Update on latest achievements - The Royal Wolverhampton ...

<strong>Update</strong> on latest achievements
TrustTalk
Autumn 2010
All the latest news and development from across the Trust

Contents
1
Autumn 2010
Our latest achievements
3 Heart and Lung Centre Busiest
903 cardiac operations were performed at the
centre during 2009-2010
4 Charitable Trust Buys New Equipment
Find out how the cash has been spent to
introduce new equipment that will benefit
patients
5 New Health Service Chairman
Well known local health chief begins his four
year appointment with the Trust
5 Improvements planned for Stroke Unit
New plans set to increase capacity of the unit
through team expansion and a new physician
7 Focus on TPOT Thinking
Taking a closer look at the Productive Operating
Theatre Programme and how it works
Awards
8 PEAT Rates Trust Highly
One out of just 40 hospitals to achieve triple
excellence for maintaining a quality environment
8 Midwifery Award for Normal Childbirth
Maternity unit recognised for inspirational work
on improving local maternity services
Medical Feature
9 World Leading Cancer Research
The latest on trials that have helped put New
Cross on the map as a leading cancer centre
Latest <strong>Update</strong>s
11 Transforming Community Services
Achieving greater service integration through a
structured reform of community services
12 R&D Latest
An insight into the team dedicated to seeking
innovations that will help patients
13 MRSA Dispelling the Myths
Dispelling some of the myths surrounding MRSA
infection in hospitals
Staff Shout
15 Trust Midwife’s Charity Bike Ride
Midwife’s physical and mental endurance put to
the test in aid of National charity
16 Neonatal Unit Receives Donations
Special thanks to the people who’ve supported
the unit with their generous donations
16 Footy Team Tackles NHS Tournament
5-aside team represents Trust in national football
event
17 Trusts Marathon Activities for Dementia Care
Staff step up to the challenge to help raise more
money towards dementia project
18 Retail Survey Winner
Survey captures information from staff to help
shape Trust’s retail strategy
18 New Patient Care Pathway Launches
Providing the best quality care possible for
patients at the end of their life
18 New Catering Facility Opens
A £3 million investment to provide better quality
food and more choice and flexibility for patients
History
19 Florence Nightingale
Trust marks 100th anniversary of Nightingale’s
death with a look at how she influenced today’s
nursing
Have you got any stories for the next edition of
Trust Talk?
Then contact the Communications Department on
01902 695900 or email samanthaturner@nhs.net
If you require this magazine in another format please
contact the Communications Team on:
01902 695900
or would like to share your thoughts on Trust Talk.
4 15 17 19
Welcome from the
Chief Executive
Barry Picken,
Chairman
Well, it’s been a busy Summer here at the Trust and
we’ve also welcomed a new Chairman into the fold.
Barry Picken has a wealth of experience in the health
sector, having been on the Board of the Wolverhampton
PCT and as a lay assessor for the General Medical
Council. He is also a magistrate and a member of the
West Midlands Police Authority. His appointment is a
good move for us at such an exciting time of continuous
development and achievements across the Trust.
“I’m delighted to be taking up the role as chairman of
the Trust at such a challenging time,” says Barry. “In the
coming months the Hospital has to achieve Foundation
Trust status, as well as deliver the Transforming
Community Services agenda, involving the transfer
of over 1,000 staff and services from the PCT to the
Hospital.”
This Autumn issue sees more of our achievements
as a Trust, but also tells some of the stories behind
our successes, such as our cancer services, which are
renowned as a world class facility and our Heart and
Lung Centre, which is the busiest in the region. Research
and Development is another growing area for us. We
saw an income of £3.7 million generated from our
innovations last year alone.
As we go to press, we await news on our Foundation
Trust status and will continue to keep you informed on
this. We are hopeful that, by the end of this year, our
application for status will be approved. More on this will
be in our winter edition of Trust Talk.
Thanks to everyone, both our staff and our patients,
for helping make New Cross one of the best hospital
facilities around.
Enough from us now! Please enjoy reading this issue, so
we can bring you up to date with what’s happening here
in Wolverhampton…
David Loughton CBE
Chief Executive
David Loughton CBE,
Chief Executive
From the top
2

Achievements
3
Heart & Lung
Centre Busiest
For the third year running, the Heart and
Lung Centre at Wolverhampton’s New
Cross Hospital is the most active cardiac
surgery unit in the West Midlands.
There are a total of four units across
the region and the Trust performed
903 cardiac operations during 2009 to
2010. Since opening in October 2004,
over 5200 cardiac operations have been
carried out – that’s an average of 72 a
month, or 864 a year.
Such a high level of activity has been
achieved without comprising the quality
of care delivered. Data from Dr Foster,
the UK's leading provider of comparative
information on health and social care
services, shows that the Heart and Lung
Centre was the best in the country. It had
the lowest relative risks of mortality and
shortest length of stay for cardiac surgery
from 2009 to 2010.
Chief Executive, David Loughton CBE,
explained why this is such a significant
achievement: “I’m immensely proud of
what the staff in the Heart and Lung
Centre have achieved since it opened.
When I took up post here, I thought the
unit may lose £10m a year. Never in my
wildest expectations did I think it would
go on to become one of the best Heart
and Lung Centres in the country. The
staff really have done a fantastic job.”
This year, the Trust once again received
an excellence rating from the Care
Quality Commission for its quality of
services.
The Heart & Lung Centre
at New Cross Hospital
For the third year running, the Heart and
Lung Centre at Wolverhampton’s New Cross
Hospital is the most active cardiac surgery unit
in the West Midlands.
Charitable Trust Buys
New Equipment
Glaucoma Laser System
Phil Parkes, Mr Isgar and Trevor Mitchel
Sun Nuclear MapCHECK2 IMRT QA System
3D Toe Imaging System
Thanks to cash from the Charitable Trust, we’ve been able to buy a range of
equipment to help provide the best possible services for our patients.
