News from The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

THe PulseIssue 139 Winter 2014

On the front lineHillingdon Hospital prepare for Ebola as part of a national training exercise

The Pulse

The PulseWinter 2014

Issue 139

2 The Pulse

Produced by:The Communications Departmentemail: communications@thh.nhs.uk

Print: Streamline Your Print

THIS ISSUE

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A word from shane

Preparing for ebola

Minister visits maternity ward

New hospital unit ready

A midwife in Africa

Garden of delight

Christmas events

Who’s who

The Pulse magazine is for our patients, local people, staff and members of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Copies can be picked up from the Trust and downloaded from our website www.thh.nhs.uk.

Follow us @HillingdonNHSFT

Contents

Front cover: Kirsty Farrell treating an actor presenting with ebola as part of a national training exercise.

facebook.com/hillingdonhospitals

The neonatal unit is one of the quietest places

in hospital caring for premature babies until they are well enough to go home.

There are no early morning wake-up calls here, no bright lights or loud voices as its occupants periodically wake and fall asleep in their heated incubators.

The smallest babies can be born up to 26 weeks premature and weigh as little as a loaf of bread.

The unit operates a minimal handling policy for the first 48 to 72 hours to cut the risk of passing on infections and the baby’s breathing, heartbeat and fluid intake are monitored around-the-clock.

Nilakshi Joshi, 37, one of the unit’s senior nurses has a very personal reason for working in the neonatal unit.

She said: “I was nine years-old

when two of my siblings died within 48 hours of birth due to diabetic complications. I have been protective of babies ever since and knew I wanted to specialise in neonatal care as soon as I choose a career in nursing.”

Nilakshi says improvements in technology needed to keep premature babies alive have made greats strides during her 13 years as a neonatal nurse.

She added: “These babies are born with a huge disadvantage so the team put everything we can into helping them. They are fighters so we fight for them.”

The UK has the highest rate of premature births in europe with around one in eight babies in the UK born prematurely.

The good news is survival rates have gone up in the last 20 years. Nearly 80 per cent of babies which weigh 2lb 2oz are expected to live compared to 20 per cent in 1980.

The gentle touchNeonatal unit’s senior nurse, Nilakshi Joshi

www.thh.nhs.uk

WELCOME

Shane DeGarisChief executive

The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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As 2014 begins to draw to a close it is satisfying

to look back and see the progress we have made in improving the hospital environment over the last 12 months.

This year has seen significant investment in the fabric of our hospital buildings - many of which were built in another era. We are working hard to bring them up-to-date to better suit the way health services are provided in the 21st century as well as meet the increasing expectations of our patients.

We kicked off the New Year by getting demolition work underway at Hillingdon to prepare the way for our new 46-bed Acute Medical Unit (AMU). This £12.3 million project is the biggest single investment the Trust has made in 20 years and will help transform the way we manage emergency admissions at Hillingdon.

Mount Vernon Hospital saw the formal opening of a new £800,000 endoscopy unit at the end of February boasting new state-of-the-art equipment as well as much improved ward space for patients.

Over the summer, we carried out an extensive revamp of our Beaconsfield East rehabilitation ward for elderly patients. More than £845,000 was spent on transforming it into an impressive dementia-friendly ward with fantastic new spaces and facilities including a wonderful sensory

garden for patients and their families to enjoy.

At the end of July, we expanded our highly respected neuro-rehabilitation service by opening a newly refurbished 16-bed specialist ward at Mount Vernon.

Towards the end of October, Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter formally opened our refurbished labour rooms in the Maternity Unit. These were transformed as part of a £1.1 million improvement programme for maternity services.

It seems fitting that we will finish the year back where we started with our new Acute Medical Unit preparing to open its doors to patients in December.

We are aiming to continue our programme of improvement in the coming years as demonstrated by our development of a Masterplan for the Hillingdon site (highlighted opposite).

None of the improvements would have been possible without the dedication and support of our hardworking staff. I’d like to say ‘thank you’ to them and wish everyone an enjoyable festive season as we look forward to an even better 2015.

A word from Shane DeGarisChief executive

Hillingdon Hospital Masterplan – A vision for the future

The Trust has produced a Masterplan for its Hillingdon site to evolve over the next 10 to 20 years.

A key challenge is the poor condition of our older buildings which annually cost a significant amount to repair and maintain. We propose to address this by demolishing and replacing buildings over time as funds become available.

