WxÄ|äxÜçRotundaVolume 8 Issue 29 Winter 2013

The Official Newsletter of the Rotunda Hospital

NewsWorld Premature Baby Day 2Management TeamEnd of Year Update3Friends of the RotundaMaking a Difference 4Over to YouPassport to India

Public Procurement 5

6Good Faith Policy Stars, Choirs & Carols

7Quality & SafetyBare Below the Elbows

8

Round UpRest in Peace, Comings & Goings, Sudoku & Competition

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No Smoking, Pregnancy

and the Newbornpregnancy. When the pregnant mum breathes in cigarette smoke, so also does the fetus. These outcomes for baby can be improved by the mother giving up smoking before and even during pregnancy.

Following birth, the baby is at risk of developing asthma, bronchitis, chest and ear infections, with an increased risk of cot death, when exposed to passive smoking. The Finnish study concluded that health education in smoking cessation should be offered to women who smoke, when planning a pregnancy.

Health promotion enables people to increase control over and improve their health. We empower staff and patients to attain better health through a supportive environment. Here in the Rotunda Hospital, we have set up clinics to support staff and patients, who would like to quit smoking, or manage their smoking habits, while on our campus through our health promotion, smoking cessation and occupational health departments.

Stopping smoking, at any age is the most important thing a person can do to improve their health and wellbeing, and we are very pleased to be able to provide an environment here at the Rotunda hospital that supports that choice.

s a health promoting hospital, we launched the Tobacco Free Campus Policy on November 1st, 2013 and in so

doing, the Rotunda Hospital reached another important milestone. Through becoming a Tobacco Free Campus the hospital provides an environment where secondhand smoke is eliminated, thus protecting everyone from the effects of passive smoking (Public Health Tobacco Act 2002). We would like to thank all staff, patients and visitors for their support of this initiative.

Latest statistics reveal that 5,500 adults die each year in Ireland from smoking related illnesses and diseases. It is well publicised that banning smoking in the workplace reduces the incidence of smoking related diseases, in both adults and babies. We know that 70% of smokers want to quit and maintaining a smoke free environment helps them succeed.

A recent study carried out in Finland, reveals stark findings. The unborn baby of women who smoke in pregnancy are at increased risk of the following adverse outcomes: miscarriage, small for gestational age, low birth weight, preterm birth, increased admissions to a neonatal unit and perinatal death. Infant prematurity is also well documented as a direct effect of smoking in

Message from the Editor

News

Letters to the EditorIf you'd like to send a letter to the Editor, suggest a subject to be covered in our next issue or even write an article for us, please contact Kieran Slevin at kslevin@rotunda.ie or at ext 1777

2 The Rotunda Hospital accepts no responsibility for errors, omissions or views expressed herein. © 2013 Rotunda Hospital. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the publishers. Rotunda Delivery is produced by Geraldine Walsh of the Rotunda Hospital Library and Information Service. Published by Rotunda Hospital, Parnell Square, Dublin 1. Tel: 01 8171700. Fax: 01 8726523. www.rotunda.ie

Kieran  SlevinEditor

World Premature

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W elcome to the winter edition of Rotunda Delivery. As Christmas quickly approaches and the festive

season gets underway, we highlight a number of the hospital's activities.

The Executive Management Team keep us updated with their regular feature on key hospital issues. At the Irish Healthcare Awards on 7th November, the Rotunda Hospital was delighted to win the "Best Educational Meeting" award for the conference "The Human Cost: Cerebral Palsy secondary to Birth Asphyxia in the term infant".

Our Rotunda Choir continues to grow from strength to strength and will be participating in an event to break the Guinness world record for the most people singing Christmas carols on the 19th of December. Dr Fran Flanagan describes her experience as a volunteer with ASHWINI which provides healthcare for the most neglected sections of Indian society. We have also included an article on the Good Faith Policy and how an employee can make a good faith report. All staff should also be aware that the Rotunda Hospital is now a Tobacco Free Campus. Ms Teresa McCluskey provides an update on this inititiave. In our Quality and Safety section the Infection Prevention and Control Team provide an update on the "Bare Below the Elbows" initiative which was introduced in the Neonatal Unit in July 2013.