The Bioptics Digital System was introduced into the nucleus breast theatre in
May 2010. It means that x-rays of breast lesions can be taken in theatre, which
instantly produce images for analysis.
Before this, breast tissue had to be taken to the Breast Imaging Department and
hard copies of x-rays had to be returned to theatre before the operation could be
completed.
“This new x-ray equipment saves around 20 minutes per operation, in terms of
anaesthetic and operating time,” explained Tony Wilding, Directorate Manager for
Surgery and Urology.
The Bioptics equipment cost £49,750, thanks to cash from the Breast Care Action
Group Nurses Trust Fund and the Deanesly Centre Trust Fund.
“This kit was dedicated to Maureen Parkes, an enthusiastic fund raiser for breast
cancer patients in Wolverhampton, who sadly passed away before the machine
was installed,” said Tony.
Full details of other equipment purchased will appear in the Charitable Trust
Fund’s Annual Report.
Equipment funded through the Charitable Trust
Equipment Cost Funded by
Bioptics piXarray Digital System £49.750 Deanesly Trust Fund
Glaucoma Laser System £33,310
Ophthalmology Trust Fund,
League of Friends
3D TOE Imaging System £33,448 Cardiothoracic Trust Fund
Sun Nuclear MapCHECK2 IMRT
QA System
£24,000 Deanesly Trust Fund
4

Achievements
5
New Health
Service Chairman
The new Chairman of our Trust is well
known local health chief, Barry Picken.
Barry began his four year appointment
on 1 September 2010, which runs
until August 2014. The appointment
was made in accordance with the
Commissioner for Public Appointments’
Code of Practice.
Living in Wolverhampton, Barry has
been involved in healthcare in the city
since 2002, when he became a non
executive director of Wolverhampton
Primary Care Trust (PCT). He became
chair of the PCT in 2006, a role he stood
down from to take up this new post.
Mr Picken said: “I’m delighted to
be taking up the role as chairman
of the Trust at such an exciting and
challenging time. The NHS is about
to enter a period of substantial
challenge and I’m very conscious of the
responsibility of leading the Hospital
through this.”
Chief Executive, David Loughton CBE
said: “I’d like to take this opportunity
to warmly welcome Barry as our
new Chairman here at the Trust.
His experience in the community
and voluntary sectors will be really
important in supporting us to improve
services for patients.
“I’m particularly pleased because of the
reassurance it should give to the 1,000
staff that will transfer from the PCT to
the Trust, as part of the Government’s
initiative on Transforming Community
Services. We will also benefit from
the fact that Barry has a wealth of
experience in the management of these
services”.
Improvements Planned for Stroke Unit
A National audit, which monitors hospital stroke units,
puts New Cross in the top half of Acute Trusts for its
facilities and services in this specialist area.
The National Sentinel Audit for Stroke report says an
efficient service is being provided at the Trust, and also
identified areas for improvement: “Several National
initiatives have been introduced over the past year
and these have changed the standards we now need
to meet,” said Chief Executive, David Loughton CBE.
“The Acceleration Improvement Programme and
brand new stroke guidelines means all Trusts
have been asked to increase the number of direct
admissions to the stroke unit. This, together with our
need to increase capacity, and make sure we have
stroke expertise here seven days a week, led us to
New Trust Chairman
Barry Picken
create an action plan to improve what we can deliver
here.”
Plans include the appointment of a new Stroke
Physician and expansion of the Community
Rehabilitation Team. Recruitment and training for
these enhancements should begin by the end of 2010.
The Trust’s Acute Stroke Unit has 23 beds. It admitted
750 patients between June 2009 and June 2010,
including people from Wolverhampton, the South
Staffordshire ‘fringe’ and referrals from Stafford and
Cannock.
“Having identified what we need to become even
better, we’re confident our stroke unit will develop
into one that our staff and the local population can be
even more proud of,” said David.
Exercise
Short
Fuse
Success!
A joint exercise with the Fire Service, to
test out plans for dealing with chemical
incidents, has been held at the Trust.
Operation Short Fuse was designed
to see how effectively we can manage
incidents of this kind and provide a
more integrated response with the fire
service.
The exercise was based on a small
explosion within a chemical store
at New Cross Hospital. The fictional
‘blast’ meant some of the chemicals
may have been exposed to 12 people
working in the stores area at the time.
Live casualties were presented to the
exercise team with the aim of rescuing
all saveable life; handing casualties on
to the hospital for decontamination
and identifying substances to influence
ongoing treatment by the medical
team. The exercise tested the Trust’s
security resilience in the event of an
incident threat. It was filmed and
photographed for use at future training
events and was an opportunity to
analyse joint working; people’s roles
and responsibilities and incident scene
management. A wide range of staff
were involved in the exercise, including
Porters, A&E Nursing & Reception,
Security and Medical Physics, who
provided support in relation to
chemicals.
“Huge thanks to everyone involved in
this exercise,” explained Diane Preston,
Head of Emergency Preparedness at
the Trust. “It certainly demonstrated
our resilience in the event of a chemical
incident and tested out our new
decontainer unit. It was really helpful
to work so closely with the fire service
and identify any issues that could arise
during an incident like this.”
6

Team Focus
"Touring staff
around the
department
to see the
results for
themselves
shows them
the real
benefits of
taking this
approach."
7
Focus on -
T-POT Thinking
Since its National launch, in
September 2009, The Productive
Operating Theatre programme,
(T-POT), has played a fundamental
role in helping theatre teams work
together more effectively.
The programme seeks to improve
the patient experience, the safety and
outcomes of surgical services and
more effective use of theatre time.
