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T
SPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUS
HO
L
YA
RO
D
IEL
RF
TE
ES
CH
OF
E
THE STAFF MAGAZIN
Life@the
S
R
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S
IN PICTURES!
PAGES 10 - 11
Royal
2015 NEW YEAR EDITION
OUR SCHOOL
NURSE SERVICE
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
PAGE 5
WE’VE GOT A
CHOIR!
PAGE 5
CHRISTMAS
@ THE ROYAL!
PAGES 2 AND 3
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CHRISTMAS JUMPERS...
I WISH IT COULD
BE CHRISTMAS
!
Y
A
D
Y
R
E
EV
There was plenty going on at the
Royal this Christmas!
There was the return of the
Christmas Fayre which was bigger
and better than last year. The
Choir managed not one but TWO
performances, including one in
Relax@theRoyal to raise money for
the new Chesterfield Royal
2
Life@theRoyal Issue 1 - 2014
MacMillan Cancer Centre.
There was a Christmas Tree
Competition, a Christmas Jumper
Competition, a quiz, Christmas
Dinner served by the executive
team, a performance of Christmas
Carols from the St Peter and St
Paul’s Choir as well as the Crispin
Singers Choir.
Nightingale ward also had a visit
from Chesterfield Football Club
and of course Santa Claus on
Christmas Eve ahead of his big
night.
remains to wish you all a very
Happy New Year to everybody
who works at the Royal, from
everybody who works at the
Royal.
There has been plenty more going
on within individual offices, wards,
suites and departments so it just
Here’s to a great 2015!
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Page 3
THE CHRISTMAS FAYRE...
CHRISTMAS CAROLS...
Choir
t Paul's
r and S
St Pete in entrance
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in the m
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also entertain
The youngsters
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CHRISTMAS TREES...
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year
this
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earlie
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they lost
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and each wrote a message in tribu
re
hang on the tree. A very moving gestu
Life@theRoyal Issue 1 - 2014
3
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Page 4
ROYAL PLEDGES
ITS COMMITMENT TO
SUPPORT &
ASPIRATION
nd
The team behi
the project
Chief Exec
utive Gavin
Boyle add
what turn
resses
ed out to
be a very
large crow
d
Martha introducing the launch of Support and Aspirations
The Women and Children’s Division
has confirmed its part in a new
national approach to meeting the
educational needs of young people
with disabilities.
its own internal pathway and to
help prepare everyone for the new
legislation coming into effect.
In what is another great example of
partnership working, this Trust has
worked very closely with Derbyshire
County Council (DCC) to support
the implementation of Support and
Aspiration in Derbyshire. A number
of different staff groups were
represented on the different
workstreams to offer regular support
and advice in a number of areas. In
the Women and Children’s Division
there was a steering group that met
monthly and was made up of the
leads of all the Children’s
Community teams, as well as other
representatives.
Martha Laxton-Kane is a Consultant
Clinical Psychologist in the Child and
Adolescent Mental Health service
and led the Royal’s involvement, she
said: “These reforms are all about
focusing on the right outcomes for
disabled children by ensuring that
Education, Health and Social Care
work closely together. The approach
is very person-centred and one of
the brilliant things about this whole
process in Derbyshire has been the
level of genuine parental
involvement at every level and every
stage. This is the way it should be,
everyone has really valued this and
the parental voice is highly
important to us.
A well as working closely with
partners, the group also developed
“The way and manner in which
we’ve embraced this important new
4
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
development for disabled young
people has brought a lot of praise
from other organisations. It’s an
exciting time and I’m delighted to be
a part of it. Everybody within the
Women and Children’s Division and
DCC have been incredibly
supportive in making this happen
and it will ultimately benefit a group
of youngsters who perhaps weren’t
always receiving the right support at
the right time.”
Support and Aspiration is a new
approach to special educational
needs and disability. In June 2014
the new Special Educational Needs
Code of Practice was published and
outlined many fundamental changes
including:
• Education, Health and Care Plans
(EHC plans) to replace statements
of special educational needs
(SEN), with the age range
extending from 0 to 25 where
someone is still in education.
There is a new 20 week process
and health have a responsibility to
offer assessments and make
recommendations.
• A Local Offer of support which
clearly sets out for families what
services are available and how to
access them. This is hosted by
Derbyshire County Council.
All the Children’s Community
services are listed in it and they
have updated their Division’s
website.
• Joint commissioning across
education, social care and health
to underpin the new approach.
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Page 5
The School Nurses winning the Chief
Executive's Team award at STARS 2013
Jayne add
ressing her
colleagues
s!
display
iguing
The intr
CELEBRATING OUR
SUCCESS
The School Nurses took time out to
celebrate their achievements having
joined the Royal back in 2001 with a
complement of just 20 term time
only staff.
Currently they have more than 50
staff, including a number of
specialist positions playing a key role
in promoting the health and
wellbeing of school age children. In
2013 the Chief Executive awarded
them the Team STARS award, an
incredible achievement for a group
of staff who work within the
community setting.
Jayne Duly is the lead professional
for school nursing and helped
organise the event, she said: “We’ve
come a very long way since the
1960s when we were jokingly
referred to as ‘nit nurses’! Some of
the issues we deal with, where
children and young people are
subject to child protection can be
quite traumatic.
