WELCOME
Welcome to this latest edition of the UCLH Magazine. So much has changed in the three months since the previous issue – summer has arrived with all its promise and slowly things are, hopefully, returning to relative normality.
Our teams are working incredibly hard across the organisation to ensure that patients can access our services quickly, and every week we are seeing a reduction in the number of patients on our longest waiting lists.
As always, I want to thank our staff for their considerable hard work in ensuring we continue to provide high quality and responsive elective and emergency care, as well as thanking our patients for their patience and understanding while we continue to recover from the pandemic.
Despite these challenges, I was thrilled to see that our staff had voted UCLH as the best trust in London to work at in the most recent NHS Staff Survey (pages 4 and 5). This is an incredible achievement, and I am proud to see so many of our people feel so happy and positive to work at UCLH. The pandemic has taken a massive toll on our staff, but I am reassured that the majority feel supported, valued and appreciated. We will not rest from working towards ensuring that all our staff receive the best and most consistent experience being part of the UCLH team.
We have a number of initiatives in place to support our workforce further as we recover from the pandemic and face other considerable challenges, such as the rising cost of living.
We are celebrating some of our wonderful staff in this magazine, including our wonderful homeless pathway team, which is helping to improve the health of some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable members of our society (pages 10 and 11).
We have also had some big celebrations, including the 10-year anniversary of the Macmillan Cancer Centre (pages 6 and 7). The formation of this centre was a fantastic display of the UCLH values of safety, kindness, teamwork and improving. I am very proud of everyone involved in the hospital and thank you all for everything you do every day.
Finally, I was very humbled to take part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon along with lots of other UCLH runners. It was a brilliant – if tiring – run, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and it was great to help raise some money for UCLH Charity. You can find out more on page 15.
David Probert, chief executive, UCLH
UCLH top trust to work for in London
Our staff have rated UCLH the top trust in London to work at, and the third best in the country in the latest NHS Staff Survey.
During what has been another incredibly challenging year, staff also answered positively when it came to the care we provide our patients – 86 per cent said they would be happy for a friend or relative to be treated at UCLH, compared to 67 per cent (average) for other acute trusts.
Chief executive David Probert said: “We have had an enormously challenging couple of years, but it is great to see that our #oneteam ethos has prevailed and ensured that UCLH remains a fantastic place to work.
“I am also really proud to see that so many of our staff are happy with the care we give our patients and they would want their friends or relatives to be treated here.
“Of course, there are always areas where we can improve, and these results show we still have more to do on diversity, equality and inclusion, violence and aggression towards staff, and bullying and harassment, among others areas, and we will be focusing on these in the next year.”
Director of workforce Liz O’Hara said: “We were thrilled with the results of this survey, which show how happy people are to work at UCLH. We are already looking at ways we can improve, including launching several new campaigns around violence and aggression, as well as diversity, equality and inclusion. We look forward to sharing more details soon.”
There are many benefits to working at UCLH, as explained by our staff networks development manager, Cynthia Oji, who has been at the trust for 11 years.
She said: “UCLH feels like a second home to me. I have made some amazing friends through working here and I really enjoy what I do.”
Cynthia oversees our five staff networks, which give under-represented staff groups a voice. Our staff networks are: BAME, Disability, LGBTQ+, Mental Health and Women’s Network.
Cynthia added: “As a Trust, our main point of focus, understandably, is our patients. However, we can only care for our patients if our staff are cared for and feel appreciated. That’s why the staff networks are so important – they enable groups to have their voices heard and help make changes so the workplace is a more respectful, understanding and inclusive place for everyone.”
As well as the staff networks, UCLH also offers an array of staff clubs, such as netball and running, the Culture Club, which offers discounts to plays and shows, the bike users’ group, and the staff choir. We are also passionate about helping all our staff to reach their full potential and hold regular training courses, mentorships, and apprenticeships.
There are many other ways staff can have their voices heard at UCLH, including our union representatives, staff governors, quarterly staff survey, our Freedom to Speak Up Guardian service, and our all-staff virtual briefings.
WANT TO WORK AT UCLH?
“Its a good place to work now, it will remain a good place to work and we have got great ambitions the future. Come to UCLH!” - Paul Stimpson, consultant surgeon.
10 years of the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
Happy 10th birthday to the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre!