Clare Nash is the Programme’s
Manager here at the Trust: “T-POT
was officially launched to staff at
the end of July and follows the
highly successful Productive Ward
Programme. This new initiative
will focus on two of the hospital’s
theatres; Nucleus 3 and Beynon, with
plans to roll it out to the others later
on.”
‘Building Teams for Safer Care’ is
the slogan behind the programme. It
looks at how the department is doing
and what can be improved in the key
areas of: safety and reliability; patient
experience and outcome; team
performance, staff wellbeing and
value and efficiency.
A Systematic Approach
“It’s all about taking a systematic
approach,” explains Clare. “It looks
at each element and unpicks each
one, finding out where the wastage
is and stripping out any unnecessary
waste steps. It’s about smarter ways
of working and giving people the
tools to help them be more efficient
and further develop the service.”
It’s hoped that, by using this
approach, theatre teams will be in
a better position to reduce waiting
list times, reduce the extra hours
staff need to work and get through
operating lists more quickly.
Top 7 Priorities
Fifty staff attended the launch’s
visioning workshop, which included
theatre staff, support staff and
clinicians. They were tasked with
creating a list of Top 7 actions
which, in their view, would make
their working day ‘perfect.’ The list
includes things like, having enough
recovery staff, starting on time and
better scheduling. Staff then voted
on these in order of priority. They
put having all equipment and sets
ready to go top of the list. “Getting
people from all levels together was
Staff getting involved in the visioning workshop
really helpful, because it allowed
people to appreciate the issues and
the difficulties faced by their fellow
colleagues,” said Clare.
Chief Executive, David Loughton
attended the launch. He emphasised
that TPOT is about improving
working lives for the staff as well as
improving the safety and reliability
of care. It’s not about saving money.
Measurement workshops also took
place in August, where teams chose
their own local measurements based
on the Top 7 priorities.
The Benefits
The success of the Productive Ward
Programme showed how beneficial
this type of approach can be. Laura
Patrick is a Staff Nurse and found
Productive Ward incredibly useful:
“A lot of the time we couldn’t find
anything so we would re-order it. We
had a treatment room which was also
used for drug preparation. Children
undergoing treatment are already
nervous so having people coming in
and out all the time didn’t help. Now,
we have a drug preparation room
and a separate treatment room –
with no more interruptions!”
Engaging with staff is an equally
important aspect of the programme.
“Touring staff around the
department to see the results for
themselves shows them the real
benefits of taking this approach.
We’ve also linked up with several
regional hospitals to share each
other’s learning and ideas from the
programme,” said Clare.
Clinicians have been briefed at
directorate meetings and the
programme has also been featured at
Senior Managers Briefing. All staff
can access the latest updates on the
programme through the home page
of the intranet.
Joint Seminar
The Royal College of Surgeons
and the NHS Institute held a joint
seminar in September to talk about
the important role surgeons and
anaesthetists continue to play within
the programme. It highlighted how,
as the NHS enters a critical time,
surgeons and anaesthetists can
embrace the programme, be at the
forefront of quality improvements
and make a real difference for
patients and staff.
About the Team
Led by Clare Nash, the programme
team has a lead Matron and
includes a project facilitator, with
support from admin and the service
improvement team. It expects to
collect some baseline data around
sets of equipment being ready and
lists being kept to, which will help
measure the positive outcomes of the
programme.
The Productive Operation Theatre
'PEAT'
Rates Trust
Highly
Ivan Little, left and Sandra Roberts, pictured right, receive their
certificates from Chief Executive, David Loughton CBE.
Midwifery
Award for
Normal
Childbirth
The maternity unit is celebrating after winning an award
from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Maternity
(APPGM).
The Trust was recognised in the Normality in Childbirth
category at the awards, which acknowledge inspiring or
innovative work in improving local maternity services.
They were presented at the APPGM summer reception
in July, at the Houses of Parliament.
The APPGM, which is serviced by the NCT charity, is
a cross-party group whose aim is to highlight maternity
issues within Parliament and bring together health
professionals and service users with politicians.
The team at New Cross Hospital developed a
standardised model of care for high risk women in
labour and their partners. This model aims to maximise
the opportunity for normal birth and promote a positive
birth experience.
The National Patient Safety Agency has rated the Trust
excellent in all three areas when treating patients in a
cleaner and better maintained environment.
The Patient Environment Action Team, (PEAT),
assesses all hospitals and inpatient units with 10
or more beds. The teams are made up of nurses,
matrons, doctors, catering staff, domestic service
managers, patients and the public. They scrutinise
levels of cleanliness, aspects of infection control, the
quality of the environment and the standard of the
food.
Hospitals are scored; excellent, good, acceptable,
poor or unacceptable. Wolverhampton was rated
excellent in all three PEAT categories – one of only 40
out of 1,242 hospitals to achieve this.
Divisional Manager for Estates and Facilities, Graham
Argent, explained why these ratings are so important:
“To have achieved the triple excellence rating puts us
firmly in the upper quartile of hospital performers. It’s
a real demonstration of our determination to be the
best and we’re totally committed to maintaining this
rating for the benefit of our patients.”
Estates and Facilities Manager, Ivan Little and Sandra
Roberts, Head of Hotel Services were presented
with certificates by the Trust’s Chief Executive, in
recognition of their efforts towards this.
PEAT scores are conducted annually, with assessments
carried out between January and March.
The birth environment has been adapted to be
conductive to normal birth, with a range of birthing aids
including birthing balls and stools. This information will
be given to all members of the maternity team over the
next few months.
Dr Dan Poulter MP, Chair of the APPGM, said: “It’s a
privilege to present these awards to such deserving and
exemplary maternity units. The winning units’ innovative
work will be an inspiration to other Trusts.”
Awards
Receiving their award are Matron Tracy Palmer and midwives Lyndsay Durkin, Joanne Ridley and Cath Denyer.
Photograph supplied by Lyndsay Durkin.
