Advent calendars are as much a part of the Christmas build-up as office parties and secret Santas.

But NHS workers on a children’s ward at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital are embarking on a “reverse” advent calendar to help a Hull family in need.

Nurses, health care assistants, doctors and support staff on Acorn Ward have been collecting tins and packets of food and sweet treats to help a dad bringing up four young children aged six to 11 on his own.

Play specialist Mags Higson, who came up with the idea, said: “We don’t realise how fortunate we are sometimes and forget there are people far less fortunate than us who could do with some help.

“Christmas is a time to give something back. It’s not about always having everything.”

Staff on Acorn Ward are bringing in donations to help family in need

Mags, who has worked for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for 18 years, started a collection for a reverse advent calendar on the ward after hearing about the man bringing up his four children single-handedly.

She said: “The whole family had to flee their own country and they have been in Hull for three years. There are four young children and we’re trying to make sure we give the family a good Christmas.

“Everybody on the ward has brought something in like tins of beans or spaghetti and packets of pasta.

“We’ve managed to collect quite a bit so now, we’re going to try and collect some presents for stockings so the children have something to open on Christmas day.”

Joanne O’Connor, sister on Acorn Ward, said the entire team caring for Hull’s sick children had decided to support Mags in her efforts to make a difference to the family.

“We’re really proud of Mags,” said Joanne. “It was all her idea and we think it’s a great thing for us to do.

“We’re all getting behind her idea and bringing in stuff. It’s nice to make a difference to other people’s lives, especially at this time of year.”

The family of a foster mum to more than 150 children have donated fans to a hospital to help patients.

Tina Moore, 62, died in November from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with her family by her bedside at Hull Royal Infirmary.

Now, Mrs Moore’s family have donated 15 fans and a cheque for £50 as a thank you to staff on Ward Five after raising more than £300 at her funeral.

Her husband Bill said: “I just can’t thank the staff enough. Everyone on the ward, the nurses, all the members of staff, just couldn’t do enough for my wife.

“I came into their world and saw how they worked 14-hour shifts and I just think they’re angels. They are tremendous.”

Mr and Mrs Moore dedicated their lives to helping children from difficult backgrounds, providing them with a safe haven.

“My wife was just my princess,” Mr Moore said. “I miss her every minute of every day.

“She felt the same about the hospital staff as I do. She was under the care of Sega Pathmanathan and he saw her in the car park once when we were here for something else.

“He was so concerned about how she looked that he told her to come in that Monday and she got an appointment for that day.

“That sums up the care we received at the hospital and we can’t thank them enough.”

Mr Moore, of North Bransholme, said he came up with the idea to buy fans for the ward while his wife was being cared for by staff.

“When she had a flare-up with her COPD, she used to get so breathless and we’d have fans on in the house and the door open and everything just to give her some relief,” he said.

“In the hospital, she was sharing a fan with the patient next to her and I just knew that if I ever had extra money, I’d buy fans for the hospital.

“I was really glad to do this for you and if I ever come into money, it’s all going to the hospital because I’m so grateful for all that was done for my wife.”

Anne Littlefield, sister on Ward Five, thanked Mr Moore and his family for their generosity.

She said: “All the team feel it was a pleasure to look after Tina and her lovely family.

“Having these fans will make such a difference to our patients and we would like to say a massive thank you to the family for their help.”

He came into the world seven hours ago but he’s alert, wriggling in his cot.

Mum Jennifer Hemingway, a senior staff nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit, gazes at new born son Frederick Thomas, born a few minutes before 3am.

Now just 10am, Frederick Thomas, likely to be known by his family as Freddie, is about to be screened for hearing problems.

“We try to screen all the babies in the maternity unit before they go home,” says senior screener Allison Bird, placing a tiny soft-tipped ear piece in his ears while she measures a response. “It’s important that any issues are picked up early.”

Frederick Thomas is one of 6,500 babies screened every year by the eight-strong neonatal hearing screening team at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital.

