We are involving ourselves inmore and more internationalresearch, but consultantrheumatologist Prof BhaskarDasgupta is breaking newground by having workpublished simultaneously inthree prestigious internationalmedical journals.

Collaborating with the giant Mayoclinic in the United States, he hasproduced definitive classificationcriteria for polymyalgia rheumatica, apainful inflammatory condition whichcauses severe pain and stiffness in themuscles as well as inflammation and

swelling of softtissues.

These, and asecond paper on patient-reportedoutcome measures (PROMs), were theculmination of six years’ hard graft at23 centres in research trials led by ushere at Southend. The two papers willappear in three of the world’s mostinfluential and respected rheumatologyjournals: the Annals of RheumaticDisease, Arthritis and Rheumatism and

the Journal of Rheumatology.

Bhaskar, our clinical director of researchand audit, said: “We have led thisinternational research and to have theresults carried in three leadingpublications at the same time is aunique event.”

See centre pages for more ofour research successes

Newsletter for Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust March 2012

...to have the resultscarried in threeleading publicationsat the same time isa unique event.

National Dignity Action Day last month was theperfect occasion to remind clinical staff of theversatility of the humble clothes peg.

Keeping cubicle curtains fastened when patients are using acommode or are otherwise indisposed ensures their dignity isnot compromised by someone crashing into their privatespace.

If you need any pegs, Ian Finlayson, HCA on Balmoral wardhas a supply - or any easily cleanableplastic peg will be fine.

Pegs a-plenty

Spreadingthe wordabroad

2

Welcome to:Kelly Stevens,our newcompliancemanager, whocomes to us fromSouth West EssexCommunityServices whereshe was

responsible for clinical effectiveness.Kelly has been in the NHS since 2006and previously worked at King’sCollege Hospital, London.

With degrees in both psychology andlaw, her remit is to look at how weare complying with CQC regulationsacross the hospital.

She says: “I have been out meeting allthe clinical governance leads andheads of service and everyone is verypositive. There is a big task ahead buteveryone has an embedded sense ofwhat we need to do, so I am lookingforward to working together toachieve all our objectives.”

Farewell to:Dr Gurmeet Sen,associate specialistand clinical leadfor paediatricaudiology at theLighthouseCentre, whoretires nextmonth. Dr Sen

has been working in Southend for 31years and came to us from thecommunity sector in 2001.

She says: “I take pride in the fact that,with my team, I have been able toshape services for hearing impairedchildren and their families in thisdistrict. Together, we have been ableto provide a seamless service fit forthe 21st century.”

Her plans are to spend more time onher hobbies – photography andgardening. And she is looking forwardto seeing more of her far-flung family– a mother and sister in India, anothersister in America and a brother inAfrica. They will all be together soonfor her daughter’s wedding nextmonth.

Congratulations to:Dr Moshood‘Mosh’ Shittu,A& E, on joiningour consultantbody at thebeginning of lastmonth. Mosh hasbeen workingwith us for a time

as a specialist registrar and isdelighted with his new appointment:“I have worked in many emergencydepartments but Southend is thebest. The group of consultants in A&Ehere is unique in terms of the rapportbetween themselves and the juniordoctors and the whole hospital iswarm, friendly and loving.”

Mosh trained in his native Nigeria,initially as an anaesthetist, andsubsequently went to The Gambiawhere he did surgery and urology.

On arrival in the UK, he did a stint inorthopaedics before finally settling inemergency medicine nine years ago.

Married to a GP with two youngsons, Mosh enjoys football (albeitnow from the sofa rather than thepitch) and playing table tennis. Forthe record, he’s an Arsenal supporter.

ChrissieNewson, fallslead nurse, onachieving posturalstability instructorstatus, awardedby Later LifeTraining. To gainthe qualification,

Chrissie had to undertake writtenexercises on falls prevention andexercises as well as case studies and apractical examination.

Denise Flowers,on herappointment asassociate directorfor clinicalgovernance. Hernew role willprimarily involvechecking our

CQC compliance, analysingcomplaints and compliments, clinical

incidents and audits. In short, makingsure we are doing everything weshould be doing.