“The service has gradually expanded
and we now help to address
attendance issues, obesity,
emotional health and wellbeing,
continence, transition from primary
to secondary school, therefore due
to its incredibly diverse role this
event was intended to be a
celebration of this.”
School nursing has been around
since the 1800s and was first
introduced to treat minor injuries at
school, give health education, follow
up care and help keep youngsters
healthy enough to attend school.
Many of the core ideas behind those
early days remain but as society
changed, so have the challenges
facing school nurses and what
defines children’s health.
Jayne added: “It was an opportunity
for everyone to showcase their work
and share their experiences.
Presentations were delivered by the
Children in Care team, Special
School Nurses employed by
education, and an attendance
project which is currently being
funded by a secondary school,
where the School Nurse supports
nurses
dicated school
Some of our de
raising the attendance
levels where health
needs are identified
and primarily helps to
integrate the children
back into school.
“We also had a personal
story from a young adult
who had suffered from an
eating disorder. She
described her journey and
how she has managed to
improve her health. It was
very emotional and
inspiring. We also heard
about a water project where a School
Nurse worked with a number of
schools to improve the water intake
of children. It was fascinating to hear
the correlation between hydration
and attainment. Our only male
worker described his work with boys
and young men and a referral
pathway from the School Nurse has
been developed if a young boy
requests to see a male worker.
“There was the chance for
everybody to get involved by
contributing their achievements
using an achievement tree, no
matter how big or small. There was
also an opportunity for staff to
showcase their work through
market stalls; these included sexual
health, teenhealthsmart, staff health
and wellbeing and many others.
Jayne said: “It is important that
although the service works outside
of the hospital setting that we have
the same opportunity to showcase
our work within the hospital. It was
a truly inspirational and special day.”
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
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100 DAYS
OF STEPS
Almost a sixth of us made a
pedometer the most important
gadget in our possession for 100
days from the end of May as the
Trust made the Global Corporate
Challenge its own.
72 teams took up the challenge to
take as many steps as possible and
try and maintain 10,000 per day
for each of the 100 days. It was all
a bit of fun but healthy
competition, personal pride and
achievable goals resulted in a lot
of reduced waistlines, significant
achievements and returns to
fitness.
No doubt there will be a ‘second
leg’ next year with more teams
taking on the challenge but, if you
don’t know what all of the fuss
was about, we found three willing
volunteers who were more than
happy to share their experience.
Sharon Over - Facilities
Business Manager:
“The Facilities Fillies”
I’d wanted to lose some weight
before we started getting the
6
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
emails about the GCC, I just didn’t
know how – there was no focus.
As soon as we found out about it
we put a team together, some of
us took to it better than others; I
found the app that you could
download onto your phone to be
a very easy way of keeping up
with your steps, with lots of tips
about how to improve.
Groups like the Royal Runners helped get our 'steps' up
night out in Leeds, it was the
dancing, and the furthest I ran
was 13k. In the 5 months from
May I’ve lost two stone and it’s
stayed off because I’m still running
and still thinking about what I’m
doing activity-wise. I’ll definitely
do it again next year!
I started to run in order to get my
steps up but I didn’t like the idea
of running outside or on the roads
so bought myself a running
machine. I started off walking,
keeping it simple and then
running, slowly going a little bit
further each time or a bit faster. I
set myself achievable goals and
can now easily run 10k.
I worked out that a kilometre was
roughly 1,000 steps so I used to
get up in the morning, have a run
on the machine and I could always
tell the difference in myself when
I’d been on. I had more energy, I
was more awake and it would
take me just over half an hour to
do 5k so half of my daily goal was
done before I’d even left the
house. One of our team was a
keen runner and she suggested I
do a competitive run which I’m
considering.
There were a number of minichallenges you could do and I met
all four. They were things like
beating your personal best within
a certain time period, making
100,000 steps in a certain time
limit, things like that.
The biggest number of steps I
managed was 36,000 during a
Richard Gratton Nurse Specialist,
Hospital Alcohol and
Drug Liaison Team
I’m a keen runner and was really
pleased to be asked to take part in
the GCC. One of the best things
about taking part was in seeing
how many steps I was doing on a
particular day or journey. I have to
say it also became a bit of an
obsession – trying to beat your
previous day or just setting
yourself a goal.
Prior to joining in with the GCC I
had already decided to enter an
ultramarathon and knew that I
would be training for this during
the 100 days.
The ultramarathon I decided to
enter (my first!) was the
Ladybower 50; the total distance
was 50.9 miles – three laps
around the three dams in the Peak
District (Ladybower, Howden and
Derwent). The race was to take
place on 21st September, which
was unfortunately after the GCC
finished so my steps on the day
wouldn’t count!
Preparation was tough; my usual
running schedule was for around
20 to 30 miles each week but
during training I gradually
increased this to 60 over
consecutive weeks to build up my
endurance. I didn’t actually run 50
miles at any point up until the day
of the ultramarathon; building up
endurance and time spent running
and then trusting my body (and
mind!) to keep going on the day.
My longest run in training was 35
miles, though I also ran 10 miles
the following day.
In hindsight, although the
challenge was physically tough,
having the right mental attitude
was arguably more important.
There is definitely a psychological
barrier to overcome when running
long distances, especially when
going further than marathon
distance. So it was really
important to me to run further
than 26.2 miles a number of times
in training (I did it 4 times).
