Latest news

A Consultant Surgeon has returned to Ghana to carry out more charity work on behalf of Humanity First UK (HFUK) after first visiting the country back in June 2022.

Mr Azher Siddiq, a Consultant Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Surgeon based at Queen's Hospital Burton, is returning to the same hospital and region as his last visit (Wa Municipal Hospital, in the Upper West Region of Ghana), alongside consultant colleagues from across the UK - bringing with them a range of modern equipment and expertise to help train medical staff who are based there.

A 15-year-old patient who underwent major surgery after an agonising football injury returned to Royal Derby Hospital to personally thank the nurse for the exceptional care he received during his time on Dolphin Ward.

A senior leader in UHDB's Midwifery Team has been praised by her colleagues for the impact her compassionate leadership approach has had on their teams in such a short space of time. Interim Head of Midwifery, Natasha Stringer, joined UHDB in April 2022, with colleagues sharing the positive impact her leadership has had on the department.

A new mum who was diagnosed with a severe sickness condition while pregnant, called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), has thanked the team who cared for her during a difficult pregnancy and guided her through a difficult labour.

UHDB’s radiotherapy team has been shortlisted for a prestigious Health Service Journal (HSJ) award in recognition of their efforts to improve outcomes for cancer patients.

The team, which is based at Royal Derby Hospital, is up for the HSJ’s partnership award for ‘Most effective contribution to improving cancer outcomes’ for their collaboration with Vision RT to deliver an innovative tattoo and mark-free treatment to patients.

A caring Medical Secretary has been presented with a Monthly Making a Difference Award for the invaluable support she offers to cancer patients.

A former patient at Royal Derby Hospital's specialist Pulvertaft Hand Centre recently returned to say thank you, bringing with him a hand-crafted gift for the consultant surgeon and team who treated him. Ian Cooper, from Doveridge in Derbyshire, underwent surgery for Dupuytren's contracture in his left hand - conducted by a team led by Miss Mary O'Brien, Consultant Hand and Plastic Surgeon at Royal Derby Hospital.  

A mum of two who was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer, despite not having any symptoms, has urged women to attend vital screening.

Michelle Camm was delivered the shock news that she had Stage 3c cervical cancer in July 2020.

To mark Parent Mental Health Day (Friday, 27 January) we are shining a light on UHDB's Perinatal Mental Health Team.

Just over a year old, this unique service was first run by Corinne Ward, Lead Midwife and Dr Rebecca Robinson, Consultant Obstetrician and Lead for Perinatal Mental Health, but has now developed into a bigger team made up of four midwives and two consultants.

Staff from across a number of different specialist areas have come together to open a new ward at Florence Nightingale Community Hospital (FNCH) to provide care for patients who are waiting to be discharged home or to their next place of care this winter.

A leading cancer charity has visited UHDB to see the cervical cancer screening lab in action that serves the whole of the East Midlands.

The visit happened as part of Cervical Cancer Prevention Week (23 January-29 January), which aims to raise awareness and increase the number of women getting screened for the preventable disease.  

An Enhanced Care Team (ECT) Assistant was surprised with an Excellent Employee Making a Difference Award for her outstanding work at the at the Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) at Royal Derby Hospital.

Christine McLaughlin was nominated by a colleague within MAU - Craig Meager, a Senior Clinical Educator on MAU - for her "unfaltering devotion" to patients, especially following her care of a recent patient who was extremely anxious, fearful, and had difficulty communicating in English.

Making an "enormous difference to the patient's experience", Christine helped to make the patient feel comfortable, allowing colleagues on MAU to deliver their care effectively.

A new ward has opened at Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital for patients who are waiting to be discharged home after receiving care and treatment in an acute hospital.

A Senior Sister whose unwavering care and compassion has touched the lives of patients on End of Life care has been recognised with a prestigious Cavell Star Award.

Dawn Wilkinson, Senior Sister on Ward 2 at Florence Nightingale Community Hospital, spends her days delivering palliative care to patients and supporting their families. 

UHDB’s Urology Team has introduced reusable catheter bags for patients who are discharged with a catheter fitted, saving over 15,000grams of plastic a year.

A compassionate member of the Imaging Team has been presented with our latest Excellent Employee Award for the care and support he provided to a patient at Royal Derby Hospital.

Our Discharge Business Unit oversees the discharge of patients, aiming to provide the most seamless experience to patients within our care from the moment they are admitted until they leave our hospitals to go home or to their next place of care.

The integrated team, which works across all five of our hospitals, plays a key role in making sure patients leave our hospitals ready for the next step in their recovery. They work with colleagues on the wards to ensure the transition through to discharge is as easy as possible and pride themselves on being “the second pair of eyes” before patients head home or to their next place of care.

