1

Inside ‘For you’ – the future of NUH

Could you be an Environmental Champion?

Meet our Domestic Abuse Nurse

‘For you’ – the future of NUH

Could you be anEnvironmental Champion?

Meet our Domestic Abuse Nurse

NUHorizonsNovember/December 2009Issue 30

2

WelcomeWelcome to the November - December 2009 edition of NUHorizons magazine. I hope you enjoy the magazine and like the new-look which is part of our new Trust-wide branding.

Contacts

More than 7,000 NUH staff have attended the ‘For you’ events, held at QMC and City campuses, to discuss the future of NUH as we strive to become the best acute teaching Trust in the country by 2016.

We’re delighted that so many staff took the time to attend the sessions and share their thoughts and ideas, warts and all, on how we can work together to improve services.

We’re keen to hear your views and challenges on how we can improve and I would like to thank you for generating so many ideas at the events.

Please read the article in this issue about what our ambitious plans mean for staff and patients. All of us have an important part to play in NUH’s future and I hope the ‘For you’ events have assured you that your views and ideas are being sought. More information about the issues raised at the events will be published from February 2010.

Danny Mortimer Director of HR

NUHorizons, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust’s staff magazine, is published bi-monthly by the Communications Team. Comments and story ideas are welcomed.

Contact Elizabeth Champion, Internal Communications Manager on 0115 924 9924 ext 62133 or elizabeth.champion@nuh.nhs.uk

Extracts from NUHorizons should not be reproduced without prior permission from the Communications Team.

The opinions expressed in NUHorizons are not necessarily those of Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

This publication is available in other languages and formats. For further information please contact 0115 924 9924 ext 62133. A plain text version is available.

Contents Launch of the Five Moments

hand hygiene campaign

Car parking update and artists transform children’s clinic

Learning lessons in pathology

Could you be an Environmental Champion?

‘For you’ – your thoughts on the events

Meet NUH’s Domestic Abuse Nurse

Your News

3

4-5

6

9

10-11

12-13

14-15

3

NUH launches WHO Hand Hygiene campaignAn infection prevention and control specialist from the World Health Organisation (WHO) joined staff at NUH to launch a new Hand Hygiene campaign which aims to improve patient safety.

Julie Storr, Project Manager at the WHO, talked to staff about the WHO Five Moments for Hand Hygiene campaign at the QMC last month.

The Five Moments approach defi nes the key moments when healthcare workers should wash their hands. This includes: before touching a patient, before procedures, after body fl uid exposure, after touching a patient and after touching a patient’s surroundings. It can be used in any healthcare setting and in the patient’s own home.

Julie was Project Director of the National Patient Safety Agency’s cleanyourhands campaign in England and Wales. She is also a contributing author of the recently published WHO guidelines on hand hygiene in healthcare.

As part of NUH’s ongoing commitment to improving hand hygiene we have signed up to the WHO Save Lives: Clean your hands initiative. This currently involves 5,801 hospitals or health institutions in 125 countries, including 188 in the UK alone.

Debbie Trigg, Infection Prevention and Control Matron from NUH, said: “We are delighted that Julie joined us for the launch of the Five Moments campaign here at NUH. Hand hygiene is very important to minimise the spread of infection and the Five Moments approach will make a big difference to improving patient safety which is our number one priority.”

“The campaign focuses on promoting hand hygiene at the crucial moments in care and treatment where it can have a big impact on improving patient safety”

Julie Storr, centre, at the Five Moments launch event

4

Since the multi-storey car park on the QMC campus closed last year, we have been drawing up plans to make sure we improve future provision of parking on

site for the benefi t of everyone.

We realise the changes to parking have been diffi cult for everyone – patients, visitors and staff. We are sorry for the inconvenience such changes have caused. Many of you have shared your views about car parking with us and this has reinforced to us once again how important this issue is to you and your colleagues.

We want to reassure you that we are progressing our plans and work is now well underway to create additional parking capacity on site at QMC. We have commissioned a major capital development on the City Hospital campus to enable a series of offi ces to be moved off the QMC campus to the City Hospital site.

We will be investing £4million to increase car parking capacity at the QMC – the old residences at the QMC (Curie Court) at the south of the campus will be demolished and a new car park will be built. This will create an additional 600-900 spaces. Once the

residences have been demolished, we expect it to take a further 12 months for the new car park to be built.