It is with deep regret that we learned that our colleague Ms Margaret Deegan, Household Department, passed away on the 14th November after a short illness. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.

Dont forget to enter our readers competition to win 1 of 3 prizes. 1st prize is a weekend away in any Irish Country Hotel while 2nd and 3rd prizewinners will receive a cash prize. Remember this is your newsletter and we welcome your stories and ideas.

Baby DayBy Orla O'ByrneCMM3, Neonatal Unit

o mark World Prematurity Day the Rotunda hosted a number of events on Friday, 8th November,

including the offiical opening of the new parents waiting room in the Neonatal Unit and the launch of the new information booklet for parents "A Parents Guide to the Neonatal Unit". On the same day the Pillar Room was the venue for the preview of a documentary that was made about one special group of fundraisers for the Hospital - Ride Out for Prems. Produced and presented by Geraldine O'Callaghan, the programme tells the story of a group of bikers who ride around Ireland each year to raise funds for the neonatology units in the Rotunda Hospital and other maternity hospitals around the country.

Dr Adrienne Foran, Consultant Paediatrician says, "The Rotunda is one of the busiest maternity hospital in the country with over 9,000 babies born each year. Over 1,000 of these are preterm babies - born between 23 and 36 weeks,

many of them multiple births involving twins and triplets who are prone to early delivery.

Our new echocardiograph machine purchased recently at a cost of €30,000 was purchased through fundraising activities and has been a major boost to us here in the hospital.

We can perform greater diagnostics on our babies, monitor them through difficult periods, and it allows us to carry out more research into preterm medical problems.

We're extremely grateful to the charity groups such as Friends of the Rotunda, Irish Premature Babies and Ride Out for Prems as well as parents and their families who fundraise so willingly for us. They are critical for us to carry out our work and making life easier for preterm parents who are under a lot of stress and anxiety about their children."

The Neonatal Unit team would like to express our thanks to everyone who supported and helped us to mark World Prematurity Day.

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Management Team

Dr  Sam  Coulter-­‐SmithMaster

Ms  Margaret  PhilbinDirector  of  Midwifery/Nursing

Ms  Pauline  TreanorSecretary/Group  General  

hristmas is upon us and we hope that you and your families will have a happy and peaceful season. Regardless of

what festivites abound we will continue to provide services to meet the needs of our mothers and babies and we appreciate that many staff will work during the days when families like to be together to ensure that the Rotunda remains the centre of excellence it is renowned for.

RCSI Academic Hospital GroupThe Rotunda is fully participating in the development of the RCSI Hospital Group. The Group incorporates the Rotunda, Beaumont, Connolly, Cavan/Monaghan and Our Lady of Lourdes /Dundalk hospitals with the RCSI as the Academic Partner. Ms Anne Maher has been appointed Chairman of the Group by the Minister for Health Dr Reilly.

HeadcountThe WTE ceiling at the end of quarter 3 was 732 which is marginally lower than it was in the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2013. However the Hospital commenced the year with an approved WTE of 707.73 and this ceiling has been revised downwards by the HSE to 679.42 for year end. Such a significant reduction indicates the challenges to be faced by the hospital to comply and to continue providing the level of quality and safety expected by our patients.

Front Hall Re-FlooringThe restoration and conservation work in the old front hall and corridor area is completed and we will be redecorating the area and restoring the artwork to the area. We appreciate the inconvenience the restoration work caused and the co-operation of staff during the period. We will be implementing policies to limit possible damage to the restored areas and protect them for future generations.