The overall vision is to create a far better environment that is welcoming and comfortable for patients with well-designed clinical spaces. It will encourage easy access with good public transport and improved car parking.

The plan will be subject to change over time as we move through the detailed planning and design process.

We still have to identify ways to fund the improvement works but as the only acute hospital in the borough, Hillingdon Hospital is an obvious choice for any future investment and development in the area.

The Trust has submitted a planning application to Hillingdon Council for a temporary one-story decked car park which would sit above the existing main car park at the front of the Hospital.

It would provide an additional 89 parking spaces and help to alleviate traffic congestion on Pield Heath Road during peak clinic times.

Please support our application (ref: 4058/APP/2014/2373). The full application can be found on the London Borough of Hillingdon’s website.

Please direct enquiries to z.knott@nexusplanning.co.uk

Car park expansion

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NEWS

The urgent Care Centre (uCC) has treated

nearly 800,000 people since Greenbrook Healthcare began managing the service a year ago.

The centre, which is staffed by a team of GPs and nurses, now handles 60 per cent of patient traffic leaving colleagues in the adjoining emergency department (eD) free to deal with more serious life threatening injuries.

The UCC treats a range of minor injuries and urgent medical problems and is a walk-in service for patients whose condition is urgent enough that they can’t wait for the next GP appointment but who don’t need emergency treatment.

This includes facilities to x-ray limbs for suspected fractures and prescribe medicines.

Lead consultant Dr Tahir said: “The majority of doctors divide their time between general practice and working shifts at the UCC, bringing a wealth of expertise.”

UCC treats80,000 people in one year

Denise Ahmed describes herself as a big softie

but is already making a name for herself as a trainee midwife after picking up a national award.

The 33 year-old Glaswegian remains modest about being named Inspirational Student of the Year but admits being left speechless after winning.

“It was a real shock,” said the mother of four who admits burning the midnight oil in pursuit of becoming a qualified midwife.

She’s not doing badly either.Denise has already helped deliver

nearly 30 babies dividing her time between university and hands-on experience at Hillingdon Hospital’s maternity unit.

She’s no stranger to the labour wards having had all four of her children at the hospital as well as meeting the women there who inspired her to become a midwife.

It was recently retired midwife, Seleena Yates, who inspired Denise to choose midwifery as a career.

Denise said: “I always knew

I wanted more from life and Seleena proved the inspiration as I kept bumping into her each time I had a new baby.

“She is one of those people you meet and never forget so once my youngest child was in school I took the plunge. If I can be half the midwife Seleena was I will be delighted. Her patience and care are a real inspiration and she sums up what a good midwife should be.”

Denise admits she still sheds a tear when a baby is delivered, despite being focused on the job.

“I still cry when a baby is delivered. I guess I should learn not to but it is such an emotional moment. I just feel privileged to be part of it.”

Her caring nature and willingness to go the extra mile - she stayed on duty for 14 hours for one mother - has won her a lot of flowers and well-wishers.

“The labour wards are pressured but it’s a good team and my greatest wish is to get a full-time job here when I qualify. Hillingdon has my heart.”

Mum to midwife

Denise Ahmed with one of the many new borns she has helped deliver

Left to right: Ms Parmjit Rai and Dr Tahir

www.thh.nhs.uk

Hillingdon Hospital

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NEWS

Picture caption

Hillingdon on the front line

Hillingdon Hospital took part in a national

training exercise to test the preparedness of emergency services for an ebola outbreak.

It was one of a number of sites chosen around the UK involving volunteers and hospital staff.

The Hillingdon scenario involved a man walking into Hillingdon with flu-like symptoms, having recently returned from West Africa.

The ’patient’ was isolated and looked after by staff wearing protective clothing awaiting transfer to the Royal Free Hospital which has a specialist isolation unit to treat patients with haemorrhagic fever.

Parts of the exercise were filmed on behalf of the Department of Health and will be used for training other health colleagues.

The exercise was carried out calmly and professionally by staff on the day and patients were advised it was an exercise to avoid any unnecessary concern.

Noreen Rice, Hillingdon Hospital emergency Care Services Manager said: “The more you practice the

Preparing for ebola

better you get and it was really useful to help us test out just how prepared we are for dealing with an incident like this.

“I am confident that we can manage these situations.”

