Connect Issue 13 - University Hospital Southampton NHS ...

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2-3 CONNECT ISSUE 13 This special issue of Connect celebrates 60 years of the NHS. On 5th July 1948 prevention, diagnosis and treatment were brought together under one umbrella organisation to create one of the most comprehensive health services in the world: the NHS. The timeline in this issue shows the many changes and developments that have taken place nationally and locally. But the values of the NHS - universal, tax-funded and free at the point of need - remain as fundemental today as they were back in 1948. 25 years of service The Fundraising Connection As the NHS celebrates 60 years, dedicated volunteers at Southampton General Hospital’s Eye Unit are also celebrating an important milestone. Volunteers and supporters gathered for the league’s AGM and cut a celebratory cake commemorating 25 years of service. Pictured is long-serving volunteer Glenda Flather and chairman Alan Finch who said: “We are as proud as ever to be associated with the Eye Unit and the excellent treatment and care provided to patients.” Welcome to issue 13 of Connect In this issue... The Fundraising Connection 2 Lynda lives life to the full 3 James’ Ponseti treatment 4 Meet the team… service improvement 5 In the hotseat... Lord Ari Darzi 6 Golden Stethoscope 7 SUHT in the news 8 Tell us what you think... Let us know what you think of Connect, plus tell us what news and features you’d like to see in future editions. Email: connect@suht.swest.nhs.uk Write to: Communications Mailpoint 18 Southampton General Hospital Tremona Road Southampton SO16 6YD Telephone: 023 8079 4853 Website: www.suht.nhs.uk Connect is produced by SUHT’s communications team. Printed on environmentally friendly paper. A head for heights Good luck to Lisa Farrant who is skydiving in aid of the neurological intensive care unit in July. Her target is to raise over £1000 for the unit, where her boyfriend recovered from a head injury recently. To sponsor Lisa visit www.justgiving. com/lisafarrantskydive2008 Taking the plunge Southampton Hospital Charity employee Suzie Pearce has taken on the challenge to complete this year’s London Triathlon. She’ll be swimming 750m in the docks, riding 20km on a bike and running 5km. Pictured is Suzie and her dad at the Bournemouth to Boscombe Pier to Pier Swim. To sponsor Suzie visit www. justgiving.com/suziepearce. Diary date: charity office open day On Thursday 26th June the charity team will be holding an open day. Visitors are welcome to pop into our offices on the ground floor of the Old Nurses Home, Southampton General Hospital, between 11.30am and 2.30pm, where they can meet the charity team and enjoy some refreshments Join it to coin it The charity’s new weekly lottery is coming soon. To find out more contact Suzie Pearce in the fundraising office suzie.pearce@suht.swest.nhs.uk. Thank you to... All the staff and their families who supported the Walk to Health event and to those who sponsored Rachel Bradwell who works for Southampton Hospital Charity. Rachel, who has MS, completed the walk in under four hours and raised over £1,000. Pictured are staff members Janet Nichols and Amanda Gale from the neurophysiology department entering into the medieval spirit of the day. Thanks also go to Sainsbury’s in Shirley for donating refreshments for the day and to Active Southampton and Southampton City Council for their support. Adventure fundraiser, Ms Susan Sarahs, who recently returned from a trekking trip to Iceland which raised over £2,500 for the radiology department.” The Pinder family from Gosport, who have raised over £4,000 for the neurological department through a sponsored walk from Fratton Park to Wembley. Following the 97-mile walk, the family arrived in time to watch the FA Cup semi-final. The challenge was organised by Steve Pinder who wanted to raise money for the department who saved his brother’s life in 2004. He said: “I’ve always wanted to do something to say thank you to the hospital.” Photo courtesy of The News, Portsmouth James Stouse who raised over £500 for the Neonatal Unit by completing the Great South Run. For further details about fundraising news and events and to find out how you can help, contact the team on 023 8079 8881 or email charity@suht.swest.nhs.uk Pupils Oliver King and Libby Kenley from Skantabout Primary School in Chandlers Ford who raised £32 for the children’s ward at Southampton General. Pictured is Oliver with his brother and mum who presented the donation to matron Cath Battrick.