Babies born at home or at Scarborough and Scunthorpe hospitals but whose parents have an East Riding GP are also seen by the team at clinics at Women and Children’s, Goole, Beverley and Bridlington.

The Hull team has achieved a 99.7 per cent pick-up rate, one of the best in the country, after the national programme was launched here in 2003.

One to two babies in every 1,000 born have permanent hearing loss in one or both ears. For babies spending more than 48 hours in intensive care, it’s one in 100.

Identifying problems early on can ensure the child is supported in developing language, speech and communication skills.

The team need silence to conduct their tests

Neonatal hearing screeners Kristina Purdon, Marcel Khan and Kath Bagshaw are on duty with Allison today at their office on Rowan Ward.

Most of the team has been together since the start so there’s easy camaraderie and work is ticked off with minimum fuss. Everyone knows what to do, is aware of their role and the support is there if they need it.

Dressed in green trousers and white tunic tops, they share out the list of babies to be seen. There are 19 today, a typical day.

Some babies have just been born and will be checked before they go home while others are special care babies on NICU. Premature babies cannot be tested until they reach 34 weeks’ gestation.

The team wait for babies to be settled, often just after feeds or while they are asleep, as wriggling babies can make the reading inaccurate.

For the first screening test, Allison and the team fit the ear piece into the babies’ ears connected to an automated handheld device measuring otoacoustic emissions (AOAEs).

When a soft clicking sound stimulates the cochlea, the outer hair cells vibrate and the vibration also produces a sound that travels back through the ear to the ear piece as a response. If there’s no response, the test is repeated.

Clear responses are not always possible, given how soon the tests are carried out after birth. A lack of response can mean the baby was unsettled, there was background noise on the ward or the baby had fluid in its ear. But it can also be a warning sign of hearing problems.

Frederick Thomas’s right ear produces a clear response. It’s difficult to get a reading from his second ear so Allison will be back later that day to repeat the test.

Mum Pauline Szyc with newborn son Mason Suddaby

Along the corridor, Paulina Szyc cradles son Mason Suddaby in her arms while Allison fits the ear piece.

All screeners have “quiet please, hearing test in progress” signs attached to their trolleys to pin on the outside of doors. But in a busy ward environment, silence is not always possible.

It’s one of those days today. Like Frederick Thomas, Allison can’t get a response from Mason’s ears. She tells Paulina she’ll be back.

When babies are tested so early, a lack of clear response is a common problem. While it might make sense to carry out the tests later once birth fluid has subsided, there are concerns more babies would go untested as some mums would be unlikely to return to hospital for a further appointment.  Also, it could cause a delay in diagnosing a hearing problem.

“We try and make it as easy as possible for them and do it while they’re here,” says Allison. “We try to reassure them there’s unlikely to be anything to worry about but we need to make them aware of the need for the screening to take place.

“But, sometimes, there is something wrong and we need to prepare them for that, to put that possibility in their mind.”

When there is no response from the AOAE, a second screen known as an automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) is carried out. This time, sensors are placed on the baby’s forehead, neck and shoulders.

Tiny headphones are placed over the baby’s ears while gentle clicking sounds are played in a screening test lasting anything from five to 15 minutes.

Results are given to the mother as soon as the test is completed. If clear responses are not given for one or both ears, the baby is referred to audiology for more in-depth tests within four weeks.

The swift turnaround means babies as young as eight weeks old can be fitted with hearing aids.

It’s an essential service but the team realised some women were not aware of its importance so two members of the team now attend the monthly Hey Baby Carousel events at the hospital to explain their work to expectant mothers and fathers.

Allison says: “The important thing for us is good communication with the mums. It is important for us to communicate our message and show why their baby needs this.

“And if there are problems, it’s better to know.”

Multi-million pound donation from Dr Assem Allam will provide a centre of research excellence and replacement clinical facilities

Local businessman and philanthropist, Dr Assem Allam (pictured, at the opening of the Allam Robotics Centre, Castle Hill), has pledged to donate approximately £3m to Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to provide enhanced clinical research and clinical facilities at Hull Royal Infirmary.

