Latest news

Andrea Jones, Community Palliative Care Nurse Specialist, is urging all staff to book their vaccinations as soon as possible if they haven’t done so already.

The lengths that UHDB teams have gone to during the pandemic to limit the spread of Covid-19 in our hospitals has been recognised on a national scale.

UHDB has been shortlisted for two awards at the Health Business Awards for the Trust’s ‘Redirooms’ project, which has helped to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in our hospitals and keep people safe.

Pop-up pods, known as Redirooms, have been used in different assessment areas across the Trust since last winter, including at Royal Derby Hospital’s Medical Assessment Unit – meaning patients suspected of having Covid-19 can be separated from others until their test results are known.

The number of patients in Derby receiving life-changing dialysis from the comfort of their own home has increased – thanks to improvement work carried out by UHDB’s renal team.

Today (Friday 3 December) marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities and in recognition of this, UHDB has joined the global movement to light up the Royal Derby Hospital and Queens Hospital Burton entrances in purple.

Porter, Jason Eccles and Senior Sister, Claire Eccles are celebrating 25 years working in the NHS – the roles that bought them together as husband and wife.

Jason has been a Porter at the Royal Derby Hospital for the past 25 years, joining the Trust in February 1996. Claire joined the Trust in September 1996, holding the post of Staff Nurse on Ward 5, Coronary Care after qualifying in March 1996.

Derby born brother and sister who hadn’t seen each other in over a year have been reunited after coincidentally being admitted on to the same ward at Royal Derby Hospital.

John Meakin, 78, from Chaddesden and Joan Sanders, 80, from Alvaston hadn’t seen each other in over a year due to the ongoing lockdown and health conditions, only to be reunited on the same ward on recent hospital admissions.

UHDB Parkinson’s team have released a new book about a multidisciplinary approach to Parkinson’s care for improved patient outcomes.

UHDB and the University of Nottingham are delighted to announce recent honorary appointments and promotions to Professor of a series of colleagues.

The main entrance at Royal Derby Hospital was lit up by the glow of people’s phones yesterday evening – as a show of Team UHDB’s ongoing support for people living with HIV and AIDS worldwide.

A Trainee Nursing Associate who helped a patient at the end of life write an emotional letter to her children has been presented with a Monthly Making a Difference Award.

UHDB has been formally recognised with a new accreditation that has strengthened the Trust’s position as an ally to the Armed Forces community. The Trust is proud to have such a strong working relationship with the Armed Forces and can count on veterans from the Military and reservists as valuable members of our workforce. After further emphasising this support by re-signing the Armed Forces Covenant earlier this year, UHDB has now been formally recognised with ‘Veteran Aware’ status by the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA).

Five wards have been awarded with their bronze accreditation for the Every Day Counts initiative to ensure all patients are cared for in a safe, smooth and are appropriately discharged.

Experts at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton and University of Nottingham have been awarded £1.2m from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) to improve the rehabilitation of patients following surgery for finger flexor tendon injuries.

Ward 801 at Queen’s Hospital Burton have received silver accreditation for the Every Day Counts initiative to ensure all patients are cared for safely and are appropriately discharged.

Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Judy Veale, after she sadly passed away last week.

A UHDB anaesthetist is aiming to help raise the profile of Speciality and Associate Specialist (SAS) doctors at Trust level and on a national scale too after being appointed into a role that is the first of its kind in the NHS.

Dr Gauri Sankhe recently took on the role of UHDB’s first ever SAS Advocate, which is a position that has been created to improve support for the wellbeing of SAS doctors – something that is especially important right now in the midst of the pandemic.

Hospital staff on ward 310 organised a wedding in only three days after the groom was told he has terminal cancer.

Two new heart sculptures were officially unveiled this week to remember our colleagues who sadly died from Covid-19 during the pandemic.

During two intimate memorial services, one at Queen’s Hospital Burton and Royal Derby Hospital, family, close friends and colleagues came together to reflect on the last two years and remember those who paid the ultimate price.

Health Care Support Workers (HCSWs) are hugely important to ensuring our patients at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton receive exceptional care.

Elaine Whiting is a Registered Nursing Associate and is currently training as a Student Nurse working in Long Eaton.

The dedicated team on Royal Derby Hospital’s Ward 216 has been recognised for their unwavering support to their colleagues throughout the pandemic as they were presented with a monthly Making a Difference Award.

We are pleased to announce that our UHDB Wellbeing Team were announced as the winner for Best Wellbeing and Staff Experience Engagement Initiative at the Nursing Times Workforce and Summit Awards.

Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for NHS England and Improvement, has met colleagues across UHDB to hear first-hand about the work of our nurses.

Executive Chief Nurse, Cathy Winfield welcomed Ruth to Royal Derby Hospital where she met some of the highly skilled nurses and nursing staff who work at UHDB.

A UHDB colleague with “the patience of a saint” has been praised for helping an “important but largely unrecognisable” system that all our staff rely on to keep running smoothly. Jeanette Harper has made an invaluable difference as the Trust’s ESR Project Support Officer for nearly 14 years – helping many of our colleagues to get out of “an ESR hole” along the way. The Electronic Staff Record, or ESR, is an extremely useful tool for all NHS staff – helping them to view their payslips online, access pension benefits and view other important details – but as with all electronic systems, can often be hard to navigate for some!

Team UHDB is getting right behind a life-saving police campaign to help eradicate knife crime from our communities.

Every evening this week, different anti-knife crime images and messages will be projected onto the side of Royal Derby Hospital’s main entrance, so that they are seen by as many people as possible.  

Matthew Fowler is one of the first consultant ACPs (Advanced clinical practitioners) for oncology and haematology at UHDB with over 24 years of experience. He shares his experience within the NHS as an ACP.

Teams at Queen’s Hospital Burton and Royal Derby Hospital have this week been presented with awards for their unflagging dedication and care to cancer patients.

UHDB radiographers are now using a state-of-the-art technique to treat cancer patients more effectively, without leaving them with permanent reminders of what they’ve been through for everyone to see.

Surface Guided Radiotherapy (SGRT) targets tumours even more accurately than techniques used before but crucially doesn’t rely on marks being left on the skin to do this – meaning patients are not left with these “tattoos” following their treatment.