8

Medical Feature
9
World leading Cancer
Research at New Cross
Cancer of the oesophagus has increased,
with deaths from the disease
rising by 50% over the last 20 years.
Professor David Ferry
This growth in oesophageal cancer is the largest
increase of any cancer in the Western world.
Last year, there were over 16,000 cases. 13,000
oesophagogastric cancer deaths make this the third
leading cause of cancer death in the UK – causing
more deaths than breast cancer.
There are no useful screening tests on the horizon and
less than 10% of patients are cured by surgery, so the
need for new medicines is hugely important. Upper
gastrointestinal cancers is one of the ‘Cinderella’ areas
of cancer care, but recent advances in research are
changing this.
Oesopohagus
COG trial
Getinib
Targets EGF receptor
Stomach
GRANITE trial
Everolimus
Targets mTOR
Gefitinib is a new drug. It could help patients with
advanced incurable oesophageal cancer. Gefitinib
works by inhibiting growth receptors on the surface
of cells, leading to cell death and shrinkage of cancers.
Gefitinib is taken orally, once a day and although it
can cause teenage spots and sometimes diarrhoea,
it doesn’t cause the traditional side effects that
chemotherapy does. Gefitinib is one of the new
drugs at the forefront of what is called personalised
medicine.
Clinical research into gefitinib began in 1999, when
Professor David Ferry and his colleagues presented
the first phase one clinical trial data on Gefitinib
at the American Society of Clinical Oncology. This
drug became widely used in lung cancer, but in
2007, Professor Ferry published the effectiveness of
Gefitinib in a phase II clinical trial. All the patients in
this trial were treated at New Cross Hospital, but many
were referred from consultants at other hospitals. This
led to the launch of phase III, the Cancer Oesophagus
Gefitinib (COG) trial, led by Professor Ferry and run
from the trials unit at Oxford University.
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) awarded grants of £500
000 to fund the COG trial. Gefitinib, which costs £5000
per month, is provided free to patients by AstraZeneca
as part of a grant in aid. This shows the huge benefits
clinical trials can offer patients who would otherwise
only receive palliative care. The total commercial
value of the drugs donated is over £6 million, which
illustrates the sums involved in research at this level.
Because half the patients in COG get a placebo, there
are challenges to recruiting patients for the trial.
However as one patient who entered the COG trial
said: “The choices are stark, either have a 0% chance
of getting active treatment in standard care, or a
50% chance of getting Gefitinib in the trial. It’s a nobrainer.”
This trial has now randomly selected 200 patients
to placebo or Gefitinib tablets and 16 patients have
entered the trial. These patients are supported by
research nurses and the Greater Midlands Cancer
Research Network. This gives a £350 000 annual grant
for cancer research to New Cross Hospital. The COG
trial runs for another two years and aims to recruit 450
Phase Number of
patients
I 10-30 Start at low dose and
increase dose till strong
side effects occur,
maximum tolerated dose
(MTD)
II 25-75 Treat patients with a given
type of cancer with a dose
lower than MTD
III 400-4000 Discover if the new
treatment prolongs
survival compared
to old treatment in a
randomised trial
Design Objective
patients at 50 major cancer hospitals across the UK.
This isn’t the only research Professor Ferry’s team
have conducted into upper GI cancer.
New Cross was also the leading UK hospital for the
TOGA trial which introduced Herceptin into gastric
cancer treatment, increasing patient survival from 12
to 16 months. Other trials have also been conducted
with new taxanes, including the drug Everolimus.
Everolimus is used to prevent organ rejection after
transplantation, but is now being tested in the
GRANITE study into stomach cancer.
The GRANITE study complements the COG trial very
well, because it’s for patients with cancers further
down the upper GI tract in the stomach. It is similar
to COG but uses the mTOR inhibitor Everolimus,
which is taken as a daily tablet. Like Gefitinib,
this new medicine has very few side effects. The
GRANITE trial is run by CRUK in collaboration with
the pharmaceutical company Novartis. At New Cross,
nine patients have been randomised in the trial out of
16 across the UK. New Cross is the leading UK centre
in this trial and in the top 10 highest recruiting centres
in the world. Professor Ferry said: “This is the first
ever second line study in stomach cancer patients
who are often very ill. Because Everolimus is so well
tolerated, patients can be treated and we’ve already
seen tumour shrinkage in some of our patients and
improved quality of life.”
“This work is only possible with the help of an
effective Research and Development team and
dedicated research nurses and data managers,”
explained Professor Ferry. “At New Cross, we’re
fortunate to have nurses who are very experienced
in highly demanding clinical trials. These nurses don’t
just help with trial-related tests. They also provide
vital support to our patients and their families.”
Define side effects
and measure
amount of drug in
blood
Does the drug have
any activity?
Does the drug
prolong life?
New Cross is now
recognised as one of
the leading cancer
centres in the UK for
clinical research into
upper GI cancers.
Patients are referred
from hospitals around
the country, and email
opinions from colleagues
and even patients are
increasing. However, as
Professor Ferry points
out, the Trust is only at
the beginning of the
journey in applying new
personalised medicine in
this disease area: “There
is no guarantee that the
COG or GRANITE trials will
deliver breakthroughs,”
says Professor Ferry. “If
these trials are negative
then we will move
forward with our next
experiment because
research is constantly
evolving. A follow on trial
to COG is already being
planned.”
Sister Kay Hadlington, Sister Davina Warrender,
Professor David Ferry and Senior Sister Kelly
Papavarnava
Senior Sister Kelly Papavarnava
Professor David Ferry and Senior Sister Kelly
Papavarnava
10

TCS
11
Why is this happening?
Transforming Community Services, (TCS), is a National
programme of change.
It’s been introduced to achieve greater service
integration through a structural reform of community
services provided directly by the PCTs. The reform
aims to modernize the delivery of these services.