Quality, Safety and RiskFollowing publication of the HIQA Patient Safety Investigation Report - UHG, the Hospital has begun a self assessment against the recommendations of that report. This work will inform a submission to the HSE on the Hospital's needs to ensure it meets the standards outlined in the report.

The success of the Bare Below the Elbows initiative in the Neonatal Unit has focused us to

Cmaternity and neonatal care we are unable to manage the level of demand for gynaecology care and this is resulting in extensive waiting times for first appointments in gynaecology out-patient clinics. We are in discussion with the HSE to try and resolve the problem.

ResignationWe were sorry to lose Mr Sakhu Ngwenya as Acting Deputy HR Manager and wish him and his family well in their new life in England. Ms Cathy Ryan Hyland will be Acting Deputy HR Manager and Ms Niamh Moore will be Acting Patient Services Manager for the next few months and we know they will be fully committed to these roles and ask you to fully support them.

We also regret the resignation of Teresa McCluskey, Assistant Director of Midwifery and Nursing and we wish her well in her new career.

Mr Robert Willis ex Chairman of the Rotunda Board of Governors has retired following over 50 years of service to the Hospital. We wish him good health to enjoy his retirement for many years. We also wish Mr Wallace Beattie good health in his retirement from the Board having given many years of loyal service.

We would like to extend out deepest sympathy to the partner, family and colleagues of the late Margaret Deegan.

We also take this opportunity to wish all staff and their families a very Happy Christmas and look forward to working with you all in 2014.

implement the same policy in the Delivery Suite with possible roll out to all other clinical areas in 2014.

The inaugural meeting of the new Quality and Safety committee was held in early December. The committee provides oversight, guidance and support for organisation-wide performance improvement and patient safety efforts, in accordance with the organisational values, goals and objectives identified in the Corporate Strategic Plan.

We congratulate Dr Peter McKenna and his team on winning an award in the 2013 Irish Healthcare Awards in the Best Educational Meeting category - "The Human Cost: Cerebral Palsy secondary to Birth Asphyxia in the Term Infant".

Our Department of Laboratory Medicine was a finalist for The Medical Laboratory of the Year at the inaugural Irish Laboratory Awards held in early December. Congratulations to all involved.

BudgetWe anticipate having a deficit of €2.2m by year end 2013, mostly accounted for by a fall off in private and semi privare patients - income down 10% on 2012. Significant cost savings have been made in the last number of years, with gross costs down 9% since 2009 despite the increased activity and demand led nature of maternity services. The HSE have advised us that this projected deficit is within the financial target set for the hospital however it does cause significant issues for us including cash flow problems. We appreciate the significant efforts made by staff in these difficult financial times and request continued cooperation in the difficult decisions which must be made.

ActivityIn terms of infrastructure and resources including staffing we have a much higher level of activity than is ideal. Our bookings for pregnancy care remain fairly stable when compared with last year. We have seen a marginal decrease in births compared with last year of around 1%. Because of the resource application to

End of Year Update

Friends of the Rotunda

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OBy Jane Dalrymple and Dr Karen Flood

n Monday 29th of July, Linda and Ken Walsh along with their family donated a cuddle cot to the hospital. To quote Linda from her Feileacain page “After Caoimhe arrived we wanted to do something for the Feileacain charity and for

the Rotunda Hospital because they were both truly amazing.” Their generous donation is their way of helping other families who also go on the difficult journey of losing a child.

In July 2012, Linda and Ken attended, excited, like so many others for her routine anatomy scan at 20 weeks gestation and was given the news that her baby's heart was not in the correct position (dextroposition) which was subsequently confirmed by the Prenatal Diagnosis team. A small hole in the heart (VSD) was also diagnosed by Dr Orla Franklin, Paediatric Cardiologist. A follow up scan at 25 weeks gestation indicated that the baby was behind in growth. Linda and Ken were counselled at length that these findings were concerning for a chromosomal abnormality (aneuploidy) and they agreed to an amniocentesis. The result of this test confirmed that their little baby girl had Trisomy 18 – Edwards Syndrome.