The doctor who managed the patient care, Amy Bibby, Hillingdon Hospital Senior House Officer said: “It’s been really rewarding to be involved with this exercise. I’m glad to be able to help test out our procedures and hopefully it will help other colleagues with their planning in the future.”

The Trust has joined the national ‘sign up to

safety’ campaign.

The campaign mission is to strengthen patient safety in the NHS and make it the safest healthcare system in the world.

Sign up to Safety aims to deliver harm free care for every patient, every time, everywhere. It champions openness and honesty and supports everyone to improve the safety of patients. The overall goal is to reduce avoidable patient harm by 50 per cent and save 6,000 lives over three years.

The Trust has committed to: listen to patients, carers and staff, learn from what they say when things go wrong and take action to improve patients’ safety.

The Director of Patient experience and Nursing, Theresa Murphy said: “The Trust already delivers high quality healthcare to local people as our Monitor indicators clearly demonstrate.

“However we want to give patients confidence that we are doing all we can to ensure that the care they receive will be safe and effective at all times.

“We are therefore committing to strengthen patient safety by signing up to the Sign up to Safety campaign.”

Listen, learn, act

Left to right: Hospital staff Kirsty Farrell and Amy Bibby

Amy Bibby with Ebola actor

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NEWS

Miriam clocks up 23 years

Say hello on Facebook

The Trust is now on Facebook where you can catch up on all the latest news and events. Just search

for The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The Trust maintains a strong Trust Board with the announcement of two new appointments.

Richard Sumray has been appointed as the new Chair of the Trust, while Richard Whittington takes on a Non-executive Director role.

The new Chair will feature in the next edition of The Pulse.

New Trust chair and director

Miriam Hewlett is Hillingdon Hospital’s

longest serving volunteer and says she has no plans to slow down soon.

The 84 year-old mother of two has held various voluntary positions within the hospital and currently collects and distributes food for patients.

Miriam certainly knows how to spoil them admitting that she even cuts the crusts off sandwiches for people with stomach related conditions.

Miriam said: “I love working at the hospital. It’s like an extended family and I know lots of people.

It gets me out of the house and I’ll carry on doing it as long as I can.”

Over 400 volunteers work across the Hillingdon and Mount Vernon sites working on administration, reception and meals distribution.

Many of the volunteers belong to third party organisations like Mount Vernon Comforts Fund, League of Friends, Hospital Radio Hillingdon and Hospital Radio Mount Vernon.

Chief executive Shane DeGaris said: “Our volunteers are the unsung heroes of the NHS. They don’t get paid and give up their own time to come in and help people. They are a real credit and help keep us going.“

Miriam Hewlett serving snacks and treats to patients, staff and visitors.

It was quite a night for Hillingdon Hospital at the national Quality in Care Programme Awards when it was ’commended’ and ‘highly commended’ in three categories for its work on diabetes.

The Children and Young People’s Paediatric Diabetes Team was highly commended for its schools’ based clinics involving pupils with Type One diabetes.

The Diabetes in Care Homes project looked at improving the service provided to patients in care homes, while ‘A Space to Think’ was a joint initiative with North West London NHS Trust which employed the use of a psychologist to help tackle the non-medical challenges of managing diabetes.

Diabetes team commended

www.thh.nhs.uk

NEWS

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The MP balances his political career as Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health with that of a practising doctor specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology.

Dr Poulter spent an hour in the maternity unit chatting with staff about the £870,000 improvements and how the hospital will cope with the increase in demand as it accommodates mothers from neighbouring areas.

Dr Poulter said: “The maternity team here are doing a fantastic job day in, day out and night in, night out like so many other midwives around the country.

“The problem is facilities are often old and part of my job has been to secure funding so places like Hillingdon can benefit from an improved working environment.”

The Department of Health funded initiative is part of a national £25 million programme for improving maternity units across england.

Trust improvements include en-suite facilities, new windows, lighting and ventilation, as well as integrated music systems and new and improved medical equipment.

Chief executive Shane DeGaris said: “The Maternity Unit is one of

Dr Dan visits maternity unitDr Dan Poulter has the perfect credentials to open Hillingdon

Hospital’s new look maternity rooms, which have been funded by a department of health grant.

the Trust’s biggest services and will see the number of annual births rise from around 4,000 a year to 6,000 by 2018.

“We are currently recruiting more midwives and are confident we can meet the demand.”