During the past ten years, we have cared for 76,000 patients during 1.2 million appointments in outpatient clinics, supportive care, apheresis and ambulatory care, offering comfortable spaces for chemotherapy treatment. This has been supported by the UCLH Charity Cancer Fund and Haematology Cancer Care. There is also a range of psychological, welfare and practical help in the Macmillan Support and Information Service in the centre. We have dedicated a whole floor to the treatment of teenagers and young adults with cancer, supported by the Teenage Cancer Trust. The centre has enabled us to reduce the need to admit inpatients for cancer treatment.
Professor Geoff Bellingan, UCLH medical director for surgery and cancer, said: “For 10 years, the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre has transformed the way we care for people at different stages of their treatment.
“Our cancer patient survey results have shown that satisfaction with the care we offer has steadily improved, which is wonderful. We have a fantastic team of staff using their skills and specialties with compassion.
“This milestone marks an important moment in the development of our services for people with cancer. Whether it is introducing new treatment pathways, or our recent opening of the proton beam therapy unit, UCLH is making great strides in cancer care and treatment, and we are now widely recognised as one of the leading cancer centres in the world.”
Marking the anniversary began in April with a celebratory teaparty, an exhibition, and the launch of Leonard’s Cars, an adult colouring book, inspired by a late patient. In May, we held a cancer conference and in autumn photographs will be on display in the centre’s windows.
Proton beam therapy (PBT) is a type of radiotherapy which can target tumours with millimetre accuracy, limiting the impact on the surrounding healthy tissue.
Patients treated with PBT range from very young children to adults who have hard-to-treat cancers. These may be tumours in the brain, on the spine, or near the reproductive organs, where it is particularly important to protect the surrounding tissue.
From overnight stays to one-hour treatments
Jimmie Archer is one of our patients who has witnessed, and benefitted from, the evolution of our cancer care. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in 2011, a year before the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre opened.
“When my treatment first started, I used to go to the Rosenheim Building,” said Jimmie. “It was very cramped there and I had to spend a lot of time queueing for blood tests.
“I began with chemotherapy, but it wasn’t working, so I decided on a stem cell transplant. Two million of my stem cells were harvested for use in the transplant. It was very tough; the procedure was horrific. I was very tired and had a lot of infections, but I wanted to give it a chance.”
The stem cell transplant was effective for about 18 months but Jimmie, aged 72, has since been on chemotherapy. He has been very willing to join trials for emerging drugs.
“I’m now on the best drug so far,” he says of Daratumab, which he began taking in September 2019. This treatment started as a six-hour infusion, which meant spending all day at the Macmillan Cancer Centre, but now the same drug is administered as an injection. It is continuing to work well, and Jimmie’s blood protein levels are well controlled.
He said: “This is the only one that has worked. With the others, my protein levels would start creeping up, but with this one, they stay down. I feel a lot better. I’m enjoying my gardening and time with my four grandchildren.
“I visit monthly now. First, I have blood tests and then, a couple days later, I have the injection. It’s a great service. Back in the early days I had to stay overnight in a hotel, but now my treatments are done in an hour.
“The treatment areas are very busy but the nurses and the other staff at the cancer centre are so good and really friendly. I’ve come to see my visits as a day out.”
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Stroke nurses first in the UK to implant cardiac monitors
Jasper Dade was just 50 when he had his first stroke in 2017 – but he didn’t realise what it was until he suffered two more in two years.
He said: “I was working long hours as a technical director, touring musical shows around the world. It didn’t cross my mind that when I collapsed, it could have been a stroke.”
Jasper, who is retired and is also his mother’s carer, was referred to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) after suffering from balance, speech and memory issues as a result of the strokes.
He was one of the first patients to have an implantable cardiac monitor fitted by a nurse on the NHS.
Stroke nurse practitioner Selina Edwards and her colleague Roberto Macarimban-Inglesant are the first NHS nurses trained to implant these miniature devices (one-third the size of an AAA battery) under the skin.
Previously, patients like Jasper would have been referred to a cardiology service for the implant. However, keeping the implantation within the stroke service speeds up the process of getting patients set up with monitoring and started on stroke-preventing anticoagulant treatment, if appropriate.
The monitors are used when the cause or origin of a stroke is unclear, known as a cryptogenic stroke. The monitors detect atrial fibrillation (AF), a heart condition that causes an irregular, and often abnormally fast heart rate, which can cause cryptogenic strokes. They can also detect AF following a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), also known as a “mini stroke” which is caused by a temporary disruption in the blood supply to part of the brain.
Undiagnosed AF is often suspected as the cause of a cryptogenic stroke. It can be intermittent, short-lived and asymptomatic, making it challenging to identify, so Jasper will be monitored for up to three years to check if he has the condition.