It will do this in a number of ways by:
• Enabling and empowering staff to free their time
to care for patients
• Empowering clinicians to help shape the future of
community services
• Making services more sustainable and flexible
TCS is an aspiration of the NHS Next Stage Review and
the new White Paper: Liberating the NHS. It means
that the commissioning of health care will be designed
to promote high quality standards of care.
The Next Stage Review sets out the vision for primary
and community care. It gives people more choice
and control over their own health care and promotes
healthy lifestyles and equity for all.
Transforming
Community
Services <strong>Update</strong>
What will TCS achieve?
TCS aims to improve community services so they
can continue to provide modern, personalised and
responsive care. It also means that every Primary Care
Trust in England will no longer be a direct provider of
community care services.
What is the Trust’s Role in this?
The Trust is very proud in the way it has grown its
services and now provides secondary and tertiary care
for people across the West Midlands.
The majority of people living in Wolverhampton see
us as their local hospital and first choice for health
care. Because of our long history of working together
to improve services for people, it seemed sensible to
integrate with the provider services of WCPCT.
What have we been doing?
There are several themes we need to look at as we
prepare for integration. These are:
• Due diligence
An investigation or audit of a potential investment
• Corporate services review
How to support systems by using existing
corporate skills and workforce
• HR arrangements
Vacancy management and policies and procedures
specific to TCS
• Shadow monitoring arrangements
Services working alongside each other to prepare
for the transfer.
To help us meet the Government’s deadline of 1 April
2011, we will be introducing shadow arrangements
during the Autumn. This will see services beginning to
work alongside those within WPCT, in preparation for
the formal transfer date on 1 April 2011.
How will we keep you informed?
We will continue to keep you informed through our
internal communications.
This includes regular newsletters, your TCS intranet
page and a series of frequently asked questions, which
will be updated regularly.
If you have any queries, please send them to:
samanthaturner@nhs.net
“The Trust welcomes this opportunity to put into
practice the integrated approach to care we’ve been
developing for some time,” says Chief Executive,
David Loughton CBE.
“We work very closely with services in the WPCT
and these proposals represent a real opportunity to
further develop the care we offer to the people of
Wolverhampton and beyond. We will also ensure that
our excellent standards continue whilst the transfer
goes through.”
R&D
Developments
Last year, Research and Development achieved an
impressive £3.7 million turnover here at the Trust.
The team works closely with a number of key partners
to facilitate the advancement of knowledge, treatment,
care and modernisation through research and innovation
activity which will, ultimately, benefit our current and
future patients. Key partners include the West Midlands
Comprehensive Local Research Network, Greater
Midlands Cancer Research Network, Stroke Research
Network and Medicines for Children Research Network.
What we do
The Trust has been a very successful partner site for
leading researchers across the NHS and Industry to
validate new methods, treatments and knowledge
and our patients have been very keen to explore such
opportunities as part of their treatment planning. We
are a developing our capabilities in developing our own
research trials and this is a very exciting time for the
Trust as leading clinicians, nurses and allied healthcare
professions develop professionally and lead the way for
direct patient improvements through research.
The Directorate has also achieved credit for its
innovation management work with staffs, academia,
industry and patients. The R&D Directorate has
championed innovators to local and national recognition.
Products which have been supported, developed and
commercialised by the Trust via R&D are now being
commercially sold back into the NHS, Private healthcare,
on-line and via prescription.
In broad terms, Research and Development is dedicated
to reducing barriers to improving patient care by seeking
research and innovative opportunities which will improve
knowledge, care, treatment and choice.
“Research is incredibly important within a hospital,” says
Directorate Manager of Research and Development,
Yvonne Hague. “For some patients standard treatment
is not effective and patients will ask “what research
is available”, and it becomes more important to seek
alternative options in the hope of preventing, improving
or curing their illness”
Mouletec Cushion
The R&D Directorate work to very strict protocols and
regulations to protect the patient confidentiality and
healthcare whilst involved in a trial. Staff from across
the Trust receive specialist training to conduct or take
part in any trials.
Pioneers
The Trust has achieved several ‘firsts’ in Research and
Development as well. “We were behind the introduction
of the first patient innovation Ortho-glide. We were also
the first Trust to feature a product in the NHS catalogue
called Hook-it. This led to the Hook-on, followed by
Femmax and the Mouletec cushion and mattress.
An Orthoglide is a simple lower limb exerciser device
that aids rehabilitation after trauma or surgery to the
knees or hips.
Femmax
The Femmax is a dilator initially developed to address
the clinical risks for women who acquire vaginal
adhesions following gynaecological surgery and
radiotherapy treatment. Under clinical supervision it
has since been used for women who wish to train their
vaginal and has proved highly beneficial.
And the Mouletec technology helps even the pressure on
buttocks and upper legs. In tests, compared with other
seats, Mouletec seats not only provide extreme comfort
but also improve lower limb venous blood flow.
Who we are
R&D Director – Dr. James Cotton
R&D Directorate Manager – Mrs Yvonne Hague
Project Manager – Mrs Lorraine Jacques
Research Nurse Manager – Mrs Pauline Boyle
Business Support Manager – Mrs Kate Lees
R&D
12

MRSA
13
MRSA - Dispelling the myths
“Much confusion surrounds
this issue, which is regularly
featured in the National
media,”
Many people have asked for better clarification
concerning MRSA. We decided to try and dispel
some of the most common myths surrounding MRSA
infection in hospitals.
“Much confusion surrounds this issue, which is
regularly featured in the National media,” explains
Director of Nursing and Midwifery at The Trust,
Cheryl Etches. “We wanted to respond to people’s
concerns by sharing clearer information with the local
community about what exactly MRSA is. The thing
that seems to cause most confusion is the difference
between MRSA infection and MRSA bacteraemias.
MRSA bacteraemia is a serious infection of the blood.”