“

”

The maternity team here are doing a fantastic job day in, day out and night in, night out.Dr Dan Poulter MP opening the newley

refurbished maternity rooms

Dr Poulter with new parents Darren and Marion Judd with baby Billy Jo Judd

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A new 16-bed ward for patients recovering from

brain and spinal injuries has opened at Mount Vernon Hospital.

Daniels Rehabilitation Unit is a much-needed and rare addition to the number of specialist neuro-rehab beds available in the UK.

There is a chronic shortage across the country and the unit will help accommodate patients from surrounding areas.

It helps patients take the first steps towards recovery, including people involved in road traffic accidents and those who have had or are living with strokes and conditions like multiple sclerosis.

Helen Parr, Rehabilitation Therapy Manager, said: “Patients may come to us via the major trauma centre once they have been stabilised and can be with us anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months.

“They may also come from other acute hospitals and stroke units, or occasionally from home if they are living with a long-term neurological condition.

“We have a big multidisciplinary team, including occupational

therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, psychologists and dieticians.

“Neuro-rehab is very labour intensive, so it requires a lot of specialised staff.

“It’s rewarding work because you can see you are making a difference as they regain their skills.”

Daniels Rehabilitation Unit supports the work of its sister unit, the Alderbourne Rehab Unit, which offers 20 neuro-rehab beds on the Hillingdon Hospital site.

Alderbourne is heavily subscribed with patients from in and outside the borough having built up a good reputation in north and south west London.

Daniels ward welcomes patients Hospital unit promises better care

“We’ll be up and running by the

New Year.” says consultant Mark edwards referring to the move into Hillingdon Hospital’s £12.3 million Acute Medical unit (AMu).

It marks the conclusion of a two year project which will see the emergency Admissions Unit (eAU) move from the hospital’s tower block to a new purpose-built 46-bed facility next to A&e.

The unit will be run by Dr edwards and senior sister Liz Kelleher who have both spent six years working in the eAU.

Dr edwards, said: “We’ve outgrown Fleming Ward and the logistics and time spent moving patients from A&e to the fourth floor is something we won’t miss.

One of the 16 new beds on Daniels Ward

Left to right: Dr Mark Edwards and senior sister Liz Kelleher

CCQ inspection concludesA team of more than

40 Quality Care Commission (CQC) Inspectors carried out an inspection at the Trust’s two sites during October.

They visited a broad range of clinical areas, held focus groups with staff and spoke to patients.

The inspectors said they found dealing with Trust staff to be

an ‘overwhelmingly positive experience’ and were impressed with the level of staff commitment to delivering high quality patient care despite the sometimes challenging environment. They also said they had received generally positive feedback from patients in all of our clinical areas.

Their report on the Trust is expected to be published in December.

www.thh.nhs.uk 9

FEaTUrE

Hospital unit promises better care

AMU fact file• TheAMUcost£12.3million• Theprojecttook12monthstocomplete• LargestredevelopmentatHillingdonin20years• 46-bedunit• Directlylinkedtotheemergencydepartment• Sevenbedbays;sixwithsixbedsandonewithfour• Sixsiderooms• Threeseperateclinics;admissions,preventionandambulatory

care.

The new unit will be linked to the emergency department taking patients who will normally be treated and discharged within 72 hours. A typical patient would be someone requiring further investigation for chest pain or breathing difficulties.

Dr edwards added: “One of the biggest challenges facing any hospital is managing patient flow. The demand for beds is always there so our job is to treat people and get them back home with the minimum of delay.

“No-one wants to be in hospital any longer than they have to and the AMU will be handling up to 60 per cent of the hospital’s turnaround.”

The unit will include seven bed bays, three clinical rooms and six side-rooms including a negative pressure room to treat people with

infectious diseases like TB. The building will also accommodate a new endoscopy unit which opens early next year.

Benefits include reducing the number of times a patient is moved between wards and better access to senior clinicians and a multidisciplinary team so patients benefit from a ‘one stop’ service.

Dr edwards added: “One of our key areas is treatment of elderly patients and we have a specialist team in place with links in and outside the hospital so we have continuity of care.

“We’re all looking forward to moving into the new building. It’s a positive move for staff and patients.”

Left to right: Dr Mark Edwards and senior sister Liz Kelleher

Architect drawing of the completed AMU

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NEWS

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The Communications Team spent a month capturing

staff as part of its #snapshot campaign on Twitter in the autumn.

Smile. You’re on Snapshot

A consultant at Hillingdon Hospital says more than

3,000 people living in the borough have Hepatitis … and the majority don’t even know they have it.

