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New £3.5 million unit gives Solihull one of the leading dermatology centres in the UK

Derm_Sol_IDA9933aA brand new £3.5 million unit at Solihull Hospital has opened its doors to patients securing the area one of the leading dermatology centres in the UK.

The new unit includes state-of-the-art facilities and has been purpose-built to suit the needs of patients with skin cancer and other skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis.

Among the benefits of the new unit are three new skin surgery theatres, increasing surgical capacity and allowing for a more efficient and seamless journey for patients. In addition, there is a state-of the-art skin allergy testing facility, phototherapy and integrated consulting and treatment rooms.

Dr Irshad Zaki, consultant dermatologist and clinical director, said it was a ‘very exciting’ time for the highly acclaimed service.

He said: “The dermatology service at Solihull Hospital provides a comprehensive service for the local population but is also a tertiary referral centre for patients with severe skin disease and skin cancer, as well as for allergy testing. We receive referrals from as far afield as North Wales, particularly for complex skin cancer surgery.

“We are one of only a few departments in England for Mohs micrographic surgery (a type of skin cancer surgery) and the laboratory in the new department allows us to analyse the specimen during surgery to ensure the whole skin cancer has been removed. We are also one of the two national centres for epidermolysis bullosa, a rare and severe genetic skin disorder, while the opportunities for education and teaching in our department have been recognised nationally.

“Having this fantastic new unit will enhance further the service we can provide to our patients and puts Solihull Hospital at the forefront of dermatology treatment, not just in the Midlands, but in the country as a whole.”

The new facility is located at the North entrance of Solihull Hospital on the first floor opposite the education centre.

The amount of units of the following products prescribed*/purchased*/dispensed at hospital pharmacy* by HEFT during 2014* Financial year or Jan – December 2014*

1. Ursofalk 250mg capsules

2. Ursofalk 500mg capsules

3. Ursofalk 250mg suspension

*whichever is applicable

 

Number of packs dispensed from January to December 2014:

 1. Ursofalk 250mg capsules – 515 packs of 60

2. Ursofalk 500mg capsules – 65 packs of 60

3. Ursofalk 250mg suspension – 31 packs of 250ml

 

Do you run an in-house translation/interpretation service provision at HEFT?

If yes; what are your yearly costs for –

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

Budgeted for 2015/16

 

The service is not in-house.

2012/13                                  Unable to provide any data       

2013/14                                  £233k

2014/15                                 £305k

Budgeted for 2015/16         £310k

What energy efficiency projects is HEFT considering in the next 1 -3 years i.e. LED lights, Variable Speed Drives, Solar, Biomass etc.

HEFT has over the past ten years embarked on a number of large scale energy efficiency projects these include a 1.1 MWe CHP Trigeneration scheme at Heartlands Hospital, 706kWe CHP complete with site de steaming at Solihull Hospital and a 1.1.MWe CHP scheme at Good Hope Hospital that exports excess power to the grid overnight.

The Trust is currently in year 3 of a 4 year Sustainability Framework that has included all of the energy efficiency projects listed in the FOI with the exception of Biomass and in particular:

·         Pump replacement with high efficiency pumps

·         AHU Control Modification (3 port to 2 Port)

·         Installation of AM&T

·         Energy Display Meters

·         Insulation

·         Lighting retro fit

·         Refrigeration Controls

·         Solar PV

·         VSD’s and AHU Upgrades

·         Energy Conservation Measures to BMS

Looking forward the plans are to replace in its entirety the BMS at Solihull Hospital and to significantly upgrade both BMS’s at Heartlands and Good Hope all within a three year time frame.

 Lighting and controls will continue to be reviewed and where savings can be found schemes will be implemented though not exclusively with LED lights.

 Staff training and engagement with regard to energy awareness will be considered across the whole Trust over the next five years.

 Discussions have commenced on the possibility of installing network dashboards providing energy information both internally and externally to staff, patients and public.

A power demand response survey will be completed in the next 18 months initially at the Birmingham Heartlands Hospital with a target to implement a complete system to all three sites should the results prove to be successful.

