Welcome to the latest edition of your UHSussex staff newsletter, a round-up of the news stories from across our hospitals throughout April |
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Dear colleagues,
This month we celebrated our admin and clerical colleagues, highlighted the work of our Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS), and shared the praise given to two of our senior radiographers.
We provided an update on our new Urology Investigation and Treatment Centre, marked Earth Day with green pledges from colleagues, and opened a new dedicated Gynaecology Assessment Unit.
What's more, we shared the new name and look of our hospital charity, unveiled tapestries of artwork created by staff during the pandemic, and applauded colleagues on using a pioneering treatment to provide life-saving care.
So please grab a cuppa and take some time out to catch up on our news.
Thank you,
Communications
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Celebrating Admin Day 2023 |
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On this year's National Admin Day, we heard from leaders and colleagues about how much they appreciate our admin and clerical colleagues.
David Grantham, Chief People Officer, added: "Your skills and experience are essential in helping to make sure our services run effectively so that we can provide the best possible care to patients."
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Pioneering cold-water treatment used to help runner at Brighton Marathon |
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Colleagues from UHSussex were involved in treating a runner at Brighton Marathon with pioneering new cold-water treatment.
When Onder Mengi suffered heat stroke complications as he approached the finish line of the Brighton Marathon, he was helped by the specialist medical team using an innovative cold-water immersion method, developed by the military.
Dr Todd Leckie, UHSussex Anaesthetics Doctoral Fellow, co-led the cold-water immersion medical team, which included UHSussex colleagues Dr Freddie Stourton, Anaesthetist, and Dr Luke Hodgson, Intensive Care Consultant.
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New Urology Centre takes shape at the Princess Royal Hospital |
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A new £8m Urology Investigation and Treatment Centre (UITC) at Princess Royal Hospital has reached an important milestone with the delivery of the modules needed to create the building.
The centre, which opens this autumn, will be able to accommodate at least 1,000 new patients each month, more than double the current capacity.
The space and facilities in the centre will allow different specialists from the urology multi-disciplinary team to see patients on the same day, under one roof. Most patients will only have to visit the centre once, with diagnosis, treatment, discharge or referral happening during a single visit.
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Senior radiographers receive heartfelt thank you in local paper |
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The wonderful efforts of two senior radiographers at St Richard's Hospital have been highlighted in the Chichester Observer by the patient they treated.
The patient, who thought his MRI scheduled on Easter Monday would not go ahead, wrote to the newspaper to praise Holly Duckett and Clare Walker for quickly putting him at ease and being 'professionally efficient.'
He described their 'actions and cheerfulness on a bank holiday' and added they 'deserve not only my thanks but also the thanks from all the other patients who were treated with the same respect, politeness and professional courtesies.'
This sincere thanks adds to many compliments our staff receive which far exceed complaints in the Family and Friends Test and is testament to our compassionate staff.
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Reflective artwork created by staff proudly unveiled across hospital sites |
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Tapestries of artwork created by colleagues who attended wellbeing workshops during the pandemic are now pride of place in our hospital corridors for staff, patients and visitors to admire.
The workshops were open to all staff and provided a creative space to reflect on the challenges of Covid, unwind with a five-minute hand and neck massage, and try a 15-minute art activity. This included cynotype printing, creating a blueprint on fabric using foliage picked from our hospital gardens.
The individually designed squares of fabric have now been stitched together and were unveiled at Worthing, Princess Royal, St Richard’s and the Royal Sussex County hospitals this month. Our satellite sites are now home to several canvas cynotype prints.
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Thank you to our Cancer CNS colleagues |
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He said: “The nurses were amazing and even helped me with things like diet and finances. I’m so grateful that it was all dealt with quickly and the cancer was caught early. It means I can watch my granddaughter grow up and spend time with my family who mean the world to me.”
Thank you to all our incredible Cancer CNSs for the vital role you play in supporting patients, like Terry, throughout their cancer journey.
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New dedicated unit opens in Haywards Heath for emergency gynaecology patients |
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Patients at the Princess Royal Hospital requiring urgent gynaecological assessments can now be seen in a dedicated unit.
The new Gynaecology Assessment Unit (GAU) streamlines patients needing urgent gynaecological care directly from the hospital’s Emergency Department (ED), as well as those referred from GPs and Urgent Treatment Centres.
The unit provides a rapid assessment and diagnostic service, which not only significantly reduces the time these patients spend in ED, but also enables other patients to be seen more quickly in the department.
The pathway is already a tried and tested process at other UHSussex hospital sites.
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The “Improving hospital-based stroke care” 12-week public consultation ended on Friday 21 April with more than 1,000 survey responses received.
Hundreds more people discussed the proposal to develop an Acute Stroke Centre at St Richard’s at 65 community events attended by NHS Sussex and UHSussex staff.
Chief of Specialist Division, Dr Ryan Watkins, said: “Staff responses accounted for nearly a quarter of completed surveys, which is great – but there are still opportunities for staff to ask questions, raise issues, or make suggestions.
“We have a new stroke steering group meeting every month that will be looking at the consultation feedback and working out how we best implement improvements.
“If anyone wishes to raise an issue, or make a suggestion for the group’s consideration, please email Sue.Adams9@nhs.net, adding “Stroke steering group” to the subject bar of the email.”
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Junior doctor strikes across our sites |
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Four days of junior doctor strikes took place this month as a result of the British Medical Association (BMA) and Hospital Consultants and Specialist Association (HCSA) voting to take action. |
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Second round of refreshment collections |
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Our Health and Wellbeing Team held another successful refreshment collection event this month, for colleagues across our sites.
Nominated team members from departments collected their allocated jars of coffee, tea bags and bottles of squash from dedicated pick up points.
The collections were made possible thanks to generous support from our dedicated charity My University Hospitals Sussex. (Please see details of our new hospital charity name below)
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Patient First Planet First news |
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Illuminating UV technology on trial in ENT to help us clean green |
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The Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) team at Royal Sussex County Hospital have recently introduced new technology in the form of an ultraviolet-C (UV-C) sterilisation cabinet, called a UV Smart D60. On loan until the end of May, the new technology is a quicker, greener way of disinfecting nasendoscopes within the department.
How does it work? The D60 takes just 60 seconds to sterilise each scope, which is a thin flexible tube used for examining the nasal tube, throat, and larynx. It uses low-energy UV-C light following a pre-clean with water and replaces the previous system of cleaning via the Sterile Services Department (SSD) team and subsequent drying in department dry cabinets. This took several hours from start to finish and involved cleaning chemicals and high energy output.
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To support this year's Earth Day focus of 'invest in our planet', we shared pledges made by our colleagues during UHSussex Environment Week.
Their small steps to make greener choices helps also helps to support our aims to reach Net Zero by 2040.
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A message from the dedicated Trust charities |
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We are delighted to announce that Love Your Hospital and BSUH Charity have officially merged, effective 1 April 2023.
Our two charities have been working together in partnership for the past couple of years following the merger of the legacy Trusts, and are proud to now formally unite as one charity.
Our new charity name is My University Hospitals Sussex, in honour of our dedication to the Trust.
While we have a new name and a refreshed new look, our mission remains the same – to raise funds to support UHSussex patients, families and staff above and beyond what is possible through core government funding alone.
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In case you missed it....
Here's our round-up of all the stories and updates across the Trust in April:
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Patient feedback highlights |
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