On the day, the winner managed
a phenomenal time of six hours 23
minutes, he broke the course
record by an hour. I enjoyed the
race (is that the right word?!)
finishing in a time of 7 hours and
55 minutes and in fourth place!
And although my steps didn’t
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Page 7
e GCC
le thanks to th
swick, achievab
Ke
in
s
ell
tb
Ca
The
The incredible scenery around which the Ladybower 50 was run
count towards GCC, I wore my
pedometer and recorded over
95,000 steps! My best day on the
GCC was around 66,000 steps.
I also raised money for a UK-based
charity called CHICKS who provide
respite for carers of disadvantaged
children – so far I have raised over
£700.
Over the course of the GCC I
managed just short of 3 million
steps so if it had just carried on a
little longer I’d have broken that
landmark…never mind! The whole
experience was positive and it was
great that so many staff took part.
I’ll definitely be doing the GCC
again, it seems to have created a
real buzz. I used to go to meetings
where we’d walk instead of sit in
a room and you saw so many
others doing the same, just
walking around the grounds to
get their steps up. It’s a brilliant
way to get people active,
enthused and talking about
exercise.
Robert Frear - Service
Improvement Lead for
Medical Directorate
I used to run quite a bit but stopped
around seven years ago, largely due
to having kids, but then just before
the GCC started I joined the running
club set up by Helen Shields.
I had a very serious accident some
years ago when I was hit by a car
whilst on my motorbike so I did a
lot of running as part of my rehab
so when I stopped I did start to put
some weight on. I recently changed
jobs from an outpatient setting to
more of a desk job and this resulted
in me becoming less active.
What the GCC has done has
helped me to push myself a bit
more. I did a lot of half
marathons, not just to get my
steps up but also to work towards
one of my goals which was to run
the Chesterfield Half Marathon.
With the running club I tend to do
around 6k but every now and
then we will push it a bit further
and at the end of the GCC I found
that I’d lost around three quarters
of a stone but the best news is
that it’s stayed off. I’ve carried on
the routine that I set for myself
and feel much better for it.
There are a lot of extras with the
GCC that are fascinating, for
example you are given a heart age
which I discovered, answering the
questions as honestly as I could,
was five years older than my
actual age. My lifestyle score went
from 420 out of a thousand to
679 which was fantastic. The app
that you use as part of the GCC
was a brilliant way of following
your progress and encouraging
you to do better.
Now I do much more, including
more things with my kids such as
long mountain bike rides, I’ve
climbed to the top of Catbells in
Keswick as well as walking around
the lake there. I couldn’t do a lot
of that before the GCC so I’m
looking forward to doing it all
again.
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
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ACUTE
FRAILTY UNIT
Durrant ward is continuing to
make waves after transforming
itself from a general medical ward
to a brand new unit that is
becoming the envy of other acute
trusts.
chest infections or fractures. We
look to treat them quickly and get
the patient ready for discharge
within 48 to 72 hours either to
receive further care in their own
home or in a community hospital.
The Acute Frailty Unit, until
recently known as the Acute
Reablement Unit, was introduced
to predominantly treat elderly
patients who are not acutely ill but
in need of additional treatment
that is best suited away from an
acute ward.
“An acute ward is not the right
place for these types of patients to
receive treatment where, through
no fault of the ward, their length
of stay is likely to be longer. We
have a multi-disciplinary team with
our own physio, occupational
therapist, social worker and
consultant and we liaise with the
clinical navigation team.
Lisa Falconer is the matron on the
AFU, she says: “Most of our
patients come directly from the
Emergency Department (ED) or
Emergency Management Unit
(EMU) and we a see a lot with
conditions such as dementia who
have perhaps had a fall, syncope,
8
Life@theRoyal Issue 1 - 2014
“We also have a rotation
programme with community
doctors who spend time here
alongside their usual rotation at
community hospitals so we’re fully
integrated with the community
setting – exactly the right place for
these patients to receive
appropriate care.”
Durrant ward has 32 beds, 20 of
which are used for the AFU patients
with the remainder being used as
medical beds. Lisa was formerly the
matron for the Transitional ward and,
though the concept may sound
similar, there are some big differences.
She said: “On the Transitional
ward all of the patients are ready
for discharge; they’re just waiting
for social service intervention or
more complex discharge
management. Here they are still
medically unwell but we are
confident that they can be treated
quickly and calls are made almost
straight away so that plans are
already in place for discharge for
when they are ready to go.
“The crucial part of the process is in
the assessment. Our ED is
particularly good at this and once
they’ve made sure a patient fits the
criteria for admission to AFU, we
make immediate arrangements to
bring them here.
“It’s a very slick operation and the
way my colleagues here on Durrant
have risen to the challenge has been
a credit to them. They’ve been given
a focus for how the ward needs to
operate and we all know precisely
what needs to be done to treat our
patients so that they are ready to
either go home or receive further
treatment in the community.”
To find out more log onto
www.youtube.com and type '21st
Century JoinedUpCare' into the
search engine where you will find a
video about the Acute Frailty Unit.
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Page 9
Pat's retirement party
Maggie's retir
ement party
OVER
100 YEARS
EXPERIENCE!
t
Pat's retiremen
party
ement party
Maggie's retir
Three members of staff have
recently retired who, between
them, have notched up well over
100 years in the NHS.
The following day saw Maggie Ball
leave her position on the stroke
unit and research team after 44
years in the NHS.
