NHS England's National Medical Director Sir Stephen Powis meets innovative teams at UHDB
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB) recently welcomed Professor Sir Stephen Powis, National Medical Director for NHS England, to meet colleagues from across the Trust and visit departments at Royal Derby Hospital.
On Friday 15 December 2023, Professor Sir Stephen Powis spoke to colleagues from stroke services, inpatient smoking cessation support and UHDB's award-winning tattoo free radiotherapy services.
Dr Kathy McLean, Chair at UHDB, met with NHS England's National Medical Director. She said: "It was a pleasure to show Professor Sir Stephen Powis some of the excellent work happening at UHDB.
"I am proud that our Same Day Emergency Care model is being well utilised and is supporting our Emergency Departments to provide care for our patients as quickly as possible. He met with a number of teams who are making improvements, developing innovative solutions for our staff, or who have launched pioneering technology benefitting patients. The passion, hard work and drive for improvement shone through with every team we met, and I am delighted we were able to showcase our work on a national level."
Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: "It has been wonderful to visit Royal Derby Hospital to see the great work going on in the Trust. I'm very impressed by the work on stroke pathways, it has been fascinating to see the award-winning tattoo-free radiotherapy, great to see progress with the in-house support for smoking cessation, and when it comes to innovation and looking to the future, the work of the automation team is clearly showing how you can automate some processes to free people up to do the work that really inspires them."
During his visit to the Emergency Department at Royal Derby Hospital, Professor Sir Stephen Powis saw how the Medical Same Day Emergency Care model (SDEC) is helping more patients be seen faster while preventing hospital admission. In the last six months, the department has nearly doubled the number of patients seen per day, providing the necessary care for patients without hospital admission.
Professor Tim England, Professor of Stroke Medicine at University of Nottingham and Honorary Consultant Stroke Physician at UHDB, also met with Professor Sir Stephen Powis to show the stroke patient pathway, from our Emergency Department, to diagnostic tests and the Ward 410, including the transient ischaemic attack (TIA) clinic.
In another team visit, the Tobacco Dependency Treatment team shared their work supporting 1,800 patients in our hospitals to stop smoking this past year, and their ambitions to expand their work to support more patients across the Trust. This has positively impacted patient outcomes, saving an estimated 378 lives and over £1 million in hospital readmission costs from smoking related illnesses.
UHDB's award-winning Radiotherapy team > demonstrated their Surface Guided Radiotherapy treatment, a very precise form of radiotherapy that eliminates the need for permanent, visible tattoos and marks to be placed on the patient's skin. This innovative treatment not only significantly improves the psychological impact of having a permanent reminder of their cancer journey, but also ensures patients receive highly accurate treatment as the machine detects any movement and automatically stops. Almost 1,800 patients have benefitted from tattoo free radiotherapy since July 2021 and UHDB are a reference or 'blueprint' site for other NHS trusts who are exploring this technology.
Finally, the Business Intelligence team demonstrated the potential of their recent work in automation and AI. Their automation work has helped with improvements for Acute Kidney Injury patients, and they are using AI to support with some training packages for radiographers. While the team are newly established, their promising work in automation and AI offers exciting possibilities to improve patient safety and staff experience.
Images:
Top: Professor Sir Stephen Powis meeting the Tobacco Dependency Treatment team
Middle: Demonstration of Surface Guided Radiotherapy treatment by Royal Derby Hospital's Radiotherapy team
Bottom: Professor Sir Stephen Powis meeting members of the Business Intelligence team