One of Denise’s first tasks will be topick up the report of last November’sCQC visit and to make sure itsrecommendations are carried out. Sheis also introducing ‘patient safetywalk-rounds’ when the BUDs andexecutive team will go out to thewards and clinical areas.

Nurse Sue Catton (endoscopy) andclinical nurse specialist (CNS) DellaHughes (gastro-enterology), whowere both nominated by theirpatients for the Crohn’s and ColitisUK 2012 inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) nursing awards.

Lynsay Pratt,HCA on thecentral deliverysuite, after beingnamed ‘studentof the year’ atSouth EssexCollege. Lynsaythrew herself

wholeheartedly into studying for anadvanced apprenticeship in healthwhich started as a pilot last year andhas now been rolled out across thetrust.

She said: “Once I have decided to dosomething, I just do it. I am alwayslooking for the next step.” And thatnext step is studying for herfoundation degree.

Dr Lucinda Bell,one of our juniordoctors, ongaining herinstructorpotential statuson our first one-day online ALS(Advanced Life

Support) provider course. We wereselected by the Resuscitation Councilto pilot this new course which saw18 junior doctors receive their crucialtraining. Resuscitation trainingofficer, Felix Khor said: “Everyonewas very impressed with Lucinda’soutstanding performance throughoutthe course.”

Personal notices

3

Bedsidealarms – witha difference

Hope forsilent sufferers

centreCLINICAL

New bedside alarms installed onPrincess Anne ward are not there toprovide a reveille call for our patients.Instead, these padded sensors havebeen introduced to prevent fallswhen an at-risk patient attempts toget out of bed unaided.

The ward, which caters for many frail andelderly patients, has been trialling thealarms – a pair of padded guards which fitalong the length of each side of the bedand are fitted with sensors. As the patientattempts to get out, nursing staff arealerted to assist with toileting or any otherneed.

Carla Boydell, Princess Anne deputy wardmanager (pictured here right with HCA KimLilley and patient Marjorie Hobbs), said:“They have been really good at reducingthe incidence of falls. It means we havebeen able to reduce the number of‘specials’ (designated nurses to give one-to-one care to high-risk patients), which freesstaff up for other duties.”

Now the falls team is hoping to get thealarms installed in other wards which caterfor patients with a history of potentially-damaging falls.

As qualified physiotherapist and fallspractitioner, Kate Chapman, pointed out,falls cost the Trust money, even when theydo not result in any injury: there are checksto be made, forms to be filled out and caregiven to any cuts and grazes. And, ofcourse, they shake the confidence of elderlypatients making them more vulnerable inthe future.

It’s a big problem but not one you’ll often hear discussed.After all, urinary and faecal incontinence, constipation andsexual dysfunction are hardly the sort of topics for ‘politecompany’. Yet these are just some of the disabling symptomswhich result from pelvic floor dysfunction.

Consultant colorectal surgeon Mr BandipalyamPraveen (left) and his team have long recognised theneed to provide a comprehensive service for patientswith this condition. He says: “The symptoms havedevastating effects and significantly affect a person’squality of life. But these patients have traditionallysuffered in silence – partly due to embarrassment butalso because many doctors are not aware of thedevelopment of the disease and how to treat it.”

Two years ago Praveen set up a dedicated pelvic floor clinic which hasalready seen more than 400 grateful patients. They each see a consultantand are allocated half an hour to discuss theircomplex problems. Local GPs have also foundthe clinic invaluable as at last they now havesomewhere to refer this group of patients.

Now Praveen is looking towards extending thehelp on offer, hopefully later this year, to includediagnostic investigations and prevent patientshave to travel to London for these tests. Also inthe pipeline is the recruitment of a specialistnurse who can provide non-surgical treatments like pelvic floor exercises,biofeedback to allow patients to recognise signals and improve theircondition and other self-help procedures.

