Hospital nurse finalist in prestigious RCN Nursing Awards
A nurse from University Hospital’s Dorset (UHD) has made the finals of the RCN Nursing Awards for her dedication to a more sustainable NHS.
Helen Spencer-Jones is nominated in the ‘Greener Nursing Practice’ category for her passion and enthusiasm for the environment and making sustainable improvements in UHD’s theatres.
She noticed that the ethyl chloride local anaesthetic spray which is used most often during hip and knee replacements to check anaesthesia has worked, is released into the atmosphere once used, remaining there for up to two months before it breaks down. The spray packaging is also disposed of in general waste and cannot be recycled.
Helen and her team recognised an opportunity to change this and sourced ‘cold sticks’ - solid stainless-steel sticks with handles that absorbed the cold and could be held against the patient’s skin to provide an ice-cold sensation instead of using ethyl chloride. Helen has since been licenced to use the sticks by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and they are now available for staff to use across the hospital.
This project has gained interest around the country with other trusts getting in touch to find out how to make the change. The cold sticks are also produced by a local Dorset company.
Helen said: “I'm very proud and excited to be nominated for the award and represent UHD.
“I never imagined that one small change could have such a huge impact which would spread to more than 30 trusts nationwide. NHS England has recognised the project with their own case study, and I receive updates from around the country on a weekly basis. After over 35 years in nursing, it is so very rewarding to know that you might really have made a difference.”
The RCN Nursing Awards are the UK’s national awards for nurses, student nurses and nursing support workers recognising the hard work and dedication within the profession while sharing innovative ideas and expertise.
The winners will be decided at a ceremony in London in October.
Antenatal services coming together from September
From September 2022, University Hospital Dorset (UHD) will be moving all its antenatal services to Poole Hospital as part of its plans to develop a combined maternity service.
Currently maternity services run across both the Royal Bournemouth and Poole hospital sites, with women travelling across hospitals for different appointments during their pregnancy. In 2024 a combined maternity service will operate on the Royal Bournemouth site in the new BEACH Building (representing Births, Emergency care, And, Critical care and child Health), but until that time, all antenatal appointments and in-hospital birthing options will be run from the Poole site.
Commenting on the plans, Kerry Taylor, UHD’s head of midwifery, said:
“Bringing services together on one site will provide improved access to care on one site, with all of the antenatal team on hand to support women throughout their pregnancy.
“Mothers-to-be will have the opportunity to give birth to their child on the same site they have been visiting throughout their pregnancy.
“With all antenatal staff working together as one team, there will be more staff to support antenatal services, greater consultant and midwife supervision and combined training.
“Our team look forward to welcoming women to the Poole maternity unit in September 2022 with mothers-to-be receiving any appropriate clinic alteration letters in the near future.”
The antenatal team will be offering offer telephone and virtual appointments to those patients who do not wish to, or are unable to, travel to the Poole site. Patients requiring examinations from their clinical teams, scans or blood tests, will be required to attend antenatal appointments at the Poole maternity site.
Commenting on the development of maternity services, Mr Alex Taylor, clinical director for womens' health, added:
“This is an exciting time for UHD as we start the major transformation programme which will refurbish, modernise and develop our sites so that they are fit-for-purpose for their longer-term future.
“Patients and staff alike will benefit from these investments which will provide much more space and a better working environment and will form a key part of a major transformation and development programme for healthcare in the region.
“The maternity service at UHD is committed to providing a safe and equal service to all women and we are grateful for their understanding during this transition period.“
The new BEACH Building is due to open from 2024, with the facility housing a new maternity unit, co-located and aligned to all services to support pregnancy and birth.
Photo caption: Maternity and antenatal team together with a colleague from NHS blood bike service.
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity launches weekly lottery to fund projects for patients and staff at University
On 14 June 2022 University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity launched a brand new weekly lottery. For just £1 a week, supporters can enter the prize draw to be in with a 1 in 50 chance of winning amazing prizes up to £25,000, all while raising funds for patients and staff at the Royal Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch Hospitals.
60p of every £1 entry will help to fund vital resources such as activities for dementia patients and bereavement support for families who have experienced baby loss to large projects such as the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment including two robotic tilt tables which will help physiotherapists care for some of the hospital’s most unwell patients who are at the beginning of their rehabilitation journey.