The sooner the cause of the strokes is identified, the quicker patients like Jasper can be put on the right treatment. Early identification and the quick delivery of anticoagulation has been shown to reduce risk of further strokes by two-thirds and could prevent around 7,000 strokes a year. Strokes attributed to AF are often more severe, with higher mortality and greater disability.
Implanting the cardiac monitor, made by Medtronic, is a simple, quick procedure, carried out in an outpatient setting. Patients are given a small electronic transmitter to keep at home. Their heart rhythms are sent via a mobile app or a small electronic monitor using Bluetooth technology, and the results are monitored remotely by stroke nurses and cardiac physiologists.
Getting the implant was very straightforward. It went really well and was a good experience.
Jasper said: “Getting the implant was very straightforward. It went really well and was a good experience. I recovered very quickly with very little bruising and swelling. Selina was amazed that she couldn’t even see the entry point when she reviewed me in clinic one week later.
“I have episodes and they feel like heart palpitations, usually when I am in bed. It’s good to know that all of this is now being recorded so that Selina and colleagues can monitor it over time and work out what the problem is.”
The NHNN is running a pilot of 20 cases, of which Jasper was the second, in a bid to gather evidence. Referrals are made via a patient’s stroke consultant.
UCLH helping to deliver community-based healthcare to Camden’s homeless
UCLH is at the forefront of delivering innovative outreach care to homeless people.
Sadly, homeless people often have multiple complex needs, including long-term health issues, drug abuse and mental health concerns. They often face difficulties engaging with health and care services and so it is common for these issues to go undiagnosed and untreated.
However, a new healthcare model called the Camden Adult Pathway Partnership (CAPP), being delivered by UCLH in partnership with the London Borough of Camden and North Central London Integrated Care Board, is helping to address this.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the government’s ‘Everyone In’ initiative saw homeless people housed in accommodation, including the Britannia Hotel near UCLH. A multidisciplinary team (MDT) from UCLH provided healthcare and other support to the people housed in this hotel, such as primary care, substance misuse treatment services and mental health support.
This had such high success rates in meeting homeless people’s health and social care needs that it has been developed into a pilot service that is being rolled out to 15 hostels in Camden.
Debra Glastonbury, head of integrated care operations at UCLH, said: “The UCLH CAPP team includes two nurses, an operational project manager and an administrator. They are working in partnership with the voluntary and community sector, substance misuse treatment services, mental health, primary care and other health and social care organisations to deliver integrated care to this population group.”
Lauren Martin, project lead for the Community Homeless Healthcare service, added: “The team has already helped more than 100 clients in homeless hostels in Camden since the pilot began in January, and we have had some great success stories and wonderful feedback. We are hugely excited to build on this momentum as we roll out to even more hostels and continue to develop positive relationships with the hostel staff, residents and other linked services. We are aiming to help as many clients as possible, in particular those with the most complex needs who may not currently be accessing the healthcare they desperately need. Our new service is helping some of the most vulnerable people in Camden and really underlines UCLH’s mission to deliver top-quality patient care that is inclusive, accessible and fair.”
Vera Rossi - SCRUB NUSE
Scrub nurse Vera Rossi tells us why she loves the job, and how surgical teams work so closely together that they can communicate without words.
What is a theatre practitioner?
I think of a theatre practitioner as the director of a film. We have to make sure the surgeons, anaesthetists, and theatre staff are ready and that all the equipment is working, clean and available for surgery. At University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street, we do a lot of robotic surgery, so a lot of my job also involves making sure the robots are in working order. The perception of what a scrub nurse does is often limited to giving instruments – but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Using the robots in surgery requires specialised training and a high level of competency.
What does your job involve day to day?
I stop off on my way in to get a cappuccino. Then I have my first meeting at 8am with all the staff. We discuss the plan for the day and what patients we will be seeing. Then I go into the theatre where I will be working and meet the team I will be working with. We usually do four or five operations in a day.
How did you become a theatre practitioner?
I started working as a healthcare assistant in Italy before going back to university and retraining as a nurse. I sort of fell into working in a theatre – an opportunity came up and I always think you should take opportunities when they present themselves. I found I really, really loved working in a theatre. I love learning and there are so many opportunities to learn and develop in a theatre, as there is a range of different surgeries we do. I didn’t have any experience of working with robots before I came to UCLH, but I was very lucky to be trained by some very experienced people.
Best part of the job?