MRSA bacteraemia is one of the indicators used to
measure how well hospitals perform in preventing
healthcare associated infections. The number of blood
infections caused by MRSA count towards a national
surveillance scheme. It is these serious infections,
known as MRSA bacteraemias, that are used to rank
hospitals in England in terms of their ability to control
the spread of infections.
Not everyone who has MRSA gets an infection with
it. In fact, the vast majority of people who have MRSA
living on their skin, or in their bodies, are totally
unaware of it and will never suffer any ill effects. A
small number of people do get infections caused by
MRSA and in hospital these most commonly are skin
infections in relation to surgical wounds or other
breaks in the skin, like chronic wounds.
“If these infections are treated with the correct
antibiotics they should not progress to become
serious MRSA bacteraemia infections,” added Cheryl.
“Although there have been many people in New Cross
Hospital who’ve been found to be carrying MRSA
harmlessly over the past year, and there have been
a number of actual infections caused by MRSA that
have required antibiotic treatment of the infection,
our Trust has had no MRSA bacteraemia infections
for more than a year now. This is a remarkable
achievement for a hospital of this size, which carries
out such a wide range of complex procedures,” said
Cheryl.
Most people found to be carriers of MRSA do not
have infections with MRSA. In Wolverhampton, 800
people were MRSA positive during 2009 – 100 of
which were patients at New Cross. The remaining
number were already positive on their admission
or were not in New Cross at all. This compares with
904 new MRSA carriers found in 2008. It is vital
that people understand that this relates just to the
presence of MRSA and not serious illness with blood
stream infection.
“About one in three of us carries a Meticillin sensitive
strain of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in our nose,
or on the surface of our skin, especially in folds like
the armpit or groin, without developing an infection,”
explains Cheryl. “The Meticillin resistant strains of
Staphylococcus aureus, (that is MRSA), are no more
dangerous than these very common sensitive strains,
but are just more difficult to treat if an infection does
develop. However, treatments are available for
infections caused by all strains of MRSA.”
All NHS patients going into hospital for a relevant
planned procedure are screened for MRSA
beforehand. Patients admitted as an emergency are
screened on admission as well. This helps hospitals
reduce the chance of patients getting an MRSA
infection or passing MRSA on to another patient.
Common MRSA infection myths
1. What exactly is MRSA?
MRSA stands for Meticillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus,
which is a common skin bacterium that is resistant to a range of
antibiotics. It is resistant to the antibiotic Meticillin, which is a
marker antibiotic used in the laboratory. Resistance to Meticillin
indicates that the bacteria will be resistant to many other
antibiotics, particularly those related to the penicillin class of
antibiotics.
2. MRSA is one of the brand new ‘superbugs’ that the health care
system isn't telling anyone about.
MRSA was first described 50 years ago, soon after the
introduction of the antibiotic Meticillin. It has spread over the
years in hospitals and the community.
More cases of community-acquired MRSA are showing up than
in previous years. Despite its resistance to many antibiotics,
there are still antibiotics available capable of treating all strains of
MRSA, so the classification of MRSA as a ‘superbug’ is dubious.
Research is currently being done to determine why it's cropping
up more frequently in the community.
3. We hear that all infections are preventable.
No, not all infections are preventable. The aim of the Trust is to
minimise the spread of germs that can cause infections and have
good clinical practices in place to reduce the number of infections
that do occur.
4. MRSA is the sole problem in hospitals today
No, this is not true. MRSA accounts for a small proportion of
hospital infections.
5. MRSA is a ‘killer bug/super bug’
This is not true and overstates the facts concerning MRSA. There
are many bugs much worse than MRSA, and the majority of
people who have MRSA on their skin or in their body suffer no ill
effects from it.
6. That health care-associated infections have escalated beyond
control
National surveys have shown that the number of patients in
hospital who have a healthcare associated infection has actually
decreased in recent years, and numbers are continuing to fall.
7. We hear the UK is worse than everywhere else
Not true. The rates of infection are similar to most countries
in Europe. The UK has one of the best infection surveillance
systems in the world and comparison with other countries where
surveillance is not as good will make the UK look worse than it
actually is.
8. That hospitals cause MRSA and other infections
Most infections that arise in hospitals arise from organisms
present in our own bodies at the time of admission to hospital.
14

Staff Shout
15
Trust
Midwife's
Charity
Bike Ride
A specialist midwife from the
Trust recently tested her stamina
and endurance, in a London
to Paris bike ride for Best
Beginnings, a National child
health charity. Amanda Costello,
who heads up the maternity unit
on breast feeding, did the
country-to-country bike ride
between 12 and 15 September.
She covered 180 miles (300km) in
just three days, cycling through
the steeply undulating countryside
towards the south coast of
England, before entering France
by ferry. Amanda completed the
challenge to raise money for child
health charity Best Beginnings.
”Riding from London to Paris
was really tough,” said Amanda.
“It tested my physical and mental
endurance. But it’s for a cause
close to my heart. As a midwife
with responsibility for Infant
feeding here at New Cross, I
recognise the importance of
increasing the number of babies
who receive their mother’s milk
and how this can help reduce
health inequalities.”
Amanda Costello prepares for her
biking adventure, watched by her
colleagues from the New Cross
Maternity Unit
"Riding from
London to Paris
was really tough"
Neonatal
Unit Receives
Donations
Two families have kindly donated money to
the Trust’s Neonatal Unit.
The unit was presented with a cheque for
£500 by a couple from Brownhills.
Dorothy and Terry Willetts are members
of the International Appreciation Society,
which raises funds for good causes around
the globe. The couple wanted to donate
money to the unit as they have supported it
before: “We’re really pleased to be able to
help out in this way,” explained Mr Willetts.