Once completed the proposed scheme would see diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic bone disease services re-located from their current home in the Brocklehurst building on Anlaby Road to a modern facility adjacent to the Women and Children’s Hospital. While patients would directly benefit from a much improved environment the overall aim is to enhance and develop clinical research facilities in diabetes, endocrinology and metabolic bone disease at Hull Royal Infirmary and help in attracting high calibre research staff and research funding streams into our region.

In recent years Dr Allam and his family have contributed significant donations to the improvement of health facilities in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. In 2014 a £1.4m donation enabled the development of robotic surgery at Castle Hill Hospital. In April this year, the Fatima Allam Birth Centre was established through a gift of £370,000 generously made by Mrs Fatima Allam, Dr Allam’s wife. Dr Allam and his family have also given significant financial support to medical research activities over recent years.  Only last month Her Majesty the Queen opened the £28m Allam Medical Building at the University of Hull, made possible thanks to a multi-million pound donation from Dr Allam.

Dr Allam said: “If we are to deliver a world class research facility we need to be able to attract a high calibre of staff and combine that recruitment with the necessary ‘state-of-the-art’ accommodation. It is my objective to facilitate the creation of a centre for clinical research excellence that will be recognised at national and international level. We are working on the designs for this building at present and that will determine the final costs for this project but I want this to be a construction with outstanding design features on the Hull Royal Infirmary site.”

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has recognised for some time that the research and clinical facilities housed in the Brocklehurst building need to be both modernised and expanded. With NHS budgets challenged both regionally and nationally the donation from Dr Allam will make it possible to replace the existing building with a new purpose-built facility on the Hull Royal Infirmary site.

Thozhukat Sathyapalan, Professor of Endocrinology, Hull York Medical School, said:

“Diabetes is a global epidemic and over one in 20 people in the UK have diabetes with significant consequences to their health. Endocrine and metabolic disorders such as thyroid disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome and osteoporosis also have a tremendous impact on health and quality of life affecting millions of people. This state of the art, purpose built facility will enable Hull to develop a centre of clinical research excellence and care in diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism. This will build on the successful and ongoing research programmes which are taking place in the Brocklehurst building and for it to be recognised both nationally and internationally.”

Chris Long, Trust Chief Executive, said:

“This will be another significant donation from Dr Allam and his family to the Trust, building on earlier support that has helped to transform the lives of our patients and their families through investment in modern, highly technical equipment, buildings and research. We are extremely grateful to Dr Allam for his continued support and we will work closely with him to ensure his vision for improvements to clinical research and patient facilities in our region are achieved.”

Detailed planning work is now ongoing to define requirements and to design the building. It is planned that the new facility will be commissioned by June 2019.

New mums are being offered a chance to ensure their babies are part of a major piece of artwork celebrating Hull’s year as City of Culture.

Hundreds of footprints of the babies born during 2017 have been recreated in a wall mural hanging in the foyer of Hull Women and Children’s Hospital.

However, mothers of babies whose footprints were not taken around the time of their birth are being invited to a special event later this month to ensure their children are included.

Midwife Melanie Lee said: “We are hearing from some mums who say that, for whatever reason, their baby’s footprint wasn’t taken.

“Even if their babies are now coming up for their first birthday, we will still take footprints of any baby born this year so they can be part of the artwork.”

Mothers of any baby born this year and missing from the artwork are being invited to the next HEY Baby Carousel event at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital on December 20 between 6pm and 8pm with their babies so staff members can take impressions of footprints.

Postcards of the footprints are on sale from the main reception of Hull Women and Children’s Hospital or from the community midwives’ office on the first floor.

For more information about the postcards, call 01482 382658.

Women expecting their babies will also receive vital information on staying well during their pregnancy, baby advice and information about giving birth at the event. They will also be able to discuss their birth plans with midwives.