Bob Grover says the difficulty lies in a lack of obvious symptoms for both Hepatitis B and C which may cause liver damage.

Dr Grover, who treats more than 400 patients a year, said: “It is a

worry that so many people are walking around undiagnosed.

Most of the diagnoses are picked up incidentally when they have blood tests for other reasons and the liver blood tests are noted to be abnormal.

Others are picked up when they are pregnant and screened in the antenatal clinic.

“There is a lot of stigma attached to these conditions but it is manageable in the case of Hep B with drugs, while Hep C is curable

Hepatitis threat to Hillingdonin up to 90 per cent of patients, with recent advancements in medication.”

‘Toni’ caught Hep C as part of the chaotic lifestyle that came with being a heroin addict for more than a decade.

She didn’t share needles but did share the spoons used for cooking up her fix.

She wasn’t aware she had Hep C until she was weaning herself off the drug and was asked if she would like a routine test.

People often equate doctors and nurses with hospitals forgetting the small army of non-clinical staff who also help keep it running 24/7. Thank you to everyone who took part.

www.thh.nhs.uk

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The Hillingdon-based midwife took it in her stride but wasn’t so keen on the rats.

“No, I’m not a big rat fan,” says the 53 year-old who is going back to Uganda on a Rotary Club funded visit for the third time later this year.

Gillian is part of a team that has been training maternity staff at Kamuli Mission Hospital in baby resuscitation and handling emergency births.

The hospital, which serves a population of 750,000 people, has a minimum of one doctor and lacks basic amenities including running water and a regular power supply.

Gillian said: “We had to go back-to-basics to match the lack of training and medical equipment. It was challenging but you have to be flexible enough to come up with solutions that staff can use on a day-to-day basis.

“This ranged from simple advice like changing bed sheets between patients and regular hand washing to drying and wrapping a new born.

An important part of the team’s work was a ‘train the trainer’ programme so that new hospital employees could pass their skills onto colleagues once the team had returned to the UK.

Gillian says the obvious poverty is matched by sometimes frightening ingenuity such as a baby incubator made out of glass-fronted packing crate with light bulbs fixed under the board and a tray of water underneath to produce humidity.

Resuscitation techniques were basic with a premature baby being tickled lightly on the chest to stimulate breathing which had a poor success rate.

Gillian said: “Good basic resuscitation techniques don’t require expensive equipment and is something we were able to easily teach. As a result, we taught them to dry and wrap a baby and use an ambu bag to assist with breathing.”

Some hospitals may question the value of staff volunteering to work in developing countries but Gillian says it benefits individuals and their employers.

She added: “It’s a valuable lesson in resources because you have to make do with what you’ve got and be flexible enough to come up with an alternative if it isn’t working.

“It also teaches you to be practical and a good communicator. You come away with a better understanding of yourself and others.”

Goats and babiesHospital visitors come

in all shapes and sizes but Gillian Pearce had to look twice when a goat wandered through the maternity ward of an African hospital.

Member of Kamuli Mission Hospital staff with baby

Gillian Pearce, Hillingdon midwife and volunteer

Staff at Kamuli Mission Hospital in “back-to-basics” training

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The winter months can be a tough for the elderly and the Trust is offering the following advice as it marks a

seasonal high for circulatory and respiratory illnesses.

Some simple tips:

• Keep your living room temperature around 70˚F (21˚C)

• Keep your bedroom around 65˚F (18˚C)

• Keep your bedroom window closed at night when the weather is cold

• Make sure you are receiving any benefits you are entitled to, such as the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payment

• Have regular hot drinks and eat at least one hot meal a day. This will help keep energy levels up during winter and keep your body warm.

• Make sure you get the seasonal flu jab which should reduce your vulnerability to infection.

Please note that the following groups are all eligible for a free flu jab

• Anyone over the age of 65

• Pregnant women

• Children and adults with an underlying health condition (particularly long-term heart or respiratory disease)

• Children and adults with weakened immune systems.

Anyone in these risk groups is more likely to develop potentially serious complications of flu, such as pneumonia (a lung infection), so it’s recommended that they have a flu vaccine every year to protect them.

Winter advice for elderly

Flu Facts1. Flu kills

For the majority of people who catch it flu is unpleasant, but for some it can lead to chest infections, severe complications and death. Globally, seasonal flu accounts for about three to five million causes of severe illness annually and between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths.