Praveen said: “Our physiotherapists have been very helpful in treatingmany of these patients but a sizeable number still need to be referred toLondon for treatments not yet available locally.”

Those patients who do need surgery are luckier aswe have the expertise here to perform the surgicaloperations – just one in 100 needs to be referredelsewhere. Our service received a major boost withthe recruitment in January of Mr James Wright (left),a consultant surgeon with a special interest inlaparoscopic colorectal and pelvic floor surgery.

Having just returned from the world-renownedpelvic floor centre at Cleveland Clinic in Weston,

Florida, James reckons that “Southend has an excellent local service seeinga huge number of patients”.

Praveen added: “We are very lucky at Southend to have a high degree ofcooperation locally from skilful and experienced urologists, gynaecologists,radiologists and physiotherapists. Now we are forging further links with ourcommunity services to improve the service still further.”

Southend hasan excellent

local service seeinga huge numberof patients.

medical devices we useroutinely today are onlyavailable because someonein the past dedicatedthemselves to some rigorous and invaluable research.

“The future of healthcare depends on health serviceprofessionals making that effort and we are delighted thatour staff have been so successful in the CLRN awards.“Southend University Hospital is rapidly becoming more

and more recognised as a research-oriented organisationand I am delighted that new areas are now realising thefundamental importance of conducting these studies as akey part of their day to day work.”

Here we meet the successful nurses:

25

Victoria Katsande, winner inthe ‘excellence in clinical researchtraining and/or coaching’category.

Victoria, who has been nursing for sevenyears, joined us as a trainee researchnurse just over a year ago, became ‘fullyfledged’ six months later and has notlooked back.

She said: “Having worked on the wardsin the past and seen new drugs,treatments and devices coming along,

I wanted to be involved at that level.”

She now works with the teams in criticalcare, A&E, rheumatology and surgery.

When patients suffering acute asthmaattacks come into A&E, Victoria is contactedto invite them onto a trial to see ifmagnesium can benefit them. She explainsthe details and that they might receive aplacebo instead of the drug under scrutiny. If they consent, Victoria ora colleague gives them nebulisers and an infusion, monitors theirresponse and follows them closely for the next 30 days for any reactions.

She says: “All drugs on trial have been through a great deal of rigoroustesting before they ever reach the patient.”

Another trial in rheumatology involves comparing two different licenseddrugs to see how they affect the cardiovascular system, while a third isfor patients with primary Sjogren’s syndrome, an auto-immune conditionwhich affects moisture-producing glands such as the tear and salivaryglands.

Victoria explains: “We are trying to test a cohort of people with thecondition to see if there may be underlying genetic or environmentalfactors. Although patients are not benefiting themselves, they are happyto help with the research. We also aim to create a register of patientswith the condition to they can be contacted about any future trials.

“I really love the work and the feeling that it will help patients in thefuture.”

Vicky Goater, runner-up, andMaryam Zare, commendation, in the‘making a valuable contribution to theimplementation of particularlychallenging tasks and/or initiatives.

Vicky (right) is ourfirst paediatricresearch nurseand in the shorttime she hasbeen in post hasstarted fivedifferent trials,with another sixin the pipeline.

She made theshift from beinga senior neonatalstaff nurse, saying ‘I always need a challenge’.

Vicky added: “As a nurse on the wards you aredirectly helping individuals, but by doingresearch you are indirectly helping millions ofpeople by contributing to the gathering ofevidence essential for best practice.

“A lot of people think research is boring but itis far from that. It involves many aspects ofclinical care including administering treatments,monitoring patients, running clinics and visitingpatients on wards and at their homes.” Vicky’spet trial at the moment is the Probiotic in Pre-term babies Study (PiPS), a double-blind trialaimed at reducing the instance of potentially-fatal necrotising enterocolotis in babies bornunder 31 weeks’ gestation.

It has been an amazing success: “We weremeant to get 10 in a year and we have 17.I have been absolutely overwhelmed and this iswhere I get my joy,” says Vicky. “Although

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4

It’s not just an ‘add on’Research – an integral part of patient care

Sarah Martin, commendation in the ‘outstanding achievementby an individual or team’ category.