Clinical Administration Officer Pat
McKenzie left the Trust on
Monday 22nd September after 42
years service within the NHS. Her
colleagues within the Ear, Nose
and Throat department gave her a
great send off with flowers, gifts
and a special lunch.
Maggie has been at the Royal for
just six of those years that also
saw her work in midwifery, child
health and rheumatology. During
this time she was invited to
Buckingham Palace to celebrate a
centenary of midwifery.
John with
his
And back in July we saw the end
of a very long era with the
retirement of John Tomlinson
who, despite being an employee
of Sodexo, worked at the Royal
both here and back in Scarsdale
for 44 years.
His colleagues wished him a
tearful farewell and, as a man
who wanted to keep chickens,
bought him all of the equipment
to build a coop…except for the all
important ingredient of chickens!
friends an
d colleagu
es
Wherever you go in the Trust you
will find examples of people who
have worked here and in the NHS
for more than 30 years and the
hospital is marking this by starting
to host recognition events to
recognise 20, 30 and 40 years of
service.
If you have a colleague who is
retiring after long service at the
Royal, please email us at
crhft.communications@nhs.net or
call extn 2681 to tell us about it.
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
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Page 10
STARS
There's alway
s time
for a selfie
2014
ds before
ARS awar
l
s his last ST e beginning of Apri
ct
u
d
n
co
ry
term at th
ard Grego
al
h
n
ic
fi
R
d
an
an
Chairm
his third
own from
stepping d
Elmton ward po
se for the cam
eras
IHP, also know
n
med up
y team all glam
The Endoscop
Another hugely successful night
saw the latest group of STARS
emerge on a night of celebration.
It’s the sixth time we’ve held the
awards and this year saw more
finalists than ever before with 45
teams and individuals selected
from a record 379 nominations
across the Trust.
The finalists came from a wide
and varied background and
included admin, healthcare
professionals, estates and
maintenance, patient escorts,
security, domestics, retail, patient
services, pharmacy, pathology,
10 Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
Peak FM's
James Sum
mers and
Becky Mea
sures host
the evenin
g
facilities and also included
partners from The University of
Derby and Derbyshire Community
Health Service.
A new award was introduced to
recognise those who have made
an impact in a short space of time
for the Rising STAR award and it
was also the first time that Peak
FM’s Becky Measures presented
alongside her new Breakfast Show
co-star James Summers.
Ahead of a three course meal the
finalists were also treated to the
first performance by the
Choir@theRoyal who sang four
as Vinci Constru
ction enter th
e building
s
all smile
ward are
Ashover
numbers, despite having only
formed eight weeks prior to the
event.
Gavin Boyle is Chief Executive, he
said: “It’s been another great
night and it’s fantastic to see so
many people here. Every year it’s
such a difficult choice to choose
45 finalists from the excellent
nominations we received once
again and, to me, it just reiterates
what I’ve always said that it’s the
people who work here who make
the difference day in, day out.
“It was inspirational to read the
nominations, not just from your
colleagues but from patients and
their relatives who felt moved
enough to recommend you for
recognition. You are all stars and I
thank you for your continued efforts
in making the Royal a success.”
A big thank you goes to
Integrated Health Projects (Vinci)
for sponsoring the evening meal
and to Konica Minolta for
sponsoring the champagne
reception.
In the recent Your Voice survey the
question was asked about the
future of STARS and your opinions
on the awards. The results of that
survey will be published shortly.
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Page 11
…and the winners are!
The Award for Patient Centred Care
Individual: Bryne Hill, General Assistant, Endoscopy
Team: Haematology (Hasland Ward and Suite 4)
The Securi
ty
lads and la
dies arrive
The Award for Clinical Excellence
Individual: Suzanne Brice,
Specialist Ophthalmic Photographer
Gavin Boyle
Chief Executive
e on stage
tim
t
ea
gr
a
g
havin
Team: Pearson Ward (formerly Markham Ward)
The Transformation Award
Acute Frailty Unit (AFU)
The Environment Award
Night Cleaning Team
The Partnership Award
Securitas, Security Team
Award for Support Services
Individual: Jeanette Wood, Team Member,
Retail@theRoyal
Team: Decontamination Unit
The Rising STAR Award
Jaimie Cooper, Associate Practitioner, Blood Sciences
The Chief Executive's
Proud to Care Award
The Win
ding Wh
eel was
certainly
fit for
Individual Winner: Dorothy Roberts, Volunteer
Team Winner: Maternity Services Team
the occa
sion
The Recognition Award
Mr Steve Holt, Consultant Breast Care Surgeon
Cheers
!
live
eRoyal perform
The Choir@th
st
for the very fir
time
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014 11
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Page 12
R
E
T
T
BE
CARE
N ED
I
S
R
E
T
S
G
N
U
O
FOR Y
The Royal’s Emergency
Department has introduced a new
role to help youngsters receive the
best possible care.
Hannah Birchall is the
department’s new Registered
Children’s Nurse after a need for a
specialist Paediatric Sister was
identified by the department’s
Matron Sue Wooton.
Hannah worked as a Junior Sister
at Queen’s Medical Centre in
Nottingham where she was based
in the Paediatric Emergency
Department for two years.
Previous to that she worked at
Kings Mill, where she also worked
mainly with children and their
families.