2. The flu jab can’t give you the flu

It is impossible to get flu from having the flu jab because the vaccine doesn’t contain live viruses. A very small number of people experience side effects such as aching muscles, but this is simply the immune system responding to the vaccine.

3. You need the vaccine every year

If you were vaccinated last year you helped to fight the flu and took an extra step towards excellent patient care. Please do the same again this year. You won’t be protected against the new strains of flu circulating.

4. Pregnant women can be vaccinated

Pregnant women can have the flu vaccination at any stage of their pregnancy. Having the vaccination

when pregnant is beneficial and helps protect the baby from flu over the first few months of life.

Chief Executive, Shane DeGaris, receiving his annual flu jab

www.thh.nhs.uk

FEaTUrE

13

Cancer patients from Hillingdon Hospital are

helping breathe life into a secret walled garden in Cranford Country Park.

The garden is one of the few reminders of the earl of Berkeley whose estate consisted of the park and surrounding land, now managed by Hillingdon Council.

The Berkeleys were one of the country’s richest families but the family home was sold in 1918 and demolished after World War Two.

A few remnants of its opulent past remain including the stables, the walled garden and a huge tiled cellar hidden underground.

More than 20 volunteers, including patients from Hillingdon Hospital have helped create and look after the garden through Macmillan Cancer Support who opened an office in the hospital earlier this year.

Lorraine Barton, a Macmillan cancer specialist and one of the founding members of the park’s friends group, said: “It’s a very relaxing place and patients enjoy coming here once a month to work and meet with other people.

“It gets people out of their homes and active which is important when you are recovering.”

The garden’s features include a small vegetable and wildflower plot, a natural well and its own grapevine which this year helped produce 20 bottles of Cranford wine.

The odd glass helps ward off the autumn chill and the possibility of crossing paths with the Grey Lady, a ghost that is rumoured to haunt

the 144 acre park.Cranford Park Friends are always

on the lookout for volunteers to

help and secretary Robert Barton says everyone is welcome. More info: www.cranfordparkfriends.org

The Macmillan Cancer Centre held a successful event at Hillingdon Civic Centre called living with Cancer.

More than 100 people living with cancer attended the event which included talks by medical experts and representatives from local community and voluntary groups.

Specialist nurse Lorraine Barton said: “It was a great event and our focus was on how patients and their families can take stock of what has happened, know where to get the right advice and support and move on with their lives.

“Patients are the best experts on how they feel and we have a network in place so that they can contact us if they feel something isn’t right instead of regularly having to come into hospital.”

The garden of delight

Secretary of Cranford Park Friends, Robert Barton, enjoying the secret garden

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FEaTUrE

My husband is squeamish so doesn’t

usually ask how my day went,’ says Veronica Kourtellaris who works in Hillingdon Hospital’s mortuary.

The former hairdresser turned senior anatomical pathology technician is responsible for handling more than 800 deceased patients a year ensuring the necessary paperwork is in order before they are released to the undertaker.

Anyone who dies in the hospital will pass through the hands of Veronica and her colleague, Jo Stokes, after being brought down from the wards.

Information about the deceased is doubled-checked on arrival before they are stored in one of 49 refrigerated stores.

If the patient has a pacemaker fitted the team will surgically remove it as the batteries can

explode in the heat of the crematorium.

Post mortems are rare although relatives or doctors can request one to make further studies into the patient’s medical condition or identify any genetic defects.

Veronica is also qualified to remove brains and spinal cords from organ donors for the Brain Bank at University College London.

“It is fascinating work,” says Veronica.

“The resulting tissue proves invaluable to researchers looking into the degenerative effects of conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

“One of the toughest parts of the job can be arranging family viewings of the deceased when emotions are running high, although the ward staff accompany the families.”

Veronica added: “We pride ourselves on being compassionate and caring recognising that people react to grief in different ways.”

Caring for the deceasedTop TweetsFollow @HillingdonNHSFT for news, updates, information, jobs and public involvement.

@Frenchbird31Surgery in Female Day Care @HillingdonNHSFT

today. Very impressed with care received from every single member of staff. Grateful. Thank you.

@MummysZone@HillingdonNHSFT thank you for such amazing support

and service from your maternity department

@tm-west@HillingdonNHSFT brought my 7 month old daughter to a&e

this morning. Very pleased with how quickly we were seen (she’s fine BTW)

@FizzieLouThe staff at Mount Vernon hospital are terrific. :D

@bohaynowellI am very, very grateful to Hillingdon Hospital

A&e for sorting @mumoss’s dislocated shoulder in 3 & half hours with kindness & morphine.