When we give our patients news like this they are understandably devastated and we strive to look after them with an holistic approach. Our multidisciplinary team aimed to ensure that the needs of Linda, Ken and their family were met in this pregnancy. When you tell couples that there is a problem with their baby they are already on a grief journey as the “normal” is lost. When we cannot “fix a baby” we have to help families through their pregnancy in the best possible way as they are now on a very different journey than the one they set out on. One thing that has proven to help families is the use of the memory boxes which are provided by the charity Feileacain. This allows families to start collecting momentos of their journey and these in time become precious memories. Once Linda and Ken accepted the diagnosis for their little girl they were gently nurtured through this experience. They named their baby Caoimhe and started to prepare themselves and their two other daughters for her arrival. Caoimhe arrived last November 2012. Although she was stillborn Linda and Ken now had another member of the family. Their main endeavour was to learn to live without her, which they are doing with great purpose and dignity and will always continue to do so.

More and more parents state that they wish to spend more time with their baby post bereavement either in the hospital or by bringing their baby home prior to burial. The cuddle cot looks like a conventional moses basket however underneath the blanket is a device which discretely cools the base of the cot which helps to preserve the baby thus allowing families more time with their child.

The cuddle cot has already, unfortunately, been put to good use both in the hospital and in bereaved parents homes. We were very grateful to accept this cot at a reception held by the Friends of the Rotunda in the memory of Caoimhe and Aisling and in the presence of their families, members of the Feileacain association and staff of the hospital. Aisling's mother is a cousin of Linda's and a member of staff in the hospital.

Donations that Truly make a

n the 25th October 2013, the Friends of the Rotunda hosted a unique event, a caring gesture by Bray Open Door Centre

toward bereaved Rotunda parents. When tragedy strikes expectant parents, a dream is shattered, leaving them vulnerable and grieving. Staff at the Rotunda are acutely conscious of the importance of supporting parents around the time their baby dies. The bereavement support midwife, chaplain, bereavement social worker and staff involved in caring for mother and baby work very closely together.

Ann Charlton, chaplain at the Rotunda, has long stressed the need for respectful and discreet apparel for these tiny infants on their last fateful journey, noting that it is impossible to find sheets small enough to swaddle these tiny babies.

Two years ago, staff at the Rotunda and volunteers launched a white knitting crusade, producing an array of small articles of clothing, little hats, cardigans, sheets and blankets, suitable for tiny infants. Subsequently, members of Open Door Day Centre, a facility for adults with physical disabilities as a result of multiple sclerosis, stroke, motor neurone disease or spina bifida, heard about it, and were so moved that they determined, despite their own disabilities, to honour grieving parents by knitting little items of clothing to grace the little bodies. Some had never held knitting needles and wool before, some struggled due to hand and motor damage to negotiate the stitches. From little hats, mittens and bootees to cardigans, sheets and blankets they produced an array of beautiful baby garments, which were presented in the Pillar Room to Ann Charlton for these special babies. Ann told us how much it meant to parents to see their little infants dressed so beautifully in white and wrapped so carefully in their little coffins due to the loving care of volunteer-knitters.

OBy Dr Frances Gardiner

Photo by Des O'Neill

Difference

wo years ago I decided to take some time out of my formal paediatric training in Ireland to volunteer abroad.

Through a friend I had heard of a health programme in the south of India and after a little research I decided to apply for a voluntary position with ASHWINI.

ASHWINI, the Association for Health Welfare in the Nilgiris, is a charitable organization which provides healthcare for one of the most neglected sections of Indian society – the adivasi’ (tribal people). It started as a small community health programme in 1987, with its main focus of training village level health workers to identify and prevent illnesses like diarrhoea, to provide immunization and nutrition to the pregnant women and young children and generally to improve health awareness among the adivasi community. Following the success of the community health programme the adivasis decided to establish a hospital, Gudalur Adivasis Hospital, with the help of Dr Nandakumar and Dr Shyla Menon.

