheffield or Leeds. There is room for more than one hospital carrying out this work.”

Families of babies who die before or just after birth will be given the chance to spend precious time with their children in their own homes.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is now offering parents portable ‘cold cots’ if they wish to take their babies home before funerals.

Specialist bereavement midwife Sue Cooper said: “The introduction of the two portable cold cots is another step forward in improving our support for bereaved families.

“It was difficult for us to offer that service in the past because you need special conditions to look after a baby in a home environment.

“Now, thanks to the generosity of Sands charity and a family who wanted to help our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), we have two portable cold cots allowing families to take their babies home if that’s what they want to do.”

National charity Sands recommended all hospitals have a specialist bereavement midwife role and the trust introduced Sue’s role in February 2017, with support from a local charity Abbie’s Fund.

A new maternity strategy was produced alongside a national commitment to improve bereavement services around the country as grieving families had not always received appropriate care.

Hull was one of 11 hospital trusts chosen in October to trial new National Bereavement Care Plans covering five areas – the loss of a baby in early pregnancy, terminations linked to foetal abnormalities, stillbirth, neonatal death and the sudden death of a baby up into the age of one.

The trust recently introduced a new policy to offer scans and “Forget-Me-Not” memory boxes to women suffering early miscarriages, ectopic and molar pregnancies. Memory boxes are also given to families experiencing the death of their babies before or just after birth.

A dedicated room, away from the other labour rooms, has also been set up at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital where women who have been told their babies have died can be in a peaceful setting up to and after the birth of their child.

Supported by Sands, the maternity service is looking to provide a second room for additional capacity so families are not rushed to leave as they grieve their babies if another requires the special suite.

Cold cots were already available in the labour ward and in NICU but, until now, families have not been able to take their babies home.

The new portable cold cots have cold plates which can be fitted inside a Moses basket , allowing families to leave hospital and take their babies home before their funerals if they wish.

Sue Cooper said: “We want to make sure our families have options so they can begin to grieve for their babies in the best way for them.

“We are determined to ensure our service responds to people as individuals rather than adopt a blanket approach.

“At this trust, we are determined to listen to families, respond to feedback and ensure we provide women and their partners with the right support, tailored to their needs, when they experience the death of their child.”

A former chef has told how he gave up his job in a Michelin-star restaurant to work in hospital operating theatres after his wife had an emergency Caesarean section.

Phil Darwick, 34, was a chef at the Pipe and Glass in East Yorkshire when wife Anna, a nurse, was rushed into theatre to have their first daughter Lily.

He remembers how an operating department practitioner (ODP) calmed him down as his wife was prepared for surgery before supporting the family after the birth in 2009.

Phil, who works for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “I was really nervous, shaking and quite tearful but this guy started talking to me about generic stuff like football and it just helped me.

“It was the most stressful situation I’d ever been in. Never once did he say anything like everything was going to be fine but he was just so professional and it helped.”

Already contemplating a career switch for a better work/life balance, Phil considered lecturing and nursing before he spotted the course description for an operating department practitioner (ODP) at the University of Hull.

He completed a year-long access course at Hull College before qualifying as an ODP in 2013, joining Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Originally assigned to elective orthopaedic surgery at Castle Hill, he was then promoted into a more senior role in general surgery after 18 months.

Now dad to Lily, 8, Seth, 6, and two-year-old Arthur, Phil is now clinical practice educator, acting as a link between the trust and the university and supervise around 45 ODP students working on placement at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital.

Although he arranges all student placements, from work experience students at St Mary’s College in Hull to international nursing students, Phil also works one day a week in the theatres at Hull Royal Infirmary, supporting patients undergoing all forms of surgery from neurosurgery to vascular or orthopaedic trauma.

“The best part of my job is seeing people go from being an ordinary person off the street to a fully qualified ODP,” he said.

“We have mentors who work with the students and I am there as additional support in a supervisory role. They can come to me for advice and information and I’m always there in the background to help them.”

Phil is so passionate about his job and working for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust that he was one of the staff members chosen to appear on posters for the trust’s Remarkable People, Extraordinary Place recruitment campaign.

He said: “I love what I do and I’ve never regretted making that change.

“It might not seem like it at first but there are a lot of similarities between what I do now and what I did then. You stand up for a long time, you have to communicate effectively and work well under pressure, especially at Michelin star level.

“And at the end of the day, it’s all about customer satisfaction although, for me nowadays, it’s patient satisfaction that matters.”