I love being part of the complex cases, but one of my favourite parts is teaching my colleagues. I like seeing how much they learn with us. Robotic surgery is brilliant for patients too, as it has less impact on the patient so they can usually go home the following day. It is nice to know you have helped them have surgery in a less invasive Rossiway than usual. I also like that you work closely with a team so you get to know how they work and can tell what equipment they need next just by their eyes.
What skills do you need?
To be a theatre practitioner, you need to be really organised and a good communicator. You need to be able to plan and always be thinking ahead to what you need to be doing next. It is hard work, but a very rewarding job!
Watch our interview with Vera below:
Creative children turn our vaccination centre into an art gallery
In the spring, at our vaccination centre, Bidborough House, we began vaccinating our youngest age group so far – children aged 5–11. Our experienced vaccination team knew that coming in for vaccinations could be a frightening and intimidating experience for some of these young people, and so worked hard to make sure it was as child-friendly as possible.
UCLH vaccination staff are highly experienced in helping people who are worried or anxious about having their vaccination, including children. They ensure that on days when the paediatric vaccination clinic is open, there are staff who have experience of looking after the needs of children. The team also consult play specialists and experts in distraction techniques and can arrange for specialists to be on hand for appointments if there are children who need extra support.
Deputy operations lead, Hannah Charlton, also had the brilliant idea of turning the paediatric clinic into a bright, welcoming space, filled with colourful artwork. Hannah worked with five local schools – The Gower School, Soho Parish School, Brecknock Primary, Argyle Primary and UCLH/GOSH school. The children created artwork that explored and expressed their experiences of the pandemic and their feelings about vaccination. There were also contributions from the University of South Wales through one of the centre’s volunteer marshals, whose daughter is doing an undergraduate creative and therapeutic art course.
Every wall of the children’s vaccination clinic was adorned with colourful, creative and thought-provoking images.
“I was interested in finding out what young people thought and felt about the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Hannah. “And I hoped we could get local children – some of whom would be coming for their vaccinations – to provide some colour and cheer with their pictures.”
As well as admiring the artwork on the walls, children who came in for their vaccinations were also given the opportunity to create their own pictures, which is a creative way to keep them occupied in the recommended 15-minute wait after their vaccination.
Clinical lead for the vaccination programme Deborah Scott said: “We know that for some young children, having an injection can be a frightening and difficult experience. That’s why we’re doing everything we can to make sure children who come for their vaccination are really well looked after and have all the support they need.”
Find more information about vaccination for children and other groups at www.nhs.uk
NEW NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED
UCLH is pleased to announce the appointment of two new non-executive directors to the board.
Nailesh Rambhai joined on 1 April 2022 as an associate non-executive director and will work with non-executive colleagues in a non-voting capacity with a view to taking on a fuller voting role in due course.
Nailesh graduated with an MA in Law from Oxford in 1995 and went on to practise at Linklaters LLP and then McDermott, Will and Emery LLP. He then moved to Coventry Building Society as group general counsel and company secretary. Nailesh has lived and worked in Canada, the USA and south-east Asia in a global career, including as general counsel and company secretary at Petronas. He recently completed an assignment working for the COVAX Facility as part of the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nailesh is a non-executive director at the Pension Protection Fund and a trustee of the charity United Way UK and was previously a non-executive director at the Belgrade Theatre. He has also recently become a non-executive director at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.
Chyrel Brown joined UCLH on 3 May 2022 as a non-executive director, replacing Althea Efunshile, who stood down following the end of her second six-year term as a non-executive director.
Chyrel has a wealth of experience in the housing sector and currently sits on the board of both St Martins of Tours Housing Association and Barnsbury Housing Association. She is also the chief operating officer at One Housing Group and has held a number of senior roles over two decades in the industry.
Chyrel is CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) qualified and is an ambassador and coach mentor representing the housing sector on a regional and national level. Her passion is establishing how to create cross-sector strategic partnerships that can support those most in need and reduce health inequalities and other barriers to social inclusion.
The UCLH council of governors approved these appointments on 23 January 2022.
Baroness Julia Neuberger, UCLH chair, said: “We are delighted to welcome Nailesh and Chyrel to the board and look forward to using their breadth of expertise to further improve the services UCLH provides to its patients and the experience of its staff.
“UCLH has a clear vision and set of values that make it a desirable place to work, and the clinical expertise we are able to provide is second to none. Both Nailesh and Chyrel have values that align to those of UCLH and I have no doubt that they will make a hugely positive contribution to our journey.”
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