Latest news

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.

Two registrars who consistently go “above and beyond” to ensure seamless patient care, have been acknowledged by their colleagues with awards.

Daniella Draicchio and Cathryn Buechel work as Medical Registrars for the Hospital Out Of Hours team (HOOH) at Royal Derby Hospital and have both been recognised for their dedication by being named ‘Registrar of the Year’ in two different categories of awards organised by their wider team.

Join our upcoming Health and Information Talk on Thursday 12 January 2023 for an insight into the latest research being undertaken by members of #TeamUHDB.

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.