She said: “I’m very familiar with
the role, in fact when I did my
Diploma I applied for and
12 Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
specialised in children’s nursing so
it’s what I have always wanted to
and trained to do.
“I will be seeing mainly paediatric
patients but will of course pitch in
with the usual caseload on the
occasions where we don’t have
many such patients. One of the
things I will be doing in my role is
to educate and train other
members of the ED team to be
able to approach and treat these
young patients in a more effective
way.”
Hannah will be working very
closely and establishing links with
Maternity, Nightingale ward, the
Safeguarding Nurse Specialist and
Community Services in order to
ensure a smooth progression to
those areas from ED. She will also
be available for training and
education sessions to help
experienced and newly qualified
healthcare professionals deal with
the different types of challenges
that a young patient presents.
“Physically our paediatric patient’s
differ greatly from adults,” added
Hannah “and within that there are
also many differences between a
newborn baby and a 16 year old
adolescent. The emotional
development of these children and
young people also need
consideration, a thermometer may
be an ordinary piece of medical
equipment to us but to a small
toddler it can be scary if the
correct child centred approach is
not used.
“You have to approach each
young patient differently and
decide the best way to talk to
them, how to give them
information about the treatment
they need and how to get them to
talk to you about what the
problem is. It’s also important to
remember that you’re dealing
with their family as well. Most
children and young people will
attend with a parent or family
member who is likely to be very
concerned, possibly emotional and
desperate to ensure that their
child gets the right treatment.
“Some people are naturally better
at handling younger patients than
others and that’s fine. It is very
different to treating an adult and
although I don’t pretend to have
all of the answers and I’m not
here to replace anyone who has
previously done an excellent job of
treating children, I hope that I will
bring something different to the
ED that will be of benefit to
patients.”
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The team with some of their former patients
STROKE UNIT
GARDEN PARTY
The stroke unit took advantage of
the long hot summer by opening
up their stroke unit garden to
patients old and new for a garden
party.
Around 100 people attended the
event in mid-July which was a
huge success thanks to some
incredibly tasty cakes and buns
baked by the occupational
therapists and physios, a raffle,
tombola and quiz.
The team also managed to raise
more than £300 on the day.
Lindsay Millward is the social
activities co-ordinator on the unit,
she said: “It was a brilliant day for
the patients because we managed
to get everyone who was
physically able outside of a clinical
setting for the whole afternoon. It
was great for our staff to talk to
former patients in a social setting,
to see the wonderful progress
they are making and share their
experiences.
“We invited some former patients
who we thought might want to
attend and they chatted with
some of our current patients
which gave them a real lift. We
had one patient who was so low
he was in tears that morning but
he was able to chat to patients
who had been through what he
was going through and showed
him that it will get better.
“This garden has been such a
benefit to our patients. It gives
us another option and allows us
to do activities that we otherwise
wouldn’t be able to do, things
like play basketball, plant flowers
and simply experience a bit of
normality and fresh air.”
old AND young
This was a party for the
A ver
y goo
d turn
out
nyone?
Cake a
£15,000 was set aside to lay down
new paving, Astroturf and flower
beds to create a space away from
the ward that could be used for the
stroke unit’s social activities group.
The garden opened to patients in
May 2013.
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014 13
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A MUDDY N...
O
I
T
A
R
I
P
INS
A number of ladies in Blood
Sciences got down and dirty to
raise money for a friend and
colleague on Murphy ward who
they regard as an inspiration for
beating breast cancer.
The story began ten years ago
when another colleague of theirs,
Glyn Davies who is now a
Biomedical Scientist in Blood
Sciences, went on holiday to
America and came back to tell
them about a woman he’d met
called Dara.
Glyn recalls: “She was amazing
and we travelled back and forth to
California until our money ran out
early in 2005. Dara made the
decision to move here and we
married in June, it was an
incredible year for both of us.”
The new Mrs Dara Davies started
working at the Royal in 2006 and
qualified as a nurse in September
2013 where she worked on
Murphy ward four days a week
and in theatres one day a week.
14 Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
Dara said: “It was October when I
noticed a pea sized lump in my
breast. I’d had lumps before and
we both thought it was probably
nothing. I happened to be
working in theatres that morning
so asked a colleague for her
opinion and I could tell by her face
that she was concerned.
“Chemotherapy was incredibly
tough,” recalls Dara. “Due to the
complexity of the cancer it was
aggressive and I was very sick. I
lost my hair, my eyelashes,
everything…you lose a lot of your
own identity and I can see how it
can affect people greatly, beyond
the physical side.
“My Mum had breast cancer twice
and ovarian cancer, she has the
faulty gene BRCA1, so I went to
the GP and was referred back here
within two weeks. They diagnosed
me with three very different,
aggressive forms of breast cancer.
It was three different tumours
which is apparently quite rare; I
had no idea what was going to
happen to me. I didn’t know if I’d
live or die and was given the
brutal, honest truth that I had a
60% chance of beating it.”
“I would attend a session, spend
two weeks on the sofa recovering
with visits from the district nurse
and then start to feel better for a
week before the cycle began
again. Each time I reached the
chemo session I would start from
a lower point, health-wise, until
the final one. I honestly thought
that this was what dying felt like
and just couldn’t imagine a life
beyond this…it was a real low
point.
Dara had surgery in December 2013,
electing to have a double
mastectomy due to her family history,
before undergoing an eighteen week
programme of chemotherapy and
five weeks of radiotherapy.