“Our society meets just once a year, and
over 12 months we hold raffles, do car
boot sales and other activities to help raise
money. We often bring in baby clothes to
the Neonatal ward, so it’s nice to be able to
do this and give something back to a much-
Footy team
tackles NHS
Tournament
HAFAS is a Healthcare 5-Aside Soccer
Tournament. It’s a non-profit making,
charitable event, with 10% of the entry fees
going to a nominated charity.
All health care trusts are invited to take
part in the tournament, held every June.
The event, which runs over two days,
alternates between venues in Manchester
and Nottingham.
needed facility that’s so close to home.”
“In the current climate, we’re extremely
fortunate to receive this donation from Mr
and Mrs Willetts, who’ve clearly given up
their own valuable time to help others,” said
Kim Ong, Neonatal Co-ordinator at the Trust.
“This money will go a long way towards
maintaining the high level of service and
care here on the ward that we are so proud
of.”
A Family Affair
And it was a real family affair when two
generations took part in a gruelling triathlon
last September, raising an impressive £1,300
for the neonatal unit.
The Trust is already looking to submit a
team again for next year. “As well as being
able to represent the hospital, it’s also a
social event and a chance to meet other
Trusts from across the UK,” said organiser,
Laky Singh, a porter at the Wolverhampton
Medical Institute.
This year a combined team of players from
New Cross and Walsall Manor hospital took
part. “Even though we didn’t get very far,
Terry and Dorothy Willetts hand over a cheque for £500.
Photograph supplied by Kim Ong
Grandparents, Julie and Martyn Davis,
together with Auntie, Jodie Davis, did the
triathlon as a thank you for the skill, care
and support the family received for Jaden
Lei Davis. Jaden was born in September
2008, at 30 weeks and weighed just 3lb 11oz.
He is now doing really well.
When Jaden was discharged, £1843.00
was also donated by the Wolverhampton
Development Football Team on behalf of
Jaden. The club has close contact with
Jaden’s other Grandad, John Norwood and
his Uncle, Callum Norwood.
Huge thanks for your contributions to the
unit!
Front row Matt Piper, Laky Singh, James Bevan, Hemel raja, Back row Amrik Singh, Craig Nicholls, Raj Samra,
Manish Buchar. Photograph supplied by Laky Singh
it was a good learning curve and everybody
really enjoyed it,” said Laky. “I’m looking to
enter at least one team next year, so we’ll
need a minimum of 10 players and I arrange
everything, from entry through to the travel
and hotel arrangements.”
Any staff wishing to be on the team will get
an opportunity to do this in 2011. Training for
the event begins around February/March.
16

Staff Shout
17
Trusts 'Marathon'
Activities for
Dementia care
Trust Staff got ‘on their marks,’ to raise funds towards dementia care in
September, when several people took part in the City’s half marathon.
Staff from the Kings Fund Team, which
is cash granted by the Department of
Health, ran, walked, or cycled the 13.1
mile route around the City on
5 September.
The money raised will help towards
much-needed improvements for
those suffering from dementia and
their families. A small garden area
and treatment bays in the Emergency
Assessment Unit are specifically going
to be introduced by this team.
The Department of Health’s Professor
Jane Gilliard paid a visit to the Trust to
meet the team and discuss plans for the
project here in Wolverhampton.
As Programme Manager for the
National Dementia Strategy, Prof.
Gilliard was keen to find out more
about the Trust’s plans thanks to
money from one of its National
projects called: Enhancing the Healing
Environment (EHE).
The award-winning EHE programme
encourages nurse-led teams to work in
partnership with patients, to improve
the environment for the delivery of
care.
This year, members of the team
decided to do their bit to raise even
more cash towards improvements, by
taking part in the half marathon.
Matron Karen Bowley, who is leading
the project, explained what people will
be doing: “Some people are running
the whole distance, whilst others are
walking part of it, or cycling some
of the route. We all agreed this was
an ideal opportunity to add to the
pot whilst also raising the profile of
dementia and the services we will soon
have available to help cater for this
complex condition.”
The Trust’s wider plans for improving
dementia services are supported by
the Strategic Health Authority and the
Wolverhampton City PCT. These include
a dedicated ward for treating patients
with dementia – designed specifically
with their needs in mind and a ‘floating’
team, led by a consultant nurse, to
specialise and deal with referrals for
those with dementia.
Meanwhile the King’s Fund Team
is aiming to raise several thousand
pounds thanks to their marathon
activities.
Anyone wishing to make a donation can
contact Joanne Rogers on
Tel: 01902 307999 x4117 email:
joannerogers@nhs.net
Second left, Prof. Jane Gilliard,
with the Chief Executive and some
of the staff taking part in the half
marathon.
'this was
an ideal
opportunity
to add to the
pot whilst
also raising
the profile of
dementia'
New patient care pathway
launches
The Liverpool Care
Pathway for patients
who are dying is
an integrated care
pathway. It aims
to provide the best
quality care to patients
at the end of their
life. It does this by
introducing continuous
improvement and
quality into the care
of the dying, as well as
providing support and
guidance to staff.
The Liverpool Care
Pathway, Version 12,
is now being launched
across the trust,
following its national
New Catering
Facility Opens
The new £3 million catering unit at New Cross
Staff at the launch of the new care pathway in September
launch last December.
To begin with, this will
be implemented on
wards D20, D19 and
the Deansely ward,
before being rolled out
across the Trust. The
Trust also takes part in
a National audit which
helps us look at how
effectively we’re using
this pathway.
Susanne Bradley is
facilitating this and will
be joined shortly by
Becky Hilse, providing
training to all staff of
all disciplines. Susanne
can be contacted for
information and advice
on bleep 7374.
Further infomation
is available for health
professionals and
staff on the intranet
at: http://intranet/
departments/end_of_
life_care.aspx
A new £3 million food production facility has opened at the Trust.