Sarah combines her research with her role as a night sister on our critical care unit,where she has worked for 16 years (“I just really like the pace of it and notknowing what is coming through the door.”)

She has just completed two studies: one on the effects of medication to preventfungal infections and the other on the treatment of head injuries.

Sarah is currently working on studies looking at the best method of nutrition forcritical care patients and how our genes influence the outcome of sepsis.

She says: “In the last couple of years research in critical care has really taken off,mainly because of the leadership of Dr Dave Higgins, who is lead consultant inthe LCRN.”

there are risks and parents already haveso much on their minds, they have allbeen open and understand why we arecarrying out this clinical trial.

Another trial looks at children newly-diagnosed with diabetes, whichinvolves analysing blood samples forantibodies and genes. Samples are alsotaken from siblings to assess their likelyrisk of going on to develop the disease.

Vicky adds: “It is important to work aspart of the paediatric and neonatalteams in order to offer the best carefor our patients – which includesoffering them the opportunity to takepart in clinical trials.”

In the 14 months she has been withus, Maryam (below), our research sitecoordinator,has succeededin increasingthe number ofareas ofresearch herefrom five to23.

Maryam, whohas 12 years’experience ininternationalresearchunder herbelt, does notwait for a formal approach from apharmaceutical company or the CLRNbefore she sets the wheels in motionfor a new research project. Instead,she searches to see what is in thepipeline and, if she thinks it is feasible,seizes the initiative.

“As soon as I realise we can do thestudy here at Southend, I approach

potential principalinvestigators.”

She reports weekly to thenetwork and, as a researchcoordinator, is currentlyresponsible for the conductof research in 30 trials (andthese do not includerheumatology or oncology).

Maryam is delighted atour successes in theawards and adds:“Jacqueline Totterdell’ssupport is vital to us as

without it we would not be able to doachieve all we want to.

“Research does a lot of good. As wellas being beneficial to our patients, itis cost effective for the hospital asmost of the trial drugs are paid for bythe pharmaceutical companies.”

Vicky also collaborated with otherCLRN staff to produce a poster onsuccessful recruitment to the PiPSstudy. Staff from the stroke unitwere highly commended for theirposter submission.

Our research nurses have done us proud at this year’sEssex and Herts CLRN (Comprehensive Local ResearchNetwork) best practice awards ceremony, held last monthat the Stansted Radisson Hotel. And there was also anaward for research champ Prof Bhaskar Dasgupta for‘promoting local NHS contribution to the NationalInstitute for Health Research life sciences industryresearch portfolio’.

Research has gradually been creeping up our agendato its rightful place as an intrinsic component of goodpatient care. And with our chief executive, JacquelineTotterdell, now chair of the local CLRN (although shewas not on the awards judging panel!), it is nowsomething none of us can afford to ignore.

As Jacqueline pointed out, the work done byresearchers now will bring enormous benefits topatients in the future: “The drugs, treatments and

I really love thework and the

feeling that it willhelp patients inthe future.

We may be moving into a newfinancial year but our focusremains the same – to use whatwe have to provide the bestpossible service for our patients.And it is with that in mind that thechange team, made up of a small teamof project and service improvementspecialists, has been working across theTrust helping staff at all levels. Workingwith staff on projects looking ateverything from the way patientsaccess our services right through tohow we can speed up their recoveryand discharge, the team are using theirskills to help the Trust plan and deliverreal improvements.

The change team has most recentlybeen working with finance and thebusiness unit directors to help identifyschemes that will enable the Trust tomaintain and improve services whilstcontinuing to reduce costs. “Everybody

will have heard headlinesabout there being lessmoney, but that doesn’tstop us still delivering agreat service,” says LiamSlattery, newly appointed head ofchange and programme management.“We have great staff at the Trust withlots of wonderful ideas. We know thatbecause, as a team, we have first-handexperience of working with themacross many projects which bothimprove service and reduce cost.”