“But then the radiotherapy began
and I started to pick up because
you don’t suffer in the same way.
Having said that I did get burnt
but, compared to chemotherapy
physically it wasn’t so much of a
drain.”
Dara had become good friends
with Glyn’s colleagues in Blood
Sciences and they could all see
how this was also affecting him.
Glyn said: “I felt useless. Up until
that moment if my wife had a
problem I could fix it with a
cuddle, a few kind words or a
bunch of flowers. All I could do
here was come to work, make
sure I earned enough to support
us both, clean the house and
provide the emotional support she
needed – I just had to leave the
hard work to the experts but it did
make me feel pretty helpless.
“In Pathology we don’t tend to
see patients in person so we get
de-sensitized to what’s happening
on the wards; we only see the
names. This changed for all of us
whenever we came across one of
Dara’s samples – it brought it
home to us that these are people
with illnesses, they were poignant
moments.”
Thankfully all the hard work
carried out by the various teams at
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17:00
Page 15
the Royal and Weston Park, the
support from Glyn and his
colleagues in Blood Sciences and
the determination of Dara paid
off. She was given the all clear at
the end of August 2014 and
returned to work on Murphy ward
in October.
there. They bake cakes, tell jokes,
talk to you as an individual and do
everything they can to make the
terrible things that are happening
to you in some way bearable, even
positive so I must say a big thank
you to everyone on Cavendish for
what they did for us.
Dara added: “Everyone on
Murphy ward was very supportive.
I was an inpatient for five days
after surgery and it felt like the
entire hospital came to see me.
I’ve got so many people to thank,
not least the incredible people
who work on Cavendish Suite.
Despite, or maybe because of
what people are going through,
there’s a real buoyant atmosphere
“I also have to thank the NHS as an
institution. During my ordeal my
Mum got cancer for the third time
in the US and I could see the
difference between her care and
mine. Over there it was all about
insurance where you have caps,
you have to pay an excess and
there are tiers of treatment
depending on what you pay. Over
here the treatment is the same for
everyone, if you need it you get it
and I’m here today because of that.
Glyn said: “You realise how good
these people are at their jobs
when you watch them work,
experience it from a patient or
relative’s point of view and take
notice. I’ve got a new appreciation
of what they do, there’s some
great care and compassion going
on at this hospital.
So what now for Dara?
“I can see where my professional
life takes me,” she said. “I’d like
to mentor students and pass on
my experience…I think being a
patient makes you a better nurse,
you’ve been in a position where
you can empathise with them.
You appreciate that you need to
get pain relief to them faster,
answer the buzzer as soon as
possible because you know that
five minutes as a patient in pain
can feel like a lifetime.
“On a personal level I’m back to
running competitively and would
like to travel, we went to New
York recently and there’s a very
long list including Lisbon, Bilbao
and Venice. I’ve always been
active and outgoing but this last
year has changed my outlook on
life in general so for me and Glyn,
they sky’s the limit!
...FOR A
!
E
C
A
R
MUDDY
Dara and Glyn’s story inspired 25
of the ladies in Blood Sciences to
take part in the ‘Pretty Muddy
Race’ with the original aim of
raising £500 for Cancer Research
UK.
They did so much better than that,
raising £2,292.50 by conquering
the 5k obstacle course at Clumber
Park that featured climbing nets,
tunnels, bails of hay and many
more objects that needed to be
overcome whilst caped in mud.
Cathryn Boyer was one of the ladies
who took part, she said: “Dara was
just out of surgery and about to
start chemotherapy when we first
thought about doing something. As
we saw her progression and what
she was going through we decided
to do something we wouldn’t
normally do.
“It was a tough course and for
some of the ladies who took part
this was a very big deal; getting
covered in mud isn’t something to
be enjoyed for the self-conscious
but we wanted to do it for Dara in
recognition of her journey.
“Glyn is very professional and
would do anything for anyone so
this was really for both of them
and to show our support in a way
that we knew we could.”
Dara said: “What they’ve done is
fantastic and I love them all. I
couldn’t take part unfortunately,
maybe some other time, but I was
there to cheer them on and they
raised such an incredible amount I’m
very moved by their achievement.
Thank you to everyone who took
part and to all those who supported
them and donated.”
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014 15
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Five minutes before 'curtains up' and we have a late audition!
SINGING THE
PRAISES OF THE
Bringing the ho
use
down!
CHOIR
uired
is req
ation
ip
ic
t
r
a
nce p
Audie
Audience
anticipatio
n is appro
aching feve
r pitch
Some last minute prepar
ations
of the keys
left in charge
Ian Fretwell is
The Royal now has something else
to be proud of with the creation
of its own choir causing quite a
stir.
The Choir@theRoyal has only been
going since September but has
already performed to a three
figure audience twice to some
acclaim and will easily outlive its
initial ten week lifespan.
The troupe boasts around 50
members within its ranks and has
risen from its humble origins as a
simple idea to a fully fledged
entity in its own right, with some
help from charitable funds.
Ian Fretwell is a nurse consultant
in Endoscopy and was
16 Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
instrumental in the Choir’s
inception, explaining: “The idea
for a choir first came about,
strangely enough, in my appraisal.
I was discussing it with Head of
Nursing in Surgery Jayne Tague
and Senior Matron Dawn Handley
and they both thought that it was
a good idea that I should explore.