The two-storey, state-of-the-art building replaces the former kitchen facility in
a block that was almost 50 years old. It was built to introduce a more effective
cook and chill production unit, and improve the quality of food and service
received by patients at the Trust.
Among the new facilities are a 1,001 sq metre kitchen which will include walk
in fridges and freezers and comprehensive food production areas. It will also
mean a new way of cooking and delivering the food on to the wards. Ward
hostesses will deliver the chilled food, where it will be cooked in a special
trolley unit on each ward. The new cooking system will avoid food becoming
overcooked or failing to stay hot and patients will no longer be restricted to
precise eating times.
A brand new menu has also been designed, which will accommodate special
dietary requirements. Patients will no longer have to select what they want in
advance. Instead, they will be able to choose what they want when the cooking
unit arrives on the ward at mealtimes.
“Our new catering facility means our patients can benefit from the highest
quality food and have far more choice and flexibility when it comes to
mealtimes,” said Martin Cantor, Catering Project Manager. “Quality food and
a quality service will help us to enhance the patient’s overall experience whilst
in our care.”
New Nursing Team
Unveiled
A new nursing team aimed
at raising awareness of
blood clots has begun
at the Trust. Venous
Thromboembolism (VTE) is
a serious medical condition
caused by the formation
of blood clots. A bit of this
blood clot can break off
and travel in the veins to
the lungs, where it causes
a clot on the lung, called a
pulmonary embolus, which
can be life threatening
Sarah Cotterill and Evie
Ambrose started at
the Trust’s Emergency
Assessment Unit in
September, in an effort to
reduce and prevent such
conditions. A special launch
event was held for staff to
explain why VTE prevention
is so important and how
they can help to improve
patient safety.
Children’s Ward Receives
Book Donation
Our Children’s Wards
has been presented with
some new books thanks
to a donation from the
WHSmith Trust. This
summer, WHSmith Trust
and PLC are donating books
to 10 hospitals across the
UK. Each hospital will
receive 300 books, which
will create a new library
or supplement an existing
one. Pete Gibbons, Head
of Commercial Services
at the Trust, said: “We’re
delighted that WHSmith
has chosen our hospital in
Wolverhampton for this
donation. It is a fantastic
initiative and one which
will bring enjoyment and
benefit to many of our
patients.”
Orthopaedic Team
Shortlisted for Award
The Trust’s Orthopaedic
Team has been shortlisted
for the Efficiency Initiative
of the Year at this Year’s
HSJ Awards.
The team made it on to the
shortlist after introducing a
series of initiatives for using
its theatres – resulting
in savings of around
£1.2million.
Some of the measures
included creating six
theatre sessions each
week; conducting minor
surgical procedures in
treatment rooms to free
up the theatres and using a
new booking tool to plan in
more accurate theatre time
for each consultant.
After presenting their
entry to a judging panel in
October, the winners will
be announced at an awards
ceremony in November, at
London’s Grosvenor Hotel.
NHS Visit Praises Patient
Safety
The Trust received a visit
from a leading figure of the
NHS last week, where they
showed him their widely
renowned approach to
maintaining patient safety.
Sir Bruce Keogh is the
Medical Director of
the NHS. He came to
Wolverhampton to see the
approach of the Trust and
why it has such an enviable
reputation as a leading
hospital in the prevention
and reduction of infection.
“To go over 445 days
without MRSA infection is
something I would never
have thought possible
only three years ago,”
said Mr Keogh. “This
hospital shows a relentless
approach and enormous
pride in how it continues to
tackle infection prevention.
Patients can be genuinely
reassured by the fact that
the Trust actually reduces,
rather than introduces
infection here.”
Retail Survey Winner
Thanks to everyone who
took part in our recent
Retail Survey.
The excellent response
we’ve had from you means
we have lots of information
to help shape and influence
our Retail Strategy.
As the project progresses
we’ll keep you informed
about these new and
exciting developments.
The winner of our prize
draw was Clinical Trial
Co-ordinator, Anna Grant.
Congratulations Anna!
You’ve won £50 worth of
High Street vouchers
18

History
19
The Legacy of
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
"...we can
see a direct
link between
the sort of
things we have
introduced and
how Florence
herself
influenced
such key
aspects of the
profession.”
The Trust has marked the 100th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s
death with a look back at how nursing has evolved since the era of
Britain’s legendary nurse.
Florence Nightingale became a living
legend as the 'Lady with the Lamp'.
She led the nurses caring for thousands
of soldiers during the Crimean War
and helped save the British army from
medical disaster.
This was just one of Florence's many
achievements. She was also a visionary
health reformer, a brilliant campaigner
and the most influential woman in
Victorian Britain and its Empire, second
only to Queen Victoria herself.
Nightingale died in 1910 at the grand
age of 90.
“Since Florence Nightingale’s
death, our hospital and some of our
community has seen two world wars,
a series of epidemics and, of course,
the creation of the NHS,” said David
Loughton, CBE, Chief Executive of the
Trust.
“A huge part of this change has been
the role of our nurses across the
generations. Florence had strong
principles about cleanliness, ward
Designed and produced by the department of Medical Illustration and Graphic Design, New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, WV10 0QP - Tel: 01902 695377
design and standards of nutrition and
hydration. Today, we can see a direct
link between the sort of things we have
introduced and how Florence herself
influenced such key aspects of the
profession.”
The Trust continues to be one of the
Nation’s showcase hospitals for patient
safety, with more than 90 other Trusts
having been referred to them to learn
from their approach. It has also been
free of MRSA infections of the blood
for well over a year now – and is looking
to launch a range of new patient safety
systems in the near future.
“We like think our new care bundle for
dementia patients and the forthcoming
launch of our new dementia ward are
also innovations Florence Nightingale
would have approved of. We want
to bring nursing back to being all
about care and the personal touch
– something the woman herself was
extremely passionate about.”
One of the wards at New Cross
just after the war