Lindsey Sturman, fundraising manager said: “Our weekly lottery will enable us to give something back to our supporters who we cannot thank enough for everything they do to help us fund incredibly important projects at our hospitals. We hope that giving people the chance to win these amazing prizes goes some way towards showing how grateful we are to have their support.
Our goal as a charity is to work with staff to provide the best possible care to patients. The money raised from each £1 entry will go a long way to helping us achieve this.”
Katie Horswill, dementia and delirium team lead said “This is a really exciting new way for Dorset residents to support our local NHS hospitals. I see first-hand the fantastic impact funds raised by the charity have on the service we are able to offer our patients. With charity funding, we recently purchased an omiVista sensory projector for patients living with dementia which has specialist applications including quizzes for cognitive brain stimulation and games to encourage physical movement. This equipment has already started to transform the way some of our patients interact. I am very much looking forward to seeing what the charity and hospital staff can achieve together in the future with funding from lottery entries.”
To enter the lottery, visit www.uhdcharitylottery.co.uk, call 01202 004016 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
To stay up to date with the charity follow @UHDCharity on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or visit UHDcharity.org.
Dorset Acquired Brain Injury service go the extra mile for their patients at University Hospitals Dorset
The Dorset Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) team at University Hospitals Dorset are hoping to raise £1 for every kilometre they have covered as they virtually travelled the 1,743km from Land’s End to John O’Groats. All donations will help them to provide their patients with activities and experiences that will further their recovery and make their stay on the unit as enjoyable as possible.
The team and their patients have covered and exceeded the kilometres by running, cycling, walking, and swimming whilst patients completed their distances in therapy sessions on a static cycling device called a MotoMed. They have covered a distance of 1942.61km in 3 months.
The ABI unit provides specialist rehabilitation for patients from across the region who have suffered a brain injury such as a severe stroke. The money raised in this challenge will enhance each patient’s stay on the ward through trips out, music therapy, supplies for activity group such as crafts and ingredients for cooking. The opportunity to use these resources greatly improves the patient’s experience during their stay in hospital as well as their quality of life and that of their families. The activities also further patient rehabilitation and, alongside therapy sessions, help to prepare them for life outside of the ward.
Patient Hayden said “On 29 April last year, I suffered a Brain Stem Stroke which rendered me completely paralysed except for my eyes. I underwent intensive therapy with the help of staff on the Portland Ward at Poole Hospital. In house therapists helped me to learn to walk, talk and eat again and after around 8 months I was ready for discharge. [I have been able to] contribute towards the therapy team’s fundraising effort on behalf of the ward which has done so much for me.”
Speech and Language Therapist Genevieve Huntley and Physiotherapist Kate Osborne said “Our dedicated team of therapists from the Dorset Acquired Brain Injury Service are raising money to supplement rehabilitation opportunities, which will benefit the complex needs of the patients in our service. We hope to use the money to increase wellbeing during lengthy admissions and to enable patients to have enjoyable experiences that also further their recovery.”
You can donate to help the team achieve their fundraising target by following this link https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/abi-fundraiser
To find out more about University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity, visit UHDcharity.org
Or follow @UHDcharity on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Further relaxation on mask wearing
We’re pleased to be able to update our guidance for visitors on the wearing of facemasks and face coverings in our hospitals, following the latest national guidelines.
Masks are now no longer required in ‘public’ areas in our hospitals, including entrances, waiting areas, corridors and restaurants. Staff, outpatients and visitors who choose to continue to wear masks (or due to a risk assessment) should still do so, and we will keep providing masks at our entrances for this purpose.
If you have an outpatient appointment or are visiting a ward, please take a mask from here to put on in these areas if you do not already have one.
Mask wearing currently remains in place in all inpatient (ward) areas, as well as in clinic rooms and in our urgent and emergency care settings, eg our emergency departments, urgent treatment centres and same day emergency care (SDEC) facilities. We hope to update this guidance shortly.
Masks will continue to be required for patients with suspected Covid-19, where they are tolerated and clinically safe to wear.
We ask everyone to continue to follow good hand hygiene practices, including the regular use of hand gel, and to stay away from our hospitals if any symptoms of Covid-19 are present.
We would also like to place on record our thanks to the communities we serve for their support in wearing masks when in our hospitals over the last two years to directly support us in providing the safest care possible to all our patients.