Frontline doctors are appealing to the public to only use Hull Royal Infirmary’s A&E in genuine emergencies after a surge in attendances over the past two days.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is warning of major pressure on the hospitals after more than 800 patients attended the emergency department this week.

On Monday, 420 patients turned up for treatment while 404 attended Hull Royal Infirmary yesterday, far more than the normal daily average attendances of around 330.

Today, Dr Jacquelyn Smithson, medical director for the trust’s emergency department, appealed to the public to use GPs, pharmacies and urgent care centre at Bransholme and in Beverley, Bridlington and Goole to ease the intense pressure currently facing A&E.

She said: “We come to work every single day with a determination to do everything we can to help people but now, we need the public’s help.

“We are seeing far more people than we would normally expect and this is having a major impact on waiting times.

“We are trying to provide the best possible care for those most in need of our help so we are appealing to people with minor illnesses or injuries to consider other health care facilities where they will be given the help they need and not come to A&E unless they have a severe illness or injury that cannot be treated elsewhere.

“Not only will this help them by ensuring they are not sitting waiting hours and hours to be seen, it will also allow our staff in A&E to concentrate on people in genuine, life-threatening emergencies.”

More than 200 people waited more than four hours to be treated, admitted to hospital or discharged home because of the surge in attendances on Monday and Tuesday.

The pressure on the department also meant some ambulance crews were waiting around 90 minutes before patients could be handed over to emergency staff.

Dr Smithson said: “Our staff are working flat out to try and cope with the pressure we are currently under but it is having a significant impact on the service we aim to provide.

“We are sorry people are waiting too long to be seen and would like to reassure everyone we are working very hard to see and treat the hundreds of patients who are currently streaming through our doors.

“However, we would appeal to patients and public to use our ED for genuine health emergencies only.”

She was on shift when a colleague from the Department of Elderly Medicine arrived with a story which moved her to tears.

Health care assistant Sally Hilton, 39, was working on Acorn Ward in Hull Women and Children’s Hospital when a member of staff from the 8^th floor appealed to them for help.

Sally said: “She asked if there was any chance we could help them because they had a patient who was due to go home the next day but wouldn’t go home without ‘their baby’.

“We have dolls on the ward here so we gave her one for the patient and they went home quite happy but it just really choked us.”

Sally, who has worked for the trust for more than eight years and became a health care assistant on Acorn 18 months ago, had planned good deeds alongside treats such as a holiday and shopping trips to mark her 40^th birthday in June.

And she decided to add the ambition of collecting 40 dolls in 40 days to help calm and comfort patients with dementia coming to Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

“I used the power of Facebook to post a status and it just went crazy,” said Sally.

“Within two weeks, I’d collected 64 dolls and it’s now gone up to 77. It was lovely to see the generosity, not just of my friends and family, but of people I didn’t know who heard what I was doing.

“I’d people coming up to my door to give me dolls and you should have seen my living room by the time I was finished.”

Supported by ward sister Joanne O’Connor, Sally was able to hand over the dolls to the Department of Elderly Medicine to give to patients on Ward 8, 80, 9 and 90.

Joanne said: “We’re all very proud of Sally. I was on shift with her when it happened and it moved us all, thinking about the patient.

“But Sally was determined to do something about it and we’re thinking of making it an annual event.”

Debbie Hamer, business manager for the wards, said: “Some of our patients go back to their younger days and like to have a little cuddle with a doll or a teddy.

“This was just such a lovely gesture by Sally and patients are free to take them home.”

The family of a mother who touched hearts across East Yorkshire during her battle with breast cancer are helping people living in pain.

Mum-of-two Kerry Key won widespread admiration for her refusal to give up after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Determined to continue looking after her son Lewis and daughter Georgia, Kerry threw herself into fundraising for local charities before she died in February 2013, seven years after her initial diagnosis. She was just 36.

Now, the Kerry Key Foundation, set up by her friends and family, has donated almost £2,000 to help patients with lymphoedema, a painful, chronic condition which causes swelling.