The TTA (drugs to take away) projecthas shown a definite improvement intimely availability of patients’ drugs,reducing delays and improvingdischarge efficiency. The pharmacy ICEsystem has also been overhauled to helpmake a dramatic impact on monitoringand turnaround times for TTAcompletion. You may have also seen thescreensaver encouraging doctors to

submit the completed TTA informationto pharmacy as soon as possible.

Another example is the on-goingintroduction of the e-rostering system –Healthroster. Project manager, JoannaMcGrath, says: “Healthroster enablesmanagers to arrange their staff betterwhich helps to reduce bank/agencyspend, whilst also enabling the Trust tocomply with the European working timedirective. The system will soon be linkedto payroll which will mean that staff willno longer need to fill out timesheets.”

Ultimately the system will help toimprove patient care by making surethe appropriately skilled staff areavailable to give patients the right careat the right time.

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centreCLINICAL

Teamwork

Little Jayden Roddy lived justover one hour after being bornprematurely last June.But the legacy of the much-loved littleboy will live on, thanks to thegenerosity and energy of his grievingparents, Marie and Alex.

They have thrown themselves intoholding a whole series of fundraisingevents to help ease the suffering ofother heartbroken parents.

In just eight months they have collectedmore than £1600 which has already bought a special coldcot (renamed ‘Jayden’s cuddle cot’) for our maternity unit.The portable cooling insert can be placed into any Mosesbasket to cool the baby following death, allowing parentsand relatives to spend more time together as a family.

But they are not stopping there. Marie and Alex, who havetwo other sons, Mason, eight and Mitchel, five, have vowedto keep up their efforts ‘forever and a day’.

Next on their shopping list are bigger and better memoryboxes for bereaved families to keep their precious keepsakeslike foot and hand impressions, candles, blankets and

‘journey bears’ – a pair ofidentical bears, one of which goesin the baby’s coffin while theother remains with the parents.

And they are determined to fundmore ‘cuddle’ cots.

Marie said: “We started to lookat cots before Jayden’s funeral.We just wanted to do somethingfor the hospital. Everyone was sobrilliant and we wanted to givesomething back.”

Jayden’s special cot will prevent other couples having to keepgoing to the mortuary to see their precious baby if theButterfly bereavement suite is already in use.

Amanda Cushing said: “As a bereavement support midwife,I feel very lucky to receive these donations. We are fortunateto have so many generous people in our community whowish to bring comfort and support to other parents whenthey are faced with the death of a baby. Equipment like thisenables us to provide a better service at such a difficult time.The central delivery suite would like to say a big thank you toMarie and Alex for all their hard work.”

Liam with service improvement snr manager Jane Reeve,programme manager Nick Mapstone, service improvementsnr manager Dominic Hall, projects office manager CathAbrams and programme manager Dave Robinson.

Alex and Marie with Amanda Cushingand Mason (left) and Mitchel.

In loving memory of baby Jayden

Thursday, March 22

Heart and lung servicesworkshopFrom 10am to 4pm at theRegiment Way Golf Centre,Chelmsford

Organised by the Essex Cardiac andStroke network to help shape heartspecialist services for the entirecounty.

Book a place on 01206 288271.

Sunday, March 25

Charity spring fairFrom 10.30am to 4pm at The Mill,Bellingham Lane, Rayleigh

In aid of Bosom Pals Appeal onthe road.

Entry £1.50 adults, children under16 free. More details on ext 6402.

Friday, April 27

Bowling nightFrom 7.30pm at Rileys BroadwaySuperbowl, Leigh

Basket meal and prizes included.

Adults £12pp, children (under 16)£10pp.

6 people per lane. In aid of theBosom Pals Appeal On The Road.

Help shape the future ofyour hospital

DiaryDates

Would you like to become a worker governor for the hospital? We’ll beholding an election later this year – voting takes place in May with seatsbeing filled on June 1.

There is a seat to fill at both the hospital and Britannia House sites.Election packs for prospective candidates will be available from the endof this month by calling ext 8303.