While this piece of work is being completed, we are also starting to create a new surface car park on the multi-storey car park site following its demolition. This will create a further 160 spaces, which will help to relieve more of the pressure of parking on-site. This will be in place by May 2010.

As work continues to progress to improve capacity and relieve some of the pressure of parking on site, we will continue to keep you up to date with these developments.

The next phase of the regional same-sex accommodation campaign is now underway.

The focus of phase two will be on Outpatient areas within the Trust. To show our support and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to improving privacy and dignity for patients, we held a series of information days.

We handed out information leafl ets and gave patients and visitors the opportunity to ask staff questions about same-sex accommodation and the work we are doing to improve privacy and dignity for patients.

Lesley Reilly, Matron for Outpatients, says: “Privacy and dignity matters to all patients not only inpatients and patients who will be cared for within our day case wards, but in Outpatient areas too. For many people, coming into Outpatients is the only experience they have of coming into hospital. It is therefore really important that we consider how we can improve privacy and dignity for patients in our clinic areas and therefore improve the experience at NUH for all of our patients.

“In Outpatients some key changes to help further improve privacy and dignity for our patients includes better signage, separate male and female toilets, new curtains in all clinic areas and the availability of gowns that don’t gape open at the back for patients attending x–ray.”

Same-sex accommodation campaign

UPDATE: Car parking at QMC

Top: Auxilliary Nurse Barbara Hetherington and Sister Jo RobinsonAbove: Staff Nurse Roseline Walsh

l

" When my best friend went into hospital I knew she didn't have to worry

about sharing a bathroom with male patients."

The NHS in the East Midlands is committed to ensuring patients are treated

with dignity and respect as set out in the NHS Constitution.www.eastmidlands.nhs.uk

This poster features real NHS patients from the East Midlands.

B1513101 Same Sex Posters A4.indd 2

1

5

Creative talents in Children’s Clinic The Children’s Clinic on the QMC campus has been transformed thanks to the creative talents of an international artist and the ideas of our teenage patients.

Jon Burgerman, a former Nottingham Trent University art student, and now city resident, has created two pictures for The Annex, part of the Children’s Outpatients Clinic.

His brief was put together by surveying the teenage patients at the clinic to fi nd out what they would like to see in part of the clinic aimed at older children. One of the two pictures shows Nottingham landmarks, and the other is a collection of his trademark cartoon characters.

Jon has exhibited all over the world, including the Hayward Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Musuem, and in San Francisco,

Beijing, and Milan. The work was paid for

by the Nottingham University Hospitals

Charity. The paintings cost £5,800.

Angela Horsley, Clinical Lead for the

Nottingham Children’s Hospital, says: “A

clinic visit can be a very stressful time for

anyone, particularly young people, and

research has shown that being in a more

pleasant environment can really help how

well they react to treatment.

“It’s such a privilege to have an artist of

Jon’s stature working with us, and we’re

very pleased to have the results up

on the wall.”

Chloe Johnson, Jon Burgerman and Klaudiuss Pasik in the Children’s Clinic

Chloe Johnson creates artwork for the clinic

6

Learning lessons in pathology

School children were given lessons in pathology here at NUH as part of National Pathology Week.The children visited the Trust in November to fi nd out about the varied role pathology plays in modern medicine. The aim of the session was to dispel the myth that pathologists only care for dead people by raising awareness of the vital and fascinating role that pathologists play in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.

The public also got into the spirit of National Pathology Week by getting involved in interactive displays and taking part in a quiz to guess, among other things, the number of blood samples processed by the department each year.

Dr Suha Deen, Consultant Pathologist at the Trust, said: “As pathologists we are involved in almost every aspect of patient care through the wide range of services we provide. Input from pathologists guides decisions about surgery and helps clinicians determine appropriate treatment for patients. The work of pathologists is central to almost every medical decision made today.

“We hope people will take the opportunity to visit our display and fi nd out for themselves about the vital role pathology plays in modern medicine.”

Millions of tests are interpreted by pathologists every year. In fact 70% of all diagnoses in the NHS are undertaken by pathologists. On average there are 14 pathology tests each year for every man, woman and child – from blood and urine tests to smear tests and biopsies. All these tests require the expertise of the pathologists to interpret their impact on the disease process.

A video illustrating the vital work of pathologists in Nottingham is now available on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzkMvNpCR2g.

High class facilities for NUH researchers Researchers at NUH are benefi ting from a facility which offers Human Tissue Authority (HTA) licensed clean rooms.

The Clinical Tissue Laboratory (CTL) provides excellent opportunities for cutting edge translational research and the development of new therapies which could transform the lives of hundreds of patients.

Changes to interpreting and translation services

From 1 December, there will be changes to interpreting and translation services at NUH.

thebigword will be supplying interpreting and translation services for NUH to help communication and understanding with non-English speakers.

Full details, contact information, FAQ’s and additional documentation can be found on the Interpreting and Translation Service intranet site

New year – new Q-ActiveQ-Active, our award-winning workplace health project, is re-launching with a range of new and exciting activities and fun challenges for staff to join in with.

In 2010 the Q-Active team wants to make the services even better and reach more people. To do this they need your help by telling them what you would like from the programme – look out for the Q-Active questionnaire coming soon.

Pathology promotion stands: fi rst row Shormila Routledge, Melanie Sisson. Livia Quattrocchi, second row Ben Baker,Suha Deen, Peter Brown

Year 10 students from Nottingham High School for Girls visiting the Neuropathology Laboratory

7

Newest and oldest patients celebrate Nottingham’s 1,000th cochlear implant

The Nottingham Cochlear Implant Programme, now run by NUH, carried out the fi rst cochlear implant on a child in 1989. The operation, which implants an electronic device to give hearing to deaf people, is carried out at the QMC, and Ropewalk House carries out assessments and therapy as well as in patients’ homes and schools.

Patients and staff cut a cake marking the 1,000th operation. The programme team has also compiled a video ‘scrapbook’ describing how patients’ lives have been improved by the operation.

Tracey Twomey, Clinical Scientist and Head of Service, said: “It is wonderful to be celebrating this milestone together with our patients. As a team, we are working at

the forefront of the fi eld to maximise the listening opportunities for deaf children and adults. We now routinely expect to offer two cochlear implants to children under the age of one, which is really benefi ting patients.

“The improvement in quality of life for deaf people can be tremendous. Profoundly deaf children can more easily learn to understand speech and to talk, improving education and employment opportunities. Deafened adults are able to resume activities, whether social or work-based, which had become much more diffi cult as they lost their hearing.

Len Hayday with baby Ruby Hallows

“The centre is about much more than just the operation. We continue to support patients afterwards, and as the treatments advance, we are able to do more and more”

Nottingham’s 1,000th cochlear implant patient – an eight-month old baby – celebrated with one of the pioneering programme’s oldest recipients, aged 85, at a gathering of patients helped by the operation.

Celebration of the 1,000th cochlear implant

8

Facilities transformed at Hayward House An improvement project

to transform facilities

for people at the end

of life has offi cially

opened with a ceremony

attended by patients

and their relatives.

The facilities at Hayward House Palliative Care Unit at our City Hospital campus were opened by Terry Mahoney and Jamie Rooke – who have been closely involved in the project.

Terry, a Hayward House patient and Jamie, the husband of sadly deceased patient, Katrina Rooke, were invited to open the new facilities because Terry and Katrina were involved in deciding how the money should be spent for the benefi t of all patients at Hayward House.

Terry and Jamie cut the ribbon to unveil the updated facilities which include improvements to the conservatory and dining room. New patient menus have also been designed and the patients have been involved in creating new artwork.

A grant of £30,000 was awarded by the independent charitable organisation, The King’s Fund in conjunction with the Department of Health as part of a national £1million Enhancing the Healing Environment (EHE) designed to enable front line staff and their patients to improve the quality of care by improving the environment in which care is delivered. The grant was augmented with additional funding from NUH.

Jamie and Terry were joined at the ceremony by NUH Chairman, Peter Barrett, Chief Executive, Peter Homa, Sarah Waller, EHE Programme Director and Hedley Finn, EHE Programme Design Consultant from the project as well as patients, volunteers, staff, community groups and business involved in the work.

NUH is one of 19 NHS Trusts nationally to

successfully bid for funds for its clinically-

led project to improve the environment

and facilities for patients at the end of life,

the bereaved and the front-line staff who

care for them.

Dr Bisharat El Khoury, consultant in

Palliative Medicine at NUH, says: “We are

delighted that Terry and Jamie agreed

to offi ciate at the launch because Terry

and Jamie’s wife Katrina were involved

at every stage of our plans, working

with our project team to develop these

wonderful facilities, which will help to

improve the quality of care we provide for

this vulnerable group of people as they

approach the end of life.”

Terry Mahoney said: “It’s an honour to be

asked to open the new improved facilities.

Although it is sad that Katrina is not here

to share this moment with us, I know this

was a proud moment for her husband,

Jamie who joined us.

“The staff at Hayward House do an

amazing job providing emotional support

and care for patients as they reach the

end of life extending this support to our

relatives and friends too. Unfortunately

the fabric of the building was looking a

little tired and now thanks to this money

from the King’s Fund and the hospital the

Outpatients and Day Care Centre looks

absolutely fabulous. Patients will now

be able to enjoy a much more pleasant

environment when they come to

Hayward House.”

Terry Mahoney and Jamie Rooke open the new facilities

9

Help reduce NUH’s carbon footprint

We’ve all heard about climate change in the news. We’ve all felt the effect of rising fuel prices and we all know at least a little about the things we should be doing to reduce our environmental impact.

At NUH climate change is high on our agenda and we are committed to raising awareness and reducing our carbon footprint. The environmental campaign is our opportunity to make a difference and we’re keen for all staff to be involved.

The campaign is called Little Changes, Big Impact and will show how simple things, such as switching off a PC after you’ve used it, can have a huge positive impact on the environment.

Last year the Trust was responsible for emitting 69,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. We are sure that with the support of all our staff we can reduce that number just by making small changes to the way we work. This should also bring about a more pleasant working environment for all of us.

For this campaign to be a success we need your help. We are creating a network of Environmental Champions across the Trust who will be the local point of contact for environmental issues – making sure problems and ideas are communicated to the environment team.

If you are interested in volunteering to be an Environmental Champion or if you would like more information please contact Alberto Rodriguez Jaume, Environmental Services and Sustainable Development Manager by email alberto.rodriguezjaume@nuh.nhs.uk or on ext 56898.

In an attempt to reduce our carbon footprint NUH is launching an environmental campaign and needs your help to champion the cause in your team.

BIGIMPACT

Little Changes

Top tips for tackling climate change• Turn off you PC

• Around 2,400 PCs are left on each night across the two campuses

• Turning off half of these PCs would save 150 tonnes of CO2 per year

• Save on travel and time by using conference calls for staff meetings between QMC and City Hospital campuses

• Reduce the amount of printing

• A reduction of 10% would save 3million sheets of paper per year across the Trust

• This would save 62 tonnes of CO2 per year from manufacturing the paper

• There would also be carbon savings from the electricity and toner used

Images: Nursing Times

10

For you The Future oMore than 7,000 staff attended the ‘For you’ sessions, held at QMC and City campuses, to share their views and suggestions on the future of NUH.The events were informative and interactive with presentations on our vision for the future of NUH. This included ‘We are here for you’ – our values and behaviours programme, clinical strategies, and how staff can get involved in ‘Better for you’ – our Whole Hospitals Change programme.

We are determined that NUH will achieve our vision of becoming the best acute teaching Trust in the country by 2016. The ‘For you’ events were just the start of our journey as we strive to fulfi l this goal.

To be successful we undoubtedly need the involvement, support, help and commitment of all our staff and we are delighted that so many of you took time out to attend the sessions. This is the fi rst time we have ever organised events for our staff on such a scale. It was an ambitious project.

It was an opportunity for you to share your ideas on how we can improve as a Trust. We asked you to tell us what we do well, what we could do better and how we can make these improvements.

Whether you have an idea to improve your individual area or an idea to benefi t the Trust, we welcome your thoughts so we can move forward. We will use your ideas to evaluate how we work and how we can implement changes to improve our service for the benefi t of our staff and our patients.

We will be analysing all of the feedback we received from the postcards handed out at the session in some detail over the coming weeks and months and will get back to you with an update early in the new year. Over 3,000 postcards were returned over the two week launch period – each with a different idea,

suggestion or recommendation. Feedback continues to come in via e-mail and postcards. A summary of the questions raised at the sessions will be answered in future issues of NUHorizons, Trust Briefi ng and posted on NUHnet.

There is still an opportunity to tell us your views, ideas or suggestions – we’d love to hear your comments. Please email your comments to us: foryou@nuh.nhs.uk.

If you missed the sessions and would like to fi nd out more, a video of the event is available on the NUH intranet, NUHnet. Alternatively please speak to your line manager.

Amanda Callow, Service Improvement Manager, discusses the programme with staffKatie Moore, Head of Patient and Public Involvement

11

e of NUH

Ian Siara, Directorate HR Manager, shares the vision of NUH

Staff involvement is essential to the future of NUH

The ‘For you’ events covered three main subjects which are central to the future of NUH

1 ‘We are here for you’ (our values and behaviours programme)

2 Better for you (Whole Hospitals Change programme)

3 Clinical Service strategies – looking at our focus for the next fi ve years

Your CommentsWe asked staff for their views on the ‘For you’ events. This is what they told us:“It was nice to hear what other people have got to say and be given the chance to put your point of view across. A real effort has been put into organising something like this – it will be interesting to see if things change.”

“It was good to get the information and have the chance to explain exactly what is happening on our level on the ground-fl oor. It will be interesting to see what changes are going to be made. I did think the sessions were too big – some people didn’t get involved perhaps because they were nervous to speak in front of a large group.”

“It’s a process that we have been through before. I don’t have much faith in the outcome because ultimately we don’t have the resources to make change happen. Hopefully this time will be different.”

“It’s worthwhile if something comes out of it. At the moment I think a lot of staff don’t think it applies to them. We are all cogs in the same wheel and we have to work together to make the patient experience as good as it can be.”

12

With incidents of domestic violence on the increase, NUH has appointed a Lead Nurse for Domestic Abuse in the Emergency Department to support staff and patients. Selecia Kench was appointed to the role in August this year and is determined to help safeguard survivors of domestic abuse and support the staff who are responsible for their care.

After 10 years of working in the Emergency Department at NUH Selecia says she had developed a special interest in safeguarding and was keen to make this a main focus of her role. She was delighted when the position, which is funded by NHS Nottingham City, was advertised.

“I have always been interested in safeguarding, child protection and domestic abuse,” says Selecia. “I was the link nurse in the Emergency Department for eight years and helped to deliver safeguarding training. I was thrilled when I was offered the position of Domestic Abuse Nurse because I can now put all my energies into raising awareness about the issue instead of having to juggle it around my other work.”

Selecia is now a full time member of the Safeguarding team and works in the Emergency Department, which is the main focus of her role. For the fi rst few months Selecia has been raising awareness of her role, supporting staff and patients,

undertaking specialist training and making links with other agencies involved in dom-estic abuse. This includes having regular contact with health colleagues, the Police, probation service, housing professionals, and other agencies who are part of the Nottinghamshire Domestic Violence Forum as well as charities including Women’s Aid and Broken Rainbow.

You may also have seen Selecia raising awareness of domestic violence as part of the international day for the elimination of violence against women. Her information day at QMC was a huge success. As well as handing out information and answering question on domestic violence, Selecia also handed out white ribbons, as part of the White Ribbon Campaign which aims to end men’s violence towards women.

“Wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women,” says Selecia. “The day went really well and I had lots of staff and visitors keen to support the campaign.

“Domestic abuse is increasing mainly because of lifestyle, increased stress, and money issues given the current fi nancial situation. The positive thing is that more people are reporting it because there are systems in place for support,” adds Selecia. “That’s where my role comes in – it’s about supporting the survivor and signposting them to services available in Nottinghamshire.”

On a day-to-day basis Selecia works with colleagues in the Emergency Department to provide advice and support as they care for patients who have disclosed domestic abuse. Whether it’s the patient or the staff member who wants support Selecia will offer assistance and advice. “Staff can

Supporting survivors of domestic abuse

“Wearing a white ribbon is a personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women”

NUH’s Domestic Abuse Nurse Selecia Kench

13

page me when someone has disclosed domestic abuse and I will help support them with that patient as well as helping the patient.”

Selecia has already developed a training package for new members of staff which she hopes to roll out in the Emergency Department early next year before launching it across NUH. “I’m really motivated and enjoying the job. I think it’s valuable to have someone in this role. I’d really like to introduce routine screening so it’s easier to identify and therefore help survivors of domestic abuse. I want to make sure NUH is a safe place for survivors of domestic abuse to come.”

If you would like more information please contact Selecia on ext 62921.

Domestic abuse THE FACTS• 16% of abuse is domestic abuse

• One in four women suffer domestic abuse

• 35% of domestic abuse victims will attend the Emergency Department

• 100,000 women seek medical attention for injuries infl icted by their partner

• Two women a week are killed

• Police receive a call about domestic abuse every minute

• In Nottinghamshire, Police receive around 880 calls about domestic abuse each month Selecia with colleague Kirsty Bloor on the international day for the elimination of violence

against women

14

Fond farewell to Foxy FoxNUHonours award-winner David ‘Foxy’ Fox has retired from NUH after 16 years of loyal service.

David worked as an X-ray porter at QMC and throughout his 16 years has always shown his willingness to go the extra mile. His work and dedication was recognised at the recent NUHonours awards where he won the Diagnostic and Clinical Support Directorate Award.

Dave and his wife are both keen cricket fans and will be spending a lot of time at Trent Bridge next summer, using the Nottingham season tickets presented to him as a leaving gift from his colleagues.

He’s described as a role model for us all and his colleagues would like to say ‘thanks Foxy – you made a difference’.

Hayward House – help for heroesPatients, families, carers, volunteers and staff at Hayward House have raised more than £600 for the Help for Heroes charity.

The week-long fundraising included bring and buy sales, raffl es, a silent auction, and

a cake stall. They did a fantastic job raising £625.

Monica Beardsall, Nursing Assistant at Hayward House, who organised the event, presented a cheque to Major Denlee Rhodes and other members of the troop.

Goodbye to Margaret ReedThe Children’s Outpatients team enjoyed a bit of a do to celebrate the retirement of Staff Nurse Margaret Reed.

Margaret started her career in 1966 as a nursing cadet and went on to do her children’s nurse training at the Children’s Hospital Nottingham in 1968. She qualifi ed in 1971 winning the Sister Roberts memorial prize for the most advanced student.

After a short career break to raise her family in Cambridge, she returned to Nottingham in1984 and joined the team in Children’s Outpatients at QMC.

Margaret has made many contributions to children’s services. In 1999 she was seconded to the Short Stay Unit and in November 2004 she joined the vocational training team as an NVQ Assessor and internal verifi er, which she will continue to do part time after retiring as a registered nurse.

Margaret is a trusted and valuable member of staff and her skills, knowledge and compassion will be greatly missed in Children’s Outpatients.

Your NewsGoodbye David Fox

15

Walking on broken glassSTAFF and supporters from across NUH spent an evening walking on broken glass for charity.

The event at the Queen’s Medical Centre PGEC was the fi rst of its kind and aimed to raise £3,000 for NUH Charity. And it proved a big success, with 20 people taking part, including NUH Chief Executive, Peter Homa.

Participants were given a special ‘fear-busting’ training seminar called autogenic relaxation, before walking across 20 feet of razor-sharp glass from 1,000 broken wine bottles. Peter Homa said:

“I was a bit nervous but I was inspired by others. It was seriously weird and the sound of walking on the breaking glass was very weird. But it was great fun to do and it was great to do it with so many wonderful colleagues.”

The money raised for the NUH Charity will go towards patient care, equipment, staff training and medical research at the QMC and City Hospital.

To make a donation to the NUH Charity or get involved in fundraising go to www.nuhcharity.org.uk.

Qualifi cations for Q-Active Congratulations to our Q-Active volunteers who have been awarded the Royal Society for Public Health Level 2 Award in ‘Understanding Health Improvement’.

The new qualifi cation provides an introduction to the fundamentals of health and wellbeing, of barriers to making a change in lifestyle and

of how to help people make changes to improve their health.

Michael Woodward, Q-Active volunteer and one of the fi rst team awarded the qualifi cation, said: “Q-Active exists to promote the health and wellbeing of NUH staff and this qualifi cation is excellent news for our volunteers and for Q-Active, because it provides us with a formal qualifi cation in concepts of health and wellbeing and health promotion. We can then use this knowledge to support and assist colleagues in improving their health which has to be good news for them and good news for the patients they care for.”

Goodbye to Keith Hollis after 40 years Keith Hollis, Radiology Services Manager, has retired after 40 years of service to the NHS.

Keith worked at North Staffs Royal Infi rmary when he qualifi ed from the Nottingham School of Radiography in 1969. He moved back to Nottingham beginning his long career with NUH in 1972.

Later in a more managerial position he was responsible for the selection and overseeing the installation of millions of pounds worth of equipment when the imaging department at QMC opened.

This has steadily expanded to include CT, ultrasound, interventional angiography and MRI. Keith was involved in the research leading to the fi rst MRI scanners.

Diagnostic Imaging has grown - not just in size – but in the massive advances in technology under Keith’s management.

As Radiology Services Manager he managed over 300 staff after the merger with Nottingham City Hospital in 2006. Even after the many challenges in his career, Keith has always managed to maintain his humanity and wicked sense of humour.

Walking on GlassGoodbye Margaret Reed

16

Welcome... NUH Charity would like to welcome three new members of staff to its team. If you’d like to introduce yourself to Marjorie, Samantha or Ashleigh, feel free to drop into the charity offi ce, located on the ground fl oor of City Hospital’s Trust HQ. Here’s a little bit more about our new recruits…

Pat and David Bassett present cheque to the children’s cancer wards Marjorie Fifoot

New PA to Charity Director, Barbara CathcartWhy did you decide to work for the NUH Charity? I felt ready for a change and wanted to support a very worthwhile cause.

What are you looking forward to most about your new role? I’m looking forward to facing new challenges and becoming involved in a variety of different fundraising initiatives.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? Spare time, after constantly being on the go with my family, is spent playing the saxophone, cooking and fair weather gardening.

What were you doing before starting work for the charity? I worked as a Personal Assistant for the Matrons and Radiotherapy Services Manager in the Cancer and Associated Specialties Directorate.

Samantha Hughes Promotions Offi cer for NUH CharityWhy did you decide to work for the NUH Charity? I’ve always been interested in charity work, particularly in the health sector, so I was really

excited when this opportunity came up at the NUH Charity.

What are you looking forward to most about your new role? Meeting new people, particularly the hundreds of people who help raise money for the charity every year, and making more people aware of who we are and what we do.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? I love reading and writing and I live in the countryside so I enjoy long walks with my family and friends.

What were you doing before starting work for the charity? I was a health reporter at the Nottingham Evening Post, which is how I became aware of the NUH Charity and the great work it does for NUH.

Ashleigh Pauls Fundraising Assistant for NUH CharityWhy did you decide to work for NUH Charity? It was a chance for me to help make a difference to people’s lives and situations. Everyone has some

experience with hospitals and I believe it is everyone’s duty to put a little back into the service we heavily rely on.

What are you looking forward to most about your new role? I’m a people person and really enjoy being involved in projects and helping people. Therefore I am most looking forward to working in a successful team and getting to know everybody.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? I have my own horses which I enjoy looking after and competing. I also love playing tennis and swimming and try to do these as often as I can.

What were you doing before starting work for the charity? Before starting work here I was working in equestrian retail and was a groom for two private horse owners. It certainly kept me fi t and I enjoyed working in the fresh air.

Two decades of fundraising The children’s cancer wards at the Queen’s Medical Centre have benefi ted from a donation of £3,000 from a Nottinghamshire couple who have been fundraising for NUH for nearly two decades.

Pat and David Bassett, from Keyworth, have been raising money for cancer wards at the QMC and City Hospital campuses since Pat’s mother passed away at Hayward House 18 years ago.

So far they have raised more than £46,000 for NUH through annual sponsored walks. Tragically, Pat and David lost their granddaughter to cancer last year, but they continued their fundraising mission.

Last month they presented a cheque for £3,230 to the NUH Charity, to be spent on the children’s cancer wards where their granddaughter was treated. The money was raised by friends and family members at this year’s sponsored walk, on 4 October.

Talking about her 18 years of fundraising, Pat said: “It’s all to help fi ght cancer. Friends and family have all helped over the years – even dogs and children.”

Professor Richard Grundy, Professor of Paediatric Neuro-oncology at NUH, received the cheque and thanked the Bassetts for their continuing fundraising efforts despite their recent tragedy.