Dr Nandakumar and Dr Shyla immediately started training the local adivasis as nurses and over the next 20 years the nurses became experts in conducting deliveries, assisting the doctors in surgeries, managing and ordering drug stocks and basic hospital management.

The hospital is now almost entirely managed and run by adivasis. In short it is everything an NGO should be. There is a huge focus on ownership by the local population which makes it as sustainable as possible.

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5

Over to You

On arriving in Gudalur in July 2012 I was immediately welcomed into the ASHWINI family and soon made friends with variouspeople in the sister organizations ACCORD, Vidyodaya School & the Shola trust. I delved into work in the hospital on my second day and I admittedly found my first week tough due to the unexpected death of two babies. Thankfully this trend did not continue and I soon took over the care of all the newborns and paediatric inpatients and outpatients.

One of the main problems I faced whilst working was the language barrier. We worked with five different tribal groups who each had their own language. Over the course of a year I learnt basic medical Tamil much to the amusement of the staff and patients and of course I became an expert at the Indian head waggle.

I was also involved in the community health programme (CHP), in particular the malnutrition programme in the Under 5’s. Unfortunately malnutrition remains a major concern in the area due to poverty, a lack of education and an increasing problem with alcoholism in the community. We were tackling this problem through a nutritional

supplementation programme and intensive education of both village/area workers and parents. Working on the CHP enabled me entry into restricted areas within the nearby forests and tiger reserves, which were otherwise out of bounds. These villages were often not reachable by transport and we would have to bring supplies by foot for a couple of kilometers. These walks were repeatedly interrupted by various wildlife including wild boars, peacocks, and elephants to name but a few, which always made the journey even more exciting! However multiple admissions of patients with injuries from elephant attacks and chunks of limbs missing from wild boar bites left everyone on edge around them.

It is undoubtedly an exciting place to work with an ever expanding hospital and community health programm. Amazing work is performed there.

Passport to IndiaBy Dr Fran FlanaganSpecialist Registrar, Paediatrics

can be defined as the acquisition, whether under formal contract or not, of works, supplies

and services by publicly funded bodies, such as the Rotunda. It is very important that the public procurement function is discharged

honestly, fairly, and in a manner that secures best value for public money. In general, a competitive process carried out in an open,

objective and transparent manner can achieve best value for money. In the Rotunda we have a Procurement Policy which is

available on QPulse. Additionally, there is a Procurement Committee with responsibility for ensuring that procurement of goods,

equipment and services are undertaken in line with E.U. and National rules and also conforms to the hospital’s standards in relation

to hygiene, infection control and health and safety. It also has responsibility for ensuring that appropriate cost / benefit analysis has

been undertaken to establish if any such procurement achieves value for money. The committee is jointly chaired by Chris Kenny,

Financial Controller and Ray Philpott, Support Services Manager. It is essential that the hospital rules in relation to procurement are

adhered to and if you require any support or information on this please contact Sean Williamson, Materials Manager.

Public Procurement

Focus On

Good Faith PolicyI sincere intention to deal fairly with others

and encompasses a sincere belief or motive without any malice or the desire to defraud others.

Protected Disclosure is defined as: if an employee reports a workplace concern in good faith and on reasonable grounds in accordance with the procedures outlined in the legislation (section 103 of the Health Act 2007), it will be treated as a protected disclosure and the employee will not be liable for damages as a consequence of making the protected disclosure.

The Rotunda Hospital recognises the importance of encouraging a climate of openness in which employees can freely express their concerns without any fear or reprisal. If an employee is considering raising a concern in good faith they are advised to seek advice from their Line

Manager. The following are a number of examples of concerns or serious malpractice covered by this policy:

• Possible improprieties in matters of financial reporting

• Fraud • Corruption, bribery or blackmail • Criminal offences

In terms of how an employee can report their concern the full details are set out in the policy and normally work on a progressive basis via a Head of Department, a member of the Executive Management team and/or to the Designated Governor of the Rotunda Hospital.