“We managed to get charitable
funding for a ten week block
during which time we would hold
initial rehearsals, take part in a
preliminary performance which
was STARS 2014 and culminating
in a final performance which we
did in early December in
Relax@theRoyal.”
“I was quite persuasive in selling
the idea to our Chief Executive,
who was behind it, and as I am
also Chair of the North East
Derbyshire Music Centre I had
some connections. I knew a lady
named Naomi Baynes who
conducts one of the junior choirs
and she said she’d be happy to
help.
That final performance raised just
over £500 for the new Oncology
Unit, work on which is due to
begin in 2015, and has
encouraged the choir to carry on
into the New Year.
Ian added: “We’re going to do a
similar thing next year but in two
lots of ten week blocks, one in the
The performance begins
Spring and then again in the
Winter. I think we’ll see many of
the current members stay and
perhaps get some newcomers in
so I expect to see some rotation. I
firmly believe that anybody can be
taught to sing so I wouldn’t want
anybody to be put off joining in.
“What we’ve seen from this is a
real sense of camaraderie between
the group and singing brings with
it an enormous sense of
wellbeing. This hasn’t just been a
singing group; we’ve learned a lot
about ourselves and had a
wonderful time over the last three
months.”
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Page 17
THE ROYAL ROUNDUP
HOSPITAL
STOP SMOKING
SERVICE
There will shortly be some
changes to the provision of
support that already exists for
patients and staff with stopping
smoking within Chesterfield Royal
Hospital.
There will be an in house Hospital
Stop Smoking Service and two
advisers will be permanently
based at the hospital.
Support will be provided on the
wards for patients with staff
being able to refer to the service
with the aim of seeing referrals
within 24 hours of it being made.
Staff will be supported too at a
time convenient to them.
Further details, including how to
get in touch with them, will be
published shortly.
CHESTERFIELD ROYAL’S
MATERNITY SERVICES
TAKE BRONZE
Our maternity service has become
the first in the region to be given
the bronze award for Dignity and
Respect in Care.
The service was originally assessed
earlier in the year and, after
working on a few minor changes,
passed with flying colours.
Linda Gustard is the Divisional
Head of Midwifery, she said: “I
think historically dignity has not
necessarily been associated with
maternity but we all know that
childbirth can be a very
undignified experience. Our
patients are very exposed, there is
no choice in that, but we gave a
great deal of thought about how
these standards, perhaps
previously more focused on the
elderly, can be applied to
midwifery.”
The Dignity in Care campaign was
launched in November 2006, led
by the National Dignity Council
and hosted by the Social Care
Institute for Excellence. A lot of
the work nationally is coordinated by the 40,000
registered Dignity Champions,
including Tracy Barfield who
performed that role within the
Royal’s maternity service.
News of the award came just six
months after our maternity
service became the only one in
the Midlands to achieve top
marks in the national Clinical
Negligence Scheme Trust’s safety
checks.
THE FLORENCE
NIGHTINGALE
TRAVEL BURSARY
The Rheumatology nursing team
are the proud winners of this
year’s Florence Nightingale Travel
Bursary and will shortly be leaving
for a trip to India.
Angela Lawrence, Linda
Longmore and Hannah Duggins
will be taking the trip after a
locum consultant suggested that
they could learn a lot from each
other by visiting his team about
how Rheumatology is delivered to
different people in a different
environment.
They’ll be going to the Kovai
Medical Centre in Coimbatore
which is in Southern India where
they’ll find out about the new
processes. They’ll also give a
presentation to the head of the
hospital about our working
processes here in Chesterfield and
about the NHS in general.
They’ll be travelling on the 21st
February 2015, you can find out
more by heading to
www.youtube.com/thechesterfiel
droyal and where there is a video
explaining more about their trip.
#JOINEDUPCARE
The Royal is one of the eight care
organisations providing care in
North Derbyshire involved in a
major project to re-invent how
services are provided to the
public.
Referred to as 21st Century
Joined Up Care, the project aims
to remove some of the barriers
that can get in the way of
patients receiving the most
appropriate care in the correct
place, affecting their patient
experience.
Speaking on behalf of the
partnership, Andy Gregory, chief
executive of Hardwick Clinical
Commissioning Group says: “We
are all responsible for the care of
380,000 people in North
Derbyshire and what they need
from us is changing. We have a
growing elderly population, many
with long-term complex illness
and multiple conditions. The
demand for our services
continues to increase and some of
them are organised in outdated,
complicated ways. We need to
get smarter and seek out better
ways of working – to improve
services for local people and to
use public money in the best
possible way.”
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014 17
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Tributes to two wonderful families
RECEIVED WITH
THANKS!
A big party for the new playroom
of the artwork
Amber did some
The sensory ar
ea
of the new play
room
Nightingale Ward
As always, Nightingale ward has
been the subject of a number of
our charitable donations this year.
Dennis Widdowson carried out his
annual Christmas donation, spending
the year buying toys and games for
the youngsters unfortunate enough to
be in hospital over the festive period.
It was another fantastic haul from
Nightingale’s own ‘Santa Claus’
and it ensures that the children on
the ward on Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day didn’t miss out on
the magic.
The ward also basked in the
opening of its new indoor play
area, paid for through charitable
funds at a cost of £23,000.