Two teams at Royal Derby Hospital have been surprised with the latest Patient Hero Monthly Making a Difference Award following a heartfelt letter of thanks from a secondary breast cancer patient. The Combined Triage Assessment Unit (CTAU) and Combined Daycase Unit (CDU) were nominated by Jessica, who has spent several months receiving treatment for cancer in the two units.

A team that displays exceptional care to both their patients and their staff with their ‘smiling faces’ and reassuring words, has been recognised with a Making a Difference Award.

The Paediatric Assessment Unit (PAU) team at Queen’s Hospital Burton has received the ‘Team UHDB’ award for their dedication to their patients and their peers after a new member of staff nominated them.

Those who are interested in a career in health and social care are being invited to a series of events this week.

The Health and Social Care Careers Apprenticeship Events will take place on Tuesday, 10 January and Wednesday, 11 January.

An ENT nurse who hoped to develop her skills and learn from others in her field, has been inspired to hold an innovative conference that focuses on all things Ear, Nose and Throat.

Natasha Lucas, Aural care nurse practitioner, said she was delighted to hear the recent announcement that there will be a training budget for registered nurses, allied health professionals and midwives, but after beginning the search for a course to update her skills and knowledge, she was unable to find something suitable that covered the breadth of ENT, specifically for nurses.

We are delighted to announce that one of our respected and well-known colleagues is to be recognised in the first King’s New Year’s Honours List.

Mike Conway, who is part of our UHDB Derbyshire Pathology team has been awarded the MBE by King Charles III for Services to Anatomical Pathology Technology.

In response to a rise in respiratory infections in our communities, we have updated our mask wearing guidance to enhance protection for patients, visitors and colleagues.

From today, Thursday 5 January, we are asking all outpatients and visitors to wear surgical face masks while inside our hospitals, unless medically exempt. This includes all corridors, outpatient areas, waiting rooms and the emergency department.  

Dr Fauzia Begum, Occupational Health Physician at UHDB and Clinical Medical Lead for Derbyshire's Post-Covid Services, has been recognised in the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) Occupational Health Awards 2022.

At the awards ceremony last month, Dr Begum was Highly Commended in the Outstanding Occupational Health Practitioner of 2022 category, following her pioneering work supporting NHS colleagues and patients who are experiencing long covid.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton is pleased to announce the appointment of a new substantive Executive Medical Director. Dr James Crampton, who was appointed as the Trust’s Interim Executive Medical Director in February 2022, will now take on the role on a permanent basis with immediate effect following a competitive recruitment process.

A University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB) consultant surgeon has been awarded an MBE for Service to Medicine in the King’s New Year’s Honours.

The family of a teenage boy who has received a life-saving bone marrow transplant has thanked UHDB colleagues for taking part in a ground-breaking bone marrow donation drive.

15-year-old Daniel Greer was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in June, and after being told he would need a bone marrow transplant to save his life, staff across the Trust rushed to help by organising a donation drive – which is believed to be the first of its kind to take place in a hospital trust.

“Devoted” Clinical Nurse Specialist Sarah Balmforth entered the room to a huge round of applause from colleagues, as she was presented with our Monthly Excellent Employee Award for the instrumental role she has played in growing and leading the team at the Pulvertaft Hand Unit at Royal Derby Hospital.

 A patient’s routine pre-operative assessment quickly turned into a life-saving cardiology operation to insert a pacemaker, thanks to the quick-thinking and diligence of a UHDB nurse.

Steve Paxton had recently been on holiday, on a ‘road trip’ through France and Spain, and came back to the UK only four days prior to a pre-operative assessment for a routine hernia operation.

During the assessment, Nurse Janet Gray noticed ‘unusual’ readings on an ECG machine, which records the rhythm, rate and electrical activity of a patient’s heart – where Steve’s heart rate was reading as 21 beats per minute.

However, Janet suspected the extremely low readings were not a technical fault, and were in fact, accurate. She rushed Steve to Coronary Care in A&E – where her concerns were found to be correct, with the diagnosis of third-degree heart blockage, and an operation to insert a pacemaker required immediately.

“I felt a bit ill, but nothing alarming”, Steve said, “it was just a normal day, and a normal appointment before a routine operation.

UHDB has partnered with Derby College Group and Job Centre Plus [JCP] to support our administration and clerical workforce development plan by launching short pre-recruitment courses for adults of all ages wanting to apply for Administrative and Clerical [A&C] roles at the Trust.

Under this new collaboration, which has been active since April 2022, we have seen the hiring of a number of new colleagues the organisation across a variety of departments, with the entire first cohort now in our employment.

With this positive news, and the course now seeing its fifth cohort take part, A&C Further Education Recruitment and Training Project Manager - and recent Annual Making a Difference Award 2022 winner - Melanie Palmer hosted a celebratory get-together, to bring the successful new staff and key stakeholders into one room - thanking all involved for their support and applaud the new colleagues on their successes.