 

Confirm the name, email address, telephone number and position held for each of the following at HEFT:

 Finance

•         Heads of Finance

Aidan Quinn                Deputy Finance Director               aidan.quinn@heartofengland.nhs.uk

Jonathan Gould         Finance Operations Director  jonathan.gould@heartofengland.nhs.uk                  

 

Performance

•         Heads of Performance

Diane Povey                Head of Performance (interim)  diane.povey@heartofengland.nhs.uk

 

Business Intelligence and Management Information

•         Heads of Business Intelligence / Management Information

Diane Povey                 Head of Performance (interim)  diane.povey@heartofengland.nhs.uk

 

Procurement

•         Heads of Procurement

Dave Coley                   Procurement Director               david.coley@heartofengland.nhs.uk

 

•         Head of Category Management

Ruth Allen                    Senior Category Manager         ruth.allen@heartofengland.nhs.uk

 

•         Category Managers

James Harkin               Category Manager                   james.harkin@heartofengland.nhs.uk

Rishi Thakrar                               “                                  rishi.thakrar@heartofengland.nhs.uk

Margaret Biddlestone               “                                   Margaret.biddlestone@heartofengland.nhs.uk

Alison Barker                               “                                  alison.barker@heartofengland.nhs.uk

All contactable through telephone number – 0121 424 3207

How many cases of carbon monoxide poisoning have been treated at HEFT in the past year (July 2014 – July 2015)?

 

The Trust systems allows us to record the number of patients admitted to a) Inpatient Area, or b) A&E with Carbon Monoxide poisoning (Primary Diagnosis T58*). We are unable to identify whether the diagnosis was “suspected” or “confirmed”.

For the time period requested below is a summary of the numbers of patients admitted:

Treated as an Inpatient

5 cases in total

All patients admitted via A&E

Treated in A&E:

Age Band Total
Under 18 30
18 to 60 33
Over 60 4
Grand Total 67

Baby loss memorial serviceA special memorial service to be held by The Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust will help parents and families to remember their babies lost during pregnancy or shortly after birth.

The annual ‘A Time to Remember’ service gives parents the chance to meet other families and collectively share and remember babies who passed away through stillbirth, miscarriage or neonatal death.

The service will coincide with similar activities across the country as part of National Baby Loss Awareness Week, which runs from 9-15 October.

Claire Beesley, bereavement support midwife at the Trust, which runs Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals, said: “The loss of a child is a hugely traumatic experience for any family to have to go through and we hope this service can offer a peaceful setting where they can remember their baby.

“We have held the service for a number of years now and many families who have attended in that time have found comfort in being able to share their loss with other people who have gone through a similar experience to them. Therefore anyone who has suffered such a loss is welcome to attend.”

The service will be held on Saturday 10October at 2pmat St Paul’s Centre in Belchers Lane, Bordesley Green. Anyone wishing to attend is asked to contact the bereavement team on 0121 424 2088.

Lab tour1Experts from Heartlands Hospital hosted a team of leading health policy makers from Beijing in China, in a visit to the Hospital to learn about antimicrobial resistance and care of the elderly.

Having received an £8 million refurbishment in 2013, the Hospital’s laboratory medicine development houses a state-of-the-art molecular biology laboratory in partnership with Public Health England which applies the latest molecular technology through the facilities to identify infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance through DNA sequencing.

Welcomed by deputy chief executive and medical director, Andrew Catto and microbiologist, Professor Peter Hawkey, the delegates were given the chance to familiarise themselves with the UK’s approach to healthcare and learn from medics specialising in antimicrobial resistance surveillance, which involves using the latest techniques to monitor and treat infectious diseases. They were also given a tour of the Hospital’s laboratories and pharmacy facilities.

To finish off the day they were given a talk by deputy medical director for strategy and transformation, Professor Matthew Cooke about progress being made in the local healthcare sector in integrating care for the elderly.

Andrew Catto said: “The exchange visit gave us the opportunity to share our experiences with the delegates and to discuss the differences and similarities between specialist care in the two countries.

“The visit covered many different areas from across the country, so it was a great opportunity to showcase our first class laboratory medicine facilities and for us to have discussions on the latest medical innovations here in the UK.”