18 Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
d
Dennis (2nd from left) with his frien
team
Desmond and the Nightingale play
£5,000 of that was raised by Gail
Fedrick through a number of
activities. Gail’s daughter, Georgia
Double, was a regular patient on
the ward born with Cornelia de
Langue Syndrome and also had
complex cardiac problems.
Georgia passed away on
Nightingale in 2012 aged 4 years.
Trevor and Wendy Smalley also
raised a significant amount by
organising a 40 mile walk in
memory of their daughter. Louise
was only 13 months old when she
died on Boxing Day in 1993 on
Nightingale having been born
with a serious heart condition.
Louise was given just days to live
but survived past her first birthday
and two Christmases; Jenny
Reaney and Charlotte Jones from
the Nightingale team took part in
that walk.
These tremendous and humbling
efforts were rewarded with the
opening of the new play area
following a two and a half week
installation that includes soft play,
interactive screens, sensory play,
air flow machines and much more.
Some of the artwork in the area
was designed and drawn by
Amber Wood, one of the
youngsters treated on the ward.
They also unveiled a 3-D screen
for one of their clinic rooms that is
designed to be a distraction tool,
allowing the consultants to
examine, carry out blood tests and
provide diagnoses to young,
agitated patients. This was also
paid for through charitable funds.
Jenny Reaney is the play team
leader, she said: “The indoor play
area has been in need of an
upgrade for some time. There
were interactive elements that no
longer worked, it was starting to
look a bit tatty so we’d been
looking into what we needed to
do to replace it with something
that would help our young
patients recover and occupy
their time.
“What we’ve got is tremendous
and it’s a pleasure to be in the
room with the children when
they’re exploring. Play is a vital
part of a youngster’s recovery as it
takes their minds off whatever is
keeping them in and gives them a
mental stimulus. I’d like to thank
everyone who has donated and
helped us to raise the money to
make it happen.”
Life@theRoyal 2014 issue2 20pp:Layout 2
Meanwhile the team themselves
were hard at work for Children in
Need, baking and carrying out
their own fundraising activities to
raise £348 for the appeal.
We wore our
moustaches with
pride!
2/1/15
17:00
Page 19
There were 44 teams and
individuals registered to the
Chesterfield Royal Hospital
Network (we were the first
hospital in the country to get
behind Movember as an
organisation) which raised more
than £2,000 for the cause…as
you can see from the photos
below, the results of 30 day’s
facial growth were mixed!
The Trust as a whole got behind
Movember, the national appeal to
raise money and awareness for
the treatment and prevention of
prostate cancer, testicular cancer
and men’s mental health.
Going to Cambodia
You may also recall an article from
the last issue of Life@theRoyal
featuring Lisa Falconer, Kelly
Bennett, Kath Shakespeare and
Sam Wain who will be cycling from
Vietnam to Cambodia in aid of The
Alzheimer’s Society.
They have been busy with a
number of cake bakes, including an
impressive display outside
Relax@theRoyal shortly before
Halloween and Kelly’s home made
bath bombs went down a storm at
Celebrating Our Success (see
overleaf). They’ve so far raised
more than £17,000 since
embarking on their fundraising
efforts back in April.
On yer bike!
Back in July the Health and
Wellbeing Committee organised
the Tour de Royal, our own epic
effort to match the Tour de France
which passed within a few miles
of Chesterfield during its Yorkshire
leg.
We all managed to raise just over
£144 for our own cardiac rehab
team who provided the two
exercise bikes on which our 53
brave volunteers clocked up a
total of 140 miles in 10 minute
sessions. Not bad at all!
Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014 19
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The Neonatal
ladies
The world's m
ost popular to
y
used to prove
a
point about pl
anning
h!
wiches for lunc
Hot pork sand
ng as well!
some fundraisi
ork, there was
w
t
ou
ab
all
t
It wasn'
ed Finance
Future Focuss
The Library Se
rvice
CELEBRATING OUR
SUCCESS
One year on from our first
‘Celebrating Our Success’ event
and it seems that there is no let up
in the kind of innovation that is
helping this Trust improve the
patient experience.
More than 650 people came to
see a number of different stalls,
displays and presentations put on
by a number of different
departments and divisions.
and library, Organisational
Development, Facilities, Eye
Centre, Urology, ENT, Health and
Wellbeing, Communications (21st
Century Care, #joinedupcare),
CAMHS, Choices, Maternity
Services, the Dementia pop-up
room, Pathology, Orthopaedics,
DCH Care Homes, Child
Psychology, Finance, Acute Frailty
Unit, Endoscopy and the Post
Room Project Team.
There were presentations and
stalls from the Education Centre
There was also a stall displaying
plans for a new outdoor gym to
20 Life@theRoyal Issue 2 - 2014
ask staff what kind of equipment
they would like to see included, a
video about the day was playing
on a loop in the Innovation
Centre, a raffle, competitions and
much more.
Chief Executive Gavin Boyle gave a
short address and said: “What a
fantastic event and it’s clear to
anybody who has come to look at
these displays that each
department has taken ownership
and responsibility to improve its
working practice and create a
better patient experience.
“I’ve been very impressed with the
way that change has been bottom
up rather than top down. Nobody
knows the working practices of
each department better than the
people that work within it. It’s this
expert knowledge, the ability to
pinpoint exactly where services
can be improved and, more
importantly, the willingness to
make that change that has shone
through today.”