To date a number of information sessions have been held to promote awareness in relation to these policies and they are also available on the Q Pulse information document control system.

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n August 2013 the Rotunda Hospital introduced a “Good Faith Reporting Policy“. All employees have a right

and a duty to raise matters of concern which they may have about the services provided by the Rotunda Hospital or any serious malpractice associated with the hospital. This policy has been drawn up to ensure that if an employee makes a good faith report, the matter will be addressed quickly and effectively. The policy also sets out the recommended course of action which employees should take if a good faith report is not addressed or if they feel that raising this internally could result in evidence of malpractice being concealed. The policy is available on Q Pulse and should also be read in conjunction with the "Protected Disclosures of Information in the Workplace".

Good Faith is defined as: honesty, a

Stars, Choirs & Carols S tars, Choirs & Carols plan to break the

Guinness World Record for the most people singing Christmas Carols

together in one location and have launched a nationwide appeal for choirs, choral societies and the general public to join them in “singing for success.”

In addition to breaking the world record Stars, Choirs & Carols are hoping to raise money on behalf of both Cliona’s Foundation and The Sanctuary. Cliona’s Foundation was set up in 2007 by Brendan and Terry Ring in memory of their daughter Cliona who died of a brain tumor. Cliona’s Foundation provides financial assistance for families with critically ill children as featured in the Secret Millionaire programme 2012. The Sanctuary, founded by Sr Stanislaus

Kennedy, provides an oasis of peace and tranquillity for thousands of people including some of the most vulnerable young people in our society.

Miriam O’Callaghan who is the patron of Cliona’s Foundation will be MC on the evening and Louis Walsh, Army No 1 Band, Dublin Gospel Choir, Celine Byrne, The Celtic Tenors, RTE Cor na Nog, Tallaght Choral Society to name but a few will be performing at the event. The Guinness World Record is currently held by Seoul, South Korea where 15,111 carollers sang together on the 25th December 2010. Our very own Rotunda Choir are partaking in the World Record Breaking Attempt, which takes place in Croke Park on the 19th of December from 7pm to 9pm.

Members of the Rotunda Choir who are partaking in Stars, Choirs & Carols on the 19th December, 2013.

were held on Thursday 7th November in the Shelbourne Hotel. We are pleased to announce that the Rotunda Hospital won an award for the “Best Educational Meeting” for the Conference “The Human Cost : Cerebral Palsy: secondary to Birth Asphyxia in the Term Infant”. The conference was jointly hosted by Dr Peter McKenna, Clinical Director of the Rotunda and the State Claims Agency. Presenters included speakers from the State Claims Agency, legal firms, medical protection companies and practicing paediatric and neonatal medicine specialists from Ireland and the United Kingdom. It was hosted by the Rotunda with a full audience in the Pillar Room.

The Irish Healthcare Awards

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By Marian Brennan and Alva FitzgibbonInfection Prevention and Control Department

Bare Below the Elbows Quality & Safety

he Rotunda Infection Prevention and Control Team wish to draw your attention to and obtain your support in

implementing enhanced infection prevention and control measures. The surface of the body is densely populated by a wide variety of microorganisms which use it as their home. This is called colonisation. A small proportion of these microorganisms have the ability to cause infection, such as E.coli from the gut causing urinary infections or Staphylococcus aureus causing skin infection such as abscesses. Poor hand hygiene helps these microorganisms to be transported from one patient to the surrounding surfaces and to other patients.

The babies in the Neonatal Unit are the most vulnerable group in the hospital. After much discussion between Neonatal staff and the Infection Prevention and Control team the following change in practice has been introduced.