This visit was part of a programme of visits for the UK-China Health Policy Dialogue.  Twenty four top Chinese health policy makers spent one week in the UK with Heartlands Hospital being the final destination of their visit, having attended a meeting with Jeremy Hunt, Sally Davies (CMO) and the director general of the WHO amongst others in London the day before.

matthew cooke @WHO 2A deputy medical director at a Midlands hospital trust has had the honour of being invited as the UK representative to give the World Health Organisation (WHO) his expert opinion on emergency care and how standards can be improved internationally.

Professor Matthew Cooke, director of strategy and deputy medical director at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospitals, travelled to WHO’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland this week to join a 24-strong working group consisting of health experts from across the globe.

Professor Cooke, formerly the Department of Health’s ‘czar’ for emergency care, was chosen as the UK’s representative on the group because of his research looking at the design of emergency care systems and his international advisory work on improving emergency care.

He said: “I feel hugely honoured to be representing the UK on an international level at the WHO with some extremely accomplished and passionate healthcare professionals from across the world. I believe together we can really do some great work.

“At our first meeting we discussed the priorities for improving emergency healthcare worldwide, ranging from having a single emergency call number in each country linked to an ambulance service, to the levels of training of staff working in hospital emergency units.

“The work will continue until the WHO assembly makes a formal resolution in a couple of years following recommendations from the working group and I look forward to using my expertise developed from working in the UK’s healthcare system for many years to help improve safety and quality in patient care across the world.”

Professor Cooke, from Solihull, is also the professor of emergency medicine at the University of Warwick alongside his clinical role and in 2013 and 2014 was named in the prestigious Health Service Journal (HSJ) Top 100 Clinical Leaders list.

Stoptober

Have you taken up the Stoptober challenge? Comedians Al Murray, Shappi Khorsandi, Bill Bailey and Rhod Gilbert are all encouraging people to take up the challenge to stop smoking for 28 days.

Around 23,000 people in the West Midlands signed up to Stoptober last year. To mark the return of the nation’s biggest mass quit smoking attempt, Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists Faces of Disco will be making an appearance at the Stoptober roadshow at Victoria Square, Birmingham on 23 September from 11am – 5pm. As well as being able to sign up to Stoptober, quitters will receive information, expert advice and support from local stop smoking services present at the roadshow.

Giving up smoking can initially be difficult but the benefits of not smoking are huge as Sarah Stables, Stop Smoking Services co-ordinator at Solihull Stop Smoking Service, explains: “Stopping smoking can not only add years to your life, it can also improve your chances of living a disease-free and mobile life. It is never too late to benefit from quitting.

“The skin of a non-smoker gets more nutrients and without these nutrients skin can start looking sallow. Non-smokers will find it easier to get pregnant and have a reduced chance of having a miscarriage. Being a non-smoker also improves the chances of giving birth to a healthy baby.

“Within two to 12 weeks of stopping smoking your circulation will improve and as a result, you will be able to walk and run much easier. Giving up smoking can boost your immune system.

“Making small changes to your lifestyle can also make a big difference in helping you quit. Talk to your friends and family for support. The more support and encouragement you can get the better.

“It might be helpful to avoid situations where you usually smoke. Don’t give in to the temptation to have just one cigarette. Try to distract yourself by doing something else instead.

“Free ‘Quit Kits’ can be picked up at local pharmacies. The kits will include practical tools and advice to help you quit. You can get nicotine replacement therapy for free or on prescription from your local NHS Stop Smoking Service or GP.  Using nicotine patches will help reduce everyday cravings and you can also use nasal spray, gum, lozenges, inhalator or mouth spray for sudden cravings.”

Sarah adds: “Smoking can damage your heart and blood circulation. It can cause diseases such as cervical and lung cancer. If you do smoke, you are more likely to have a stroke than someone who doesn’t smoke. Smokers also have an increased chance of getting stomach cancer as well as ulcers.

“Chewing smokeless tobacco such as paan or gutkha is quite popular amongst British /south Asian communities. All forms of tobacco can damage your health and using smokeless tobacco raises the risk of mouth cancer. Smoking bidi and shisha can increase your risk of cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease.”

If you took up the Stoptober challenge last year, why not share your tips on how to get through the 28 days? You can share your Stoptober experience by joining the conversation on Twitter by following @stoptober and using the hashtag #stoptober. You can also join the Stoptober Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stoptober.

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