I’m delighted to start this week with the news that our Surgery colleagues have been recognised by the HSJ (Heath Service Journal) in their annual awards nominations.

Finalists in four HSJ award categories

Four of the division’s projects have been shortlisted in the HSJ Value Awards, against hundreds of other applicants.

Our Trauma and Orthopaedics team have been shortlisted in the Operations and Performance Initiative of the Year category. In just one week, the team relocated to the Independent Treatment Centre at King George Hospital (KGH) which meant we had a Covid-protected site to safely care for our trauma patients early on in the pandemic.

The team is also up for the HSJ Value Award of the Year for its Bones Project (BHRUT Orthopaedic NHS Elective Surgery) to tackle the backlog of patients awaiting surgery due to Covid-19. We exceeded our own expectations during the ‘perfect week’, carrying out 135 joint replacements, 88 day case surgeries and 27 spinal procedures.

Our Academy of Surgery has been shortlisted for the People and Organisational Development Initiative of the Year. The Academy is an innovative training pathway for doctors wishing to pursue a surgical career and has attracted participants from all over the world, including Iraq, Egypt and Pakistan.

Lastly, we’ve also been shortlisted for the Acute Service Redesign Initiative, a project developed to train senior nurses and other healthcare professionals to become advanced surgical care practitioners and physician associates.

I’m incredibly proud of everyone involved and look forward to the winners being announced this June.

Endoscopy

Endoscopy was another area hard hit by the pandemic and we have worked closely with our system colleagues to offer as much capacity as possible for patients awaiting a diagnosis, particularly our cancer patients.

So it’s great news that not only have we been able to offer endoscopy services at both hospital sites again recently, we now have a new suite at Queen’s Hospital.

The ‘5^th room’ was inaugurated last week, with Shelagh Smith cutting the ribbon in one of her final acts before retiring.

Among those in attendance from NHS England and Improvement (NHSE/I) London were Louise Dark, Diagnostic Programme Director; Simon Bampfylde, Covid Response - Endoscopy Programme; and Andy Rhodes, Professor in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, and Clinical Director Critical Care and Diagnostics.

Sas Banerjee, Colorectal Surgeon and Endoscopy Lead for our Trust, and the Endoscopy Clinical Director for NSHE/I London, said: “I am delighted about the opening of the new endoscopy room. It means patients should have their diagnostics much sooner than at present. This has increased our capacity at Queen’s Hospital by 20 per cent.”

Thangadorai Amalesh, Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal and Laparoscopic Surgeon, added: “It was great to have people from NHSE/I London visit us and it was brilliant to showcase what we’ve done so far.

As always, I urge you to remind your friends and family of the importance of looking after their health, remind them that our hospitals are not just open for Covid patients, and assure them that we are following all national infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines to keep our patients, visitors and staff safe.

King George Hospital is a designated vaccine centre

I’m delighted that after the hard work of so many teams to get our hospital hub at KGH turned around in just seven days, this has not gone to waste. The site has now been officially designated a vaccination centre. This means that anyone who is eligible in line with the government’s criteria can now book their jab at the site. If you or anyone you know are eligible and still need to book your vaccine, you can do so via the national booking system where you will find KGH listed as an option. Wherever possible we ask that you use public transport to get the hub. It has its own external entrance so you do not need to go into the hospital itself. We look forward to seeing you there.

Iris ward display

Supporting staff wellbeing as we come through the pandemic and beyond is one of the top priorities for my executive colleagues and I. We know how battered and bruised they feel and the importance of processing what they have been through.

I am also very keen they remember what an incredible job they have done over the last year, and so I was heartened to see the team on Iris ward at KGH have shared their ‘Covid Journey’ in an emotional display that reflects on just that.

Senior sister Sinead Skelton, alongside colleagues Sister Ellen and Nurse Meri, put together a timeline of achievements and challenges that their team encountered during the pandemic.

Sinead emphasised the importance of staff wellbeing as the main motivation behind creating the display: “After having one to ones with the team, we realised it was actually quite hard for them to quantify and contemplate their achievements.

“Considering the year we’ve been through, a ‘thank you’ just didn’t seem adequate, so we decided on a timeline showcasing our achievements and reflecting on the challenges we overcame.

Please do take a few minutes to read more in our news story.

And in other staff news….

Rowena Brown, Sister on our Intensive Care Unit at KGH, featured in last week’s ITV documentary ‘2020: The Story of Us’ which explored intensive care through the eyes of those working on the frontline during the first wave of the pandemic. Rowena, who has spent her entire ten-year nursing career at our Trust, was tracked down to take part after a difficult day saw her share a personal post on Facebook. You can read more about her story on our website, which includes how the support from our local communities really helped to keep her going.

Also on our website is the amazing story of nurse Toni Fedayi, whose recent clear-out led her to find all the name badges which tell the story of her time at our Trust, from her first job in our Audiology department way back in 2008. Now, 13 years later she’s into her second year as a qualified nurse, having spent the first year caring for patients during a pandemic.

Maternity update

I appreciate how hard it continues to be for women and the team are constantly looking at ways we can support them and their partners, whilst still ensuring compliance with the necessary IPC guidance.

If a woman attends in labour and requests to go to triage, she is now allowed one accompanying person to join her. We are also working up our plans to support partners to be able to attend 12-week scans and look forward to introducing this over the coming weeks. 

Please keep an eye out for all our latest service updates on our website.

Best wishes. 

Tony Chambers
Chief Executive