Since the 1st July, 2013, it is the Neonatal Policy that all people; staff and visitors observe the “Bare Below the Elbows” rule:

Remove outside jackets, roll up sleeves remove wrist watches and hand jewellery, keep nails clean and short with no nail polish or varnish.

This will ensure correct hand hygiene can be carried out effectively. Other departments have now decided to follow the Neonatal Unit and also adopt the “Bare Below the Elbows” rule. Discussions are currently taking place with the management and staff of the Delivery Suite.

It is planned that from 1st January, 2014 no staff will be allowed to enter the Delivery Suite unless they are Bare Below the Elbows.

Measurement of hand hygiene compliance in the clinical areas throughout the hospital is monitored by audit. Hand hygiene audits are carried out regularly in the clinical areas. The HSE set the targets and we report audits to them twice yearly in June and October. Feedback is given to the line managers and results reported at the Infection Prevention and Control meetings. The table below outlines the Rotunda Hospital results for the National audits in June 2013. The October results are not yet published. However we can tell you that there was some improvement but we still fell short again of the HSE target of 90%.

You can help the Hospital achieve this target next year by:

• Ensuring you are Bare Below the Elbows when in the clinical area

• Knowing the 5 Moments for hand hygiene

• Carrying out hand hygiene at these times

• Use the correct technique for the correct amount of time

• Ensure you have kept your mandatory hand hygiene training up to date

Your Infection Prevention and Control team have been successful with their application to HSE-DNE Regional Healthcare Associated Infection/Antimicrobial Resistance Committee – 2013 call for funding to support regional Infection Prevention and Control Teams. This success has enabled us secure funding for a “sure wash machine”.

The SureWash training system is a computer-based system that uses camera and games technology to deliver hand hygiene training to healthcare workers. SureWash by its presence on the wards will provide workplace reminders and prompts to all staff to refresh their training. SureWash measures performance and provides real-time feedback to the user. On successful completion your ID can be recorded for training records. Alternatively the system lends itself to anonymous training, so at a quiet time healthcare staff can use the machine alone at a time that suits them. In the first 4 weeks it was used 229 times by 51 different staff.

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Hand hygiene is important in all areas of the hospital. Remember the 5 moments for hand hygiene:

1: Before touching a patient 3: After touching a patient2: Before an aseptic procedure 4: After body fluid exposure (contact with intravenous lines, 5: After touching patient surroundingscatheters, wounds and drains)

June 2013

All Nurses Midwives

% 87 89.4

Doctors

83.3

MCAs

92

Others

83.3

8

Round Up

WIN A TWO NIGHT STAY IN ANY IRISH COUNTRY HOTEL

FOR 2 PEOPLE including 1 evening meal

www.irishcountryhotels.comTo be in with a chance of winning this fabulous break in any Irish Country Hotel or one of two special Christmas Issue cash prizes simply answer the following question:

On what date did the Rotunda Hospital become a Tobacco Free Campus?

Answer:

Name:

Tel No:

Please send your answer to Kieran Slevin, HR Dept, Rotunda Hospital, Dublin 1. The closing date is 31st January 2014. One entry per person.

Competition Winner

Congratulations to Johnny O'Mahony, Catering, winner of the competition in the Autumn issue.

CongratulationsWe would like to congratulate Ms Cinny Cusack, our Physiotherapy Manager, who was awarded Special Membership of the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists in September. This is a meritorious award for members who have achieved skills that enable them to be recognised as specialists. It is based on criteria identified and agreed by the European Region of World Confederation for Physical Therapy and is valid for 5 years.

Congratulations also to Ms Ann Frankish, who won the Excellence in Hospital Pharmacy and Overall Pharmacist of the Year at the Helix Health Pharmacist Awards in November.

Cinny Cusack

The Annual Christmas Carol Service will be

held on Wednesday, the

18th of December at 4pm in

the Hospital Chapel.

Sudoku  &  BoggleTo play Sudoku, enter a number from 1 to 9