Latest news

A local singing group, Cherry Vixxen, made a festive return to Royal Derby Hospital yesterday (15 December 2022), performing a number of Christmas songs for dementia patients at Ward 311 –around three months since they last sang for patients.

Organised by Dementia Key Worker Sharon Dunworth and key members of the ward team, it was a delight for patients and UHDB colleagues alike to see Pippa Ward and Dawn McGlashan make their return, supporting dementia patients and creating a special atmosphere in the lead up to the Christmas holidays.

Patients at Queen’s Hospital Burton were given an early Christmas gift yesterday (15 December 2022) as members of the team from Burton Albion Football Club paid a visit to deliver presents and spread festive cheer.

In September 2022, we launched our Tobacco Dependency Treatment (TDT) programme across all of our hospitals. This involves the screening of all patients admitted for tobacco addiction, providing personalised support to quit smoking for all those who opt in for treatment.

TDT has already seen some fantastic initial successes – with over 240 referrals made at Royal Derby Hospital and Queen’s Hospital Burton in the first two months of the campaign – and we remain committed to supporting those who make the decision to give up smoking under our care, however we can.

As part of this initiative, we have Tobacco Dependency Advisors across the Trust, who patients will speak to should they choose to opt-in to TDT following their initial tobacco dependency screening. This includes our Midwifery services – where pregnant people and their partners are spoken to by one of our Tobacco Dependency Champion Midwives.

Medical Directors Office Manager, Lara Raworth, has reflected on the “pinnacle” of her achievements in being presented with the Behind the Scenes Award at our Annual Making a Difference Awards for her work with the UHDB’s Armed Forces Network (AFN) back in October.

Derby County players paid a surprise visit to patients at the Children’s Hospital at Royal Derby Hospital yesterday (13 December), bringing with them presents and plenty of festive cheer.

In May 2022, UHDB implemented a new role to specifically help provide patients who have undergone a tracheostomy or laryngectomy with tailored, specialised care and advice. 

UHDB and the Safeguarding and Vulnerable People team are raising awareness of resources and support for colleagues or patients who are victims of domestic abuse.

The ‘Global 16 Days Campaign’ of action against domestic violence is taking place between 25 November to 10 December 2022. 

At UHDB, we are taking this opportunity to inform colleagues across UHDB about the information and resources available, should you have concerns regarding anyone being a potential victim of domestic abuse, or be a victim yourself.

A new area and approach to safely and efficiently discharging patients at Samuel Johnson Community Hospital has been implemented, through specially refurbished ‘Integrated Discharge Hubs’ at the site.

The Hubs have been created for onsite multi-disciplinary team (MDT) working, enabling better outcomes for patients – where colleagues involved in various aspects of the discharge process can work directly together to ensure the timely and safe release of patients into the commun

A UHDB colleague who helps patients following a skin cancer diagnosis has been hailed a ‘rock’ by one patient who nominated her for a Making a Difference Award.

Joanne Douglas, Skin cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist, helps many skin cancer patients in her role but the compassion she showed to one patient was so exceptional that the patient went on to nominate her as her ‘Patient hero’.

This week (2 December-8 December) is Grief Awareness Week.

Clare Hicklin is a Sister on Ward 2 at Florence Nightingale Community Hospital, which offers palliative care to patients.

Clare has shared her thoughts on what grief means to her and her team:

Saturday 3 December 2022 is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and 16 November–16 December 2022 is Disability History Month.

In recognition of this, UHDB has joined the global movement to light up the entrances at two of our sites, Royal Derby Hospital and Queen’s Hospital Burton, in purple for #PurpleLightUp.

Colleagues who offer palliative care to patients nearing the end of their lives have been recognised for their compassion with a Making a Difference Award.

The team on Ward 2 at Florence Nightingale Community Hospital were given the CEO award for their continuous efforts to help terminally ill patients and their families.

World Aids Day is recognised internationally, to commemorate those who have passed away due to AIDS/HIV, and to fight the stigma behind the virus - as well as to raise awareness of the ways that HIV can be transmitted.

In the U.K. alone over 105,000 people today live with HIV. Many of them now live a full life thanks to modern day treatments.  

UHDB has won a prestigious award thanks to the efforts of its Learning and Education and Recruitment teams, in recruiting and supporting Internationally Educated Nurses and Midwives.

The teams strive to be the best employer of Internationally Educated Nurses and Midwives and have been awarded the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award after joining forces to help staff who have joined UHDB from overseas.

