Inside Story is the UCLH staff magazine

Top Dr Foster award for UCLH – page 3ANDSeb lights up open event – pages 4 & 5PLUSNew radiotherapy treatment – page 7

Inside StoryD e c e m b e r 2 0 1 1Follow us: @uclh

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newsUCLH wins top award

The Trust was a winner at the prestigious Health Service Journal (HSJ) Awards in the category Enhancing Quality and Efficiency in Services for Children and Young People.Rebecca Thompson, nurse consultant for paediatric and adolescent diabetes,

Dr Deborah Christie, consultant clinical psychologist, and Professor Peter Hindmarsh, paediatric diabetes consultant, collected the award.

Rebecca said: “Our campaign has been about making every young person with diabetes matter.

“We are delighted that our efforts to increase access to services have been recognised at this level.”

The Trust was also short-listed in two further categories - Good Corporate Citizenship and Managing Long Term Conditions.

Contact us If you have any information you would like included in Inside Story, or on Insight, contact: Communications Unit, 2nd Floor Central, 250 Euston Road, London NW1 2PG. Email: communications@uclh.nhs.uk, Tel: ext 79897, Fax: ext 79401.

Front cover: Seb Coe with chairman Richard Murley

Getting ready for the Cancer Centre – outpatientsIt’s all change in the cancer division as services prepare for the move to the new UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre in April 2012. It’s not just a case of moving existing services to a new location, the design of the new building will determine how services are provided. Jessica Tudor Williams, Cancer Centre general manager said: “Taking the old ways of working into the new Centre is simply not an option - we have to improve the way we deliver services, to match the improved environment provided by the Cancer Centre”. And that is where the productive outpatients’ project comes in. Run by the cancer division and the QEP team, the project has achieved impressive results, dramatically reducing average waiting times in the lymphoma clinic from hours to just 20 minutes. Gulen Kaplan, outpatients project assistant explains how a few simple

steps have made a big difference “Getting everyone involved in a typical patient pathway in a room together was a real eye opener. Teams were surprised to learn about some of the issues their colleagues encountered

and were able to offer possible solutions. Small things – like prioritising blood results for patients who need to take their results into their consultations with them, or asking patients to weigh themselves upon arrival at the clinic – have made a big difference to clinic waiting times.”Kirit Ardeshna, consultant haematologist and lead clinician for the Cancer Centre, added: “We recognise that waiting for long periods of time to see the doctor can be exhausting and frustrating for patients especially when there are not feeling well. We are determined to understand how we can improve the way we work in order to reduce clinic waiting times as much as possible. It is hoped that lessons learned from our five pilot clinics can be implemented in other areas, with the long term ambition of virtually eliminating waits in the Cancer Centre”.

Staff nurse Jane Conway and healthcare assistant Jasmin Rivera go through discharge arrangements with patient Rafael Hurtado on T14 South

Dr Deborah Christie, Prof Peter Hindmarsh, a representative from the award sponsor, Rebecca Thompson and the Right Honourable Michael Portillo

Kirit Ardeshna and Gulen Kaplan

4months

to go

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news

Who said hospital can’t be fun?There was plenty of festive cheer in the air, as more than 100 young patients – past and present – were VIP guests at a party organised by T11 staff. As well as entertainment, there were presents for every child, part-funded by the London Fire Brigade. Elsewhere, the cast of Aladdin were conjuring up some Christmas magic for patients in paediatric outpatients, the department’s first ever pantomime. It was organised by senior play specialist Liz Wilkinson and supported by Marks & Spencer. The Starlight Children’s Foundation helped fund both events.Not to be outdone, HR administrator Rob Newman (pictured right) took part in a 5K fun run in Greenwich Park to raise funds for the Charitable Foundation Cancer Centre appeal. Dressed as Santa, of course!

UCLH named London trust of the yearUCLH has been named the top NHS hospital trust in London, according to the Dr Foster Hospital Guide. The Trust was among four across the country to receive the accolade for the quality of care it delivers to patients. It is the second time in just three years that UCLH has been named a Dr Foster Trust of the Year and the third time in a decade. The award is based on UCLH’s low mortality rates and feedback from patients. Two of the Trust’s hospitals – The Heart Hospital and the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine – are among those most highly recommended by patients, according to the guide.Sir Robert Naylor, UCLH chief executive, said: “I would like to congratulate every single member of staff who has helped us achieve such high standards. You can have new hospital facilities and all of the modern equipment money can buy, but our greatest asset will always be our staff.“Quality is our guiding principle and when patients ask their doctor: ‘Will it

be safe? What will be the outcome? and what will the experience be like?’ we respond that these are our priorities - safety, outcomes and experience. “We have put a lot of work into educating staff about the importance of treating patients with dignity and respect and involving them in

decisions about their care. It is really satisfying that this is paying off and is reflected in the experience patients have when they come to UCLH.”The Trust also scored highly in the national inpatient survey which covers areas including dignity and respect and involving patients in decisions about their care.