@obrienlinnnyAll the nurses are so nice to my hubby at the Hillingdon

Hospital, thank you to all of them

Left to right: Jo Stokes and Veronica Kourtellaris

www.thh.nhs.uk 15

GOvErNOrS’ vOICE

Governor Rekha Wadhawani brings her charity experience to the Trust

I have recently joined the Trust as a public governor

for south of the borough after being a member of the People in Partnership group for more than four years.

I decided to put myself forward as a governor as I have lots of experience as a trustee, chair and chief executive in the charity sector. My interests are very much about how hospitals can work more effectively with local charities. I feel we can learn from them and use some of their fundraising techniques to help raise the large amount of funds required to improve facilities in

the hospital.It’s early days for me as a

governor, but I have so far found the experience really enjoyable. There is so much to learn and am still finding out about all the responsibilities of the role. I’ve joined a group of 12 Public Governors very committed governors from all across the borough.

Our key duties as governors are to hold the Non-executive Directors individually and collectively to account for the performance of the Board, to represent the interests of members, the public and staff and to ensure that the Board run the Trust effectively.

In practice this involves a variety of things from meeting with board members to provide feedback from Trust members and the public, to attending key meetings.

In the last quarter we have attended the regular board meetings, the Trust AGM, the quarterly People in Partnership (PIP) meeting and a number of community events, as well as participated in assessments for both Monitor and the Patient-Led Assessments of the Care environment (PLACe). Many of us were also involved in the recruitment and appointment of the new Trust Chair.

We’d like to hear more from you about your experiences of the Trust. You can come along and meet many of us at the PiP meetings or contact us through the Foundation Trust Office on 0800 8766953 or foundation@thh.nhs.uk

Rekha Wadhawani Public Constituency South

Trust general meeting a successMore than 120 people

attended the Trust’s Annual General Meeting in september.

The audience heard from the Chief executive Shane DeGaris, Interim Chair James Reid and others about the Trust’s performance over the last 12 months.

Overall the Trust had a very good year, meeting all of its key national performance targets including the four hour A&e waiting time and the 18 week GP referral target.

We also managed to balance our finances alongside our quality

performance and had our best ever year in managing infection control. Our performance was also recognised by others and

we were shortlisted or won a number of nationally recognised awards including a DR Foster Good Hospital Guide award.

Future People in Partnership meetingsThursday 12 February 2015: 6:30pm to 9pm, meeting starts at 7pm Committee Room 3 & 3A, Civic Centre, Uxbridge

Monday 27 April 2015: 6:30pm to 9pm, meeting starts at 7pm Postgraduate Centre, Mount Vernon Hospital

Thursday 2nd July 2015: 1pm to 3:30pm, meeting starts at 1.30pm Committee Room 5, Civic Centre, Uxbridge

Public governor Rekha Wadhawani

The Pulse 16

NEWS

Christmas in the chapelTwo Christmas services

will be held on Xmas Day in the ground floor Chapel at Hillingdon.

A service celebrating Christmas will be held at 10am followed by a eucharistic Celebration at 11am. everyone is welcome to attend.

Children’s ward activitiesOur youngest patients are

already getting in the festive spirit by coming up with designs for a Xmas card for the Trust.

The wards will be decorated for Xmas week, Santa will pay his usual visit and a seasonal party will be thrown for some of the longer-stay children.

And every year the children can expect a few surprise visits from special guests who pop in to cheer them up.

School carol singersstudents from a number of

local schools will perform carols for staff and patients throughout December in the main reception at Hillingdon Hospital.

Come along and support the young talent.

Music on the wardsFollowing a long standing

tradition, local church members will visit a number of wards at Hillingdon on Christmas eve.

Dinner is servedA full Christmas lunch will

be available for staff, patients and visitors at both the Hillingdon and Mount Vernon restaurants in the run up to Christmas week.

Preparations are well underway for the busy festive season. As usual, there will be lots of activities taking place across both trust sites from celebrity visits on

our children’s wards to Christmas lunches in our restaurants and the annual carol performances. Full details and timings will be published across the Trust as well as on our website nearer the time.

Getting in the festive spirit

Children from Hermitage school performing carols at Hillingdon