The Pre-Operative Assessment Clinic at Queen’s Hospital Burton has been given a new permanent location.

The full address for this new location is: Pre-Op Clinic, Level 2, Treatment Centre, Queen’s Hospital Burton, Belvedere Road, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, DE13 0RB.

This new location has seen adjustments made to ensure that it is solely a dedicated Pre-Operative Assessment Clinic. Previously, the clinic was based at a number of locations across QHB on a temporary basis.

Since the beginning of the covid pandemic back in 2020, the role of those in the Pharmacy Department at UHDB has become even more unprecedented. While they are still responsible for medicines management across our Trust, they are now also the go-to for any questions about covid-19, both treatments and vaccinations.

Aside from their normal daily responsibilities the team do a lot of work behind the scenes to help protect colleagues, including a huge contribution to the seasonal vaccinations campaign.

Last week, colleagues from across UHDB gathered at Mickleover Court Hotel for this year’s Stop Pressure Ulcer Day conference.

The conference, which took place on 17 November, is an annual event to coincide with International Stop Pressure Ulcer Day and is in its tenth year thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Tissue Viability (TV) Team.

A UHDB radiographer will be leaving a ‘Roz shaped hole’ in the hearts of her colleagues when she leaves this month after 50 years of service.

Rosemary Plant, who is affectionately known by her colleagues as ‘Roz’ is retiring on 11 November after working in the NHS for 50 years.

The UHDB Dementia Team and Library staff were recently invited to speak to Year 8 students at the David Neiper Academy in Alfreton, about how the Trust supports patients with dementia and learning disabilities within our care.

A team of colleagues who help patients who have complex pain needs, have won a national award for consistently going above and beyond with their compassion for patients and support for other nursing colleagues.

The Royal Derby Hospital Acute Pain Team is made up of four Nurse Specialists and three anaesthetists.

A huge congratulations to UHDB’s Finance Team who have been shortlisted for not one, but two finance awards for the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Awards.

A nurse who made a lasting impression on an anxious patient has been awarded a monthly Making a Difference Award after the patient took the time to praise her for her calmness and compassion.

The patient, who does not wish to be named, was cared for on Ward 301 at Royal Derby Hospital by nurse Smitha Philip and her colleagues after being admitted in the summer.

Clinicians from across the UK have descended upon Queen’s Hospital Burton for a nationally renowned training course on regional anaesthetic delivered by UHDB colleagues.

On Friday 11 November 2022, colleagues at the Trust gathered to mark Remembrance Day. Some colleagues held local services within their departments to pay their respects with patients and two services were held at Royal Derby Hospital and Queen’s Hospital Burton – coordinated by our Armed Forces Staff Network.

A team of researchers at UHDB have been recognised for recruiting over 50 patients to an important piece of research which hopes to reduce mortality rates in patients aged 50 and over who are undergoing an emergency laparotomy.

We are sorry to share the sad news that Mr Sikandar Khwaja, Consultant Urologist at Queen’s Hospital Burton, has passed away.

Mr Khwaja joined the Department of Urology at Queen’s Hospital Burton in 1999 and after quickly progressing within the team, has been a consultant at UHDB for 18 years. He has been described as instrumental in shaping the department in many ways and he had a particular interest in endourology for stones and andrology.

Today is World Radiography Day and to celebrate we are shining a light on UHDB’s fantastic radiotherapy department and a new innovative treatment they are delivering to cancer patients in our community.

The team at Royal Derby Hospital have been working hard behind the scenes to introduce a Surface Guided Radiotherapy solution which means patients can now ​still have ​highly precise treatment but will no longer be left with visible tattoos and marks following treatment.

The first patients have received their cataracts procedure at Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital in Tamworth after the newly established service opened its doors.

The team at Royal Derby Hospital’s Emergency Department have been presented with a Monthly Making a Difference Award after glowing feedback after caring for a patient who had suffered a fall. The nomination, which stated the team “deserve a medal, each and every one of you”, praised the ED Team for the care and compassion the patient received when attending the department after what they described as “a bad fall”.

Trigger warning: the below story contains references to stillbirth

A patient who lost her baby at 22 weeks has thanked the midwife who held her hand through the difficult times and was by her side 13 months later when she welcomed her second child.

Becky Wheeler, a community midwife based at Samuel Johnson Community Hospital, has won the Patient Hero award in the monthly Making a Difference Awards after being nominated by her patient Victoria Elliott.