Anaesthetist Dr Dinesh Aiyappadas and hisdaughter Nia were among the ecologychampions who turned up for some moreSunday planting in the hospital grounds.

The stalwart band has now put in 500 hedgingplants around the site perimeter, courtesy ofThe Woodland Trust. An extra bonus was thatthe children who put in crocus and snowdropbulbs last October were able to see the resultsof their labours pushing up through the ground.

Mourners packed the large chapel atSouthend Crematorium to say goodbye topopular volunteer Hazel Cutler who diedon February 2, aged 70.

Hazel was a well-loved fixture on theinformation and care car desks and also helpedon Chalkwell ward until ill health forced her toretire last September.

The emotional service featured music from CliffRichard – Hazel was a lifelong fan – and was

followed by a burial at the cemetery opposite.

The mother-of-two had worked at the hospital for almost a decade and last yearreceived a special Hospital Honours award and small party in her honour,attended by friends and colleagues.

Tree plantingis a generationgame

Farewell topopular volunteer

Unwanted presentsIf you have received a present for Christmas or birthday which is just not‘you’, how about offloading it to our fundraising department who canturn it into hard cash to benefit our patients? The department’s goodiescupboard is looking a bit depleted and Louise Champion would love tosee it restocked. Call her on ext 6402 if you can help.

As part of the Trust’s equalityand diversity policy, thecommunications departmentis committed to ensuring thispublication meets the needsof all our staff. If anyonewould find it helpful toreceive The Look in analternative format, eg largeprint or audio please emailthe communicationsdepartment.If you have an item that you would liketo see published in The Look, contactPat Stone on ext: 5048 or by email.

Deadline for next edition –Friday, March 23.

7

In May Alan Tuckwood, RobertKetteridge and Paul Tracy fromIT and David Robinson from theprogramme managementoffice, will be attempting thegruelling Three Peaks challenge– climbing the highestmountains in England, Scotlandand Wales within the space of24 hours.

By the time they have finished,they’ll have covered nearly 26 milesand climbed around 10,000 feet.Projects office manager CathAbrams will be ably assisting themas peak-to-peak driver and supplierof plasters and anti-chaff stick.

Walking boots are being broken in.Alan boasted: ‘This is a greatchallenge which I completed lastyear with 40 minutes to spare. Thisyear I’m joined by a great team,and we will be going at it hammerand tongs (with crampons!).”

The team will be raising moneyfor the hospital’s Bosom Palsappeal and money can be donatedthrough the team’s JustGivingpage at:

www.justgiving.com/Southend-Hospital-3-peaks

Mountainouschallenge forBrit House staff

Anne Milton MP, minister for public health and herself a formernurse, was all smiles when she visited us last month to see our carerounds system in action.Her whirlwind visit took in Edmund Stone, Stambridge and Rochford wardswhere she shared a joke with HCA Kay Deacon (pictured).

Afterwards the minister said: "It was fantastic to visit Southend UniversityHospital and see the ways nurses are working to improve patient care. All thepatients I spoke to were impressed with the care they had received. Well done toall the staff as it takes time and commitment from everyone to achieve highquality care".

Staff from Elizabeth Loury wardorganised a bracing walk alongthe pier in memory of popularleukaemia patient Ryan Tolleywho died at the end of last year.

Claire Howard, one of the wardsecretaries, said: “Ryan simply asked ifwe could do the walk for him if hewasn’t able to and so we did. We wereall touched by him and wanted to it inhis memory. More and more peoplejoined in.”

Although it did not start off as a

fundraising venture, the family stillraised £400 which will be used tostart up a trust fund in Ryan’s name.

His mum, Mandy Short, said: “Weused to spend a lot of time at thebeach as a family and he alwayswanted to walk the pier, but it justdidn’t happen. Even when he becameparalysed he still hoped he would beable to do it and told one of thenursing staff on the ward.

“I cannot thank the staff enough forthe way they looked after him.”

l to r: Paul, Robert, Cath, Alanand David.

Braving the icy blasts inmemory of Ryan

Thesmilesaysit all