(left to right): Shirley Evans, Laura Davies, Carol Dobson, Margaret Davies and Annette Holmes

Shirley Evans, a lymphoedema specialist nurse working for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said the donation will fund a lymphatic drainage machine which can be used by patients to ease symptoms at home.

She said: “This machine gives a lot of comfort to patients and helps them manage their symptoms.

“We have three machines which we loan out and we used to give them to patients for a month at a time. However, the demand has grown so much that we can only give it to people for two weeks at a time.

“Now, thanks to the foundation, we can afford to buy another machine which will be such a benefit to our patients.”

Lymphoedema is often linked to the removal of lymph nodes during cancer treatment and the foundation heard about the need for an additional machine from patient Carol Dobson.

Carol works alongside Laura Davies at Preston Primary, where the women are both teaching assistants. Laura was Kerry’s cousin and is a trustee of the foundation along with her mother Margaret, Kerry’s aunt.

Laura said: “Kerry was a big part of people’s lives, even those who didn’t know her. She was such a bubbly person and her determination to fight gave us courage throughout her illness.”

Margaret said: “We wanted to make sure she was never forgotten so we started the foundation to keep her memory alive.

“We like to help local charities and good causes and when Carol told us about the need for the machine, we thought we could help.

“Kerry had lymphedema so it seemed like the right thing to do.”

Shirley works in the team based at the Queen’s Centre with nurses Annette Holmes and Fiona Kent and administrator Pat Gray.

She said: “We expect to take delivery of the new machine very soon so we hope to be able to loan it out to patients before Christmas.

“We can’t thank the foundation enough for what they are doing for our patients.”

Energy bills at East Yorkshire’s two main hospitals could be slashed by £39m after plans for a major energy upgrade were approved.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust plans to build two combined heat and power (CHP) plants at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital as part of a £13.7m energy scheme.

New LED lighting would also be introduced at both hospitals, with electrical systems overhauled and upgraded to improve efficiency.

Duncan Taylor, director of estates, facilities and development, told a meeting of the trust board this month the scheme had the potential to save £39m in energy costs over 25 years.

Mr Taylor said the current energy facilities at Hull Royal had “exceeded the end of their useful life and are no longer fit for purpose.”

He said: “We have been looking at a number of ways of saving significant energy within the organisation over the last couple of years.

“Energy costs are only going to get higher and this will effectively halve our energy costs. Reducing our carbon makes a significant reduction in the target for CO2 emissions so this seems like a win-win.”

As well as complying with carbon reduction targets set for 2020 and reaping major carbon energy and financial savings, the work will also reduce backlog maintenance, currently standing at £64m.

The trust board has approved an outline business case for the major programme of works and it will now be passed to NHS Improvement for consideration.

If approved, a loan application for £13.7m will then be submitted to NHS Improvement to fund the work.

The latest panel of the Born into a City of Culture artwork project was installed at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital earlier today. The October panel, with its autumnal oranges, reds and browns, is the tenth of 12 panels to be mounted in the hospital’s entrance.

The project involves taking the footprint of every baby born in Hull in 2017 and using these images to create a unique piece of artwork depicting trees throughout the seasons. The babies’ footprints represent leaves, while midwives hand prints also feature as the ‘supporting’ tree trunks.

Every month, a new panel is installed and the October panel features 396 sets of tiny toes from babies born in either the Fatima Allam Birth Centre, the labour ward, or at home during the month. To date, there are more than 4,000 babies represented across the piece, which will be complete by January 2018.

The Born into a City of Culture project is supported by the Hull 2017 Creative Communities programme and has been made possible with the support of local design and marketing company, Jenko.

Postcards featuring images of the baby footprint panels are available for sale within the Women and Children’s Hospital or via the community midwifery office, priced £1 each. Each postcard represents two months i.e. January and February; March and April; May and June; July and August; and the latest postcard features the footprints of babies born during September and October. The whole set will be complete in 6 postcards.