A head-on car crash in Spain left Lynda Painter with the biggest decision she had ever faced - lose her leg or lose her life. Living life to the full Following the accident, her right leg was severely damaged and infected. Despite five operations in a Spanish hospital to try and save her leg, the infection was so bad it eventually it was amputated above the knee to save her life. When she finally flew home, Lynda, 44, was admitted to Southampton General Hospital, where she stayed for a few weeks. After her amputation, Lynda felt like she had a million questions, from ‘how do I get in the shower’ to ‘what shoes can I wear’ but found there was no-one to talk to who had been through the same experience. Four years later, she has joined a new support group for amputees, set up by Nikki Storer, vascular surgical care practitioner at Southampton General Hospital. Through the group, Lynda hopes to help others, as well as helping herself and making new friends. She has already proved a vital source of information for a woman who believed she could never drive again after an amputation. Lynda explained the way her car had been specially adapted so that she could still drive. The next time they met, the lady had bought the same car and was driving again. At home, Lynda uses a wheelchair to get about, but when she goes out she has an artificial leg. Marie Hulse, the hospital’s amputee physiotherapist, helped Lynda with her recovery and with learning how to use her artificial limb. Lynda, of West End, near Southampton, said: “I don’t need to prove anything by climbing mountains, I just want to be Lynda again, and I think I’ve achieved that.” In fact, Lynda doesn’t feel she is any worse off without her leg, and last summer she travelled across France with her husband Phil, on the Harley Davidson motorbike she bought him for his 40th birthday. “I bought it as a surprise, as I figured life is worth living. I had every intention of riding on the back of it,” she said. She also works part time in the accounts department of a plumbing and bathroom showroom, a supportive employer who allows her to work around her hospital appointments. Lynda admits that at first it was scary and the days were long, but she remains determined to help other people in the same situation as her. Her next adventure is as a member of Amputees in Action, who supply extras for films and amputees for training in the armed forces. She said: “You might see me in Casualty one day!” Amputee support group The vascular team at Southampton General Hospital wants to trace any patient either facing or who has already undergone an amputation, as well as those with congenital limb loss, to join the support group. Nikki Storer, vascular surgical care practitioner, hopes the new group will prove helpful for healthcare workers, giving them a direct link with amputees to gain feedback about how services may be improved. The group desperately needs a permanent meeting place for future get-togethers. Anyone who knows of a venue in the central Southampton area that would be capable of accommodating a 30+ group for a couple of hours every month and would be free of charge, is urged to get in touch as soon as possible. The building would need to have wheelchair access, free parking and, ideally, tea and coffee-making facilities. Nikki is also keen to hear from anyone who could help transport wheelchairbound patients and possibly a carer to and from the meetings including patients from the Isle of Wight. For more information about the group, or to get involved in any way, please contact Nikki on 023 8079 6039. Case notes • Between January 2007 and January 2008, 53 amputations were carried out at Southampton General Hospital. All were leg amputations • Most amputations are in diabetic patients. • Amputations are often due to hardening of the arteries (vascular disease). This can be genetic, or caused by smoking or high cholesterol. • Other reasons include trauma, pain, cancer and palsy. timeline NHS in 1948… An estimated 125,000 nurses and 5,000 consultants were available to care for hospital patients Amputation in 1948 Connect asked Nikki what amputation might have been like when the NHS began. She said: “Amputations have been taking place for hundreds of years, but things were different in the 1940s and 50s to the service today. Research into life-like prosthetics was in its infancy. There wouldn’t have been much support for an amputee and there was a high mortality rate. We’ve come a long way.” 1948 facts • Scrabble was trademarked • The Olympics were held in London (the first games since the war) • Gandhi was assassinated • Prince Charles was born NHS established Borough Hospital becomes Southampton General Hospital. Prescription charges introduced Charges of one shilling are introduced for prescriptions. First kidney transplant An Edinburgh doctor, Michael Woodruff, performs the first UK transplant involving an identical set of twins. First hip replacement First full hip replacement is carried out by Professor John Charnley in Wrightington Hospital. 5th July 1948 1952 1960 1962
Page 1: FREE PLEASE TAKE ONE News from Sout
Page 5 and 6: Meet the team... Service Improvemen
Page 7 and 8: The Golden Stethoscope Are SUHT con

Connect Issue 13 - University Hospital Southampton NHS ...

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