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festive open event

Seb Coe lit up UCLH’s festive open event and praised staff for ensuring London will be ‘in safe hands’ during next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The sixth annual event - the biggest and best yet - attracted around 1,000 visitors.

University College Hospital is a designated ‘Olympic hospital’ for the London 2012 Games and will provide healthcare to visitors, spectators, dignitaries and others referred from polyclinics in the Olympic village.

Before switching on the Christmas tree lights, Seb, chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), said: “This hospital is playing a huge and important part in the delivery of our Games. As Chairman of the Organising Committee it is very, very reassuring to know that our competitors, the Olympic community and spectators that come to London are in safe hands.”

He presented chocolate gold medals to the winners of the best display stands – the Acute Medical Unit and the infection control team (dressed as bug-busting ninja warriors). Judges chairman Richard Murley, deputy chief executive Mike Foster and chief nurse Katherine Fenton said it had been a ‘tough decision’ because they had been impressed by all the 50 display stands.

Addressing the crowds, chairman Richard Murley said: “It’s very good to see so many staff, patients and members of the public here for what has been an absolutely fabulous occasion. People have put in so much effort to demonstrate the fantastic work we do for our patients at UCLH.”

The event is organised by the Trust’s communications unit. Look out for the open event photo gallery on Insight on 23 December.

UCLH festive open event

Best display stand – the winners: the acute medical unit... and our bug-busting infection control warriors

Richard Murley gives his best shot

It’s a bug life! The eye catching display from the Hospital for Tropical Diseases

Some of the Cancer Centre team show off the new UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre

Seb Coe focuses on Ophthalmology

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festive open event

and our bug-busting infection control warriors

Richard Murley gives his best shot

It’s a bug life! The eye catching display from the Hospital for Tropical DiseasesWinning smiles: Elke Tullet and Darielle Proctor from the Communications Unit with Seb Coe

Consultant nurse Vicki Leah with deputy chief executive Mike Foster and chief nurse Katherine Fenton

Our tours team: Deborah Glastonbury and Tom Hughes

Seb Coe visits the sports medicine and orthopaedics stand

Health matters: Seb Coe chats about RLHIM

Chairman Richard Murley with previous chairman Peter Dixon and chief executive Sir Robert Naylor

Fire trainer Neil Bailey and Trust security advisor Rod Townley with our Mr Switch It!

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Nursing and midwifery strategy – shaping the future In a radical new move, the Trust’s three year strategy for nursing and midwifery is being developed by staff at grass roots level following a series of creative, brainstorming sessions.For the first time nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, non-clinical staff and patient governors are playing a direct role in shaping the direction of nursing and midwifery at the Trust until 2015.The strategy will link to the Trust’s mission statement to provide top quality patient care, excellent education and world class research.Chief nurse Katherine Fenton, said: “We want to get a range of perspectives from a range of staff. We are conscious we do not want to make a plan in isolation.”Sir Robert Naylor, UCLH chief executive, said the Trust was starting from a position of ‘great strength’ and

he recognised the contribution made by our nurses and midwives.He added: “Our organisation is not just about buildings and facilities and equipment. It is about people. We (the board) can set strategies and priorities but our aspirations need to be reflected at every level.”As part of the process to draw up strategic priorities, staff reflected on the wider context and the challenges the Trust is likely to face in the next few years: the national and international economic crisis; an ageing population; shifting patterns of health care commissioning and provision; a move towards more integrated care and tackling a growing – and most would argue false public perception of how nursing has become less ‘caring’ over the decades.The draft strategy will shortly be distributed for comment.

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‘Holographic nurse’ to help reduce the risk of infection UCH is the first hospital in the country to introduce a ‘virtual nurse’ to greet staff and patients on their arrival and remind them about the importance of following good infection control practice.As well as advising staff, patients and visitors about the importance of hand hygiene and cleanliness, the virtual nurse also keeps patients and visitors informed about other Trust projects.The virtual nurse is just one tactic being used by UCH to improve awareness of the importance of infection control. The virtual nurse is reflected via high definition video projectors onto a specially developed material which produces a crystal clear image. It is funded by Interserve and provided by The Healthcare Messaging Group. Visitors will be regularly prompted by the virtual nurse to clean their hands at the many hand gel dispenser points around the hospital. The unit has two working dispenser units built into the design, so visitors can take immediate action.Should the trial prove successful, patients can look forward to seeing additional virtual units throughout the Trust, welcoming patients, visitors and staff at its other key locations – providing a wide range of information.Trevor Payne (pictured right with the virtual nurse), director of estates & facilities at UCLH, said: “We are proud to be the first hospital in the UK to introduce a virtual nurse as part of our campaign to tackle infection.”

Chief nurse Katherine Fenton

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First teenage cancer patients to get treatment on the moveTeenage cancer patients are benefiting from a new type of treatment which gives them the freedom to stay on the move. Instead of having days of drug treatment at UCH, they can stay overnight or for a number of days in a nearby ‘home from home’, if they are well enough, take a walk or invite friends to come and visit them away from hospital.Ambulatory cancer care, uses portable medical pumps and new ways of managing treatment – to give patients greater freedom.Safety and quality of care remains paramount. They receive daily checks from their clinical team and, if they feel unwell, they can telephone the unit’s urgent advice line at any time and return to UCH, if necessary. Aaron Maddox, 14, is one of the first young patients to benefit. Aaron was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (a rare bone cancer)

in March and has been having chemotherapy ever since, with limited days off. The treatment protocol has been exhausting.In the summer of 2011, his mother Susanne was informed about Paul’s House, a 16-bed house provided by children and young people’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent which supports families of children travelling to London to UCH. Instead of being confined to the ward, his chemotherapy drugs were packed into a small rucksack and infused directly into his bloodstream using a special pump. “It’s so peaceful here,” said Susanne. “Aaron gets very tired after his chemotherapy so he can sleep and it means he isn’t stuck on a hospital ward. The medical staff are only two minutes up the road and available on a 24-hour hotline. All the rooms here have a phone which goes directly to the hospital. We stay here at

every opportunity – it makes a huge difference to Aaron’s wellbeing and sense of normality.”Alison Finch, senior nurse and matron on UCH’s children’s and young people’s cancer units said: “Cancer treatment can be extremely hard going and very disruptive to family life. Children and young people are often in hospital for long periods away from their family and friends. We owe it to them to help make their life as normal as possible.”

New hope for HelenA groundbreaking form of radiotherapy which uses pinpoint precision to target tumours is offering new hope to patients at UCLH. Cancer patients at UCLH are the first in the country to benefit from the TrueBeam linear accelerator which delivers precise radiotherapy and radiosurgery alongside real-time imaging. It is particularly effective for lung, liver, pancreas and other mobile tumours. One of the first patients to use TrueBeam is Helen Lau (pictured below with her son Mylo). In 2009, within five weeks of complaining of blurred vision, Helen found herself undergoing brain surgery

at the NHNN to remove a tumour the size of a pea. During this time she also learnt she was pregnant and went completely blind.“Those five weeks were so scary, not knowing what was happening, why it was happening. Diagnosis was a relief. The medical team did not give me false hope, they did not promise I would get my sight back after surgery but I did. It was instant.”Helen’s tumour was removed and she went on to give birth to her son,

Mylo, in May 2010. But a few months later, her tumour was back. “This time around, I knew the signs and I went to the doctor straight away. The tumour had grown back really quickly and was the size of a Brussels sprout.”A second round of surgery for Helen, 40, was followed by a course of radiotherapy treatment last month using TrueBeam, which has been provided by HCA International, with financial support from the children’s cancer charity Fight for Life.

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Aaron and his mother Susanne

Patient Helen Lau being helped on Truebeam by superintendent radiographer Loretta Allen

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the back page

Archives In 1921, staff and patients from ward four were encouraged to be part of the festive fun!

Marathon manDr Steve Pereira, consultant for gastrointestinal services and hepato pancreato biliary cancer, recently ran the Luton Marathon to help raise funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK’s goal to double survival rates within the next five years. Steve said: “I made it – a bit slower than I hoped, but I made it!”.

Secret lives For paediatric consultant Caro Minasian it must rank as one of the most intimidating experiences of his career. Imagine – the burden of knowing that one false move could mean childhood dreams melting away like snow in springtime.“I’m fundamentally quite a shy person and it was quite intimidating walking into a room and booming HO! HO! HO! at the top of my voice. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were looking at me. I found it a very big responsibility – almost as much as the clinical work I do.”Of course, as all good boys and girls know, there IS only one real Santa. And Caro isn’t he. Nevertheless, when Father Christmas was waylaid at the last minute, Caro stepped into his very large black, shiny boots. “I sat in this grotto in paediatric outpatients and the children were queuing up. No one pulled my beard – a few of them tried to peer into my hood – but, on the whole, they were very well behaved and it was lovely to

see them as children enjoying themselves rather than young patients. It was a lot of fun, I thoroughly enjoyed it. That beard was very itchy though.”The festive spirit is alive and well for Caro. “I have two young children and we do the whole ‘glass of port, tangerine, stocking at the end of the bed stuff’. It’s a time for family.”Did Santa fulfil his own childhood requests? “My best Christmas present ever was when I was 11 years old. I had spent two months in hospital after being hit by a car and my greatest wish was to be back at home for Christmas. I still feel moved when I think about it.”Caro would love to hand out presents at UCH again this year but is expecting an early delivery to the Minasian household. “We’re expecting a baby girl!,” he said with delight.Surely one of the greatest gifts of all – what more could one wish for?

Hands full: with baby Michael, the son of colleague Michaela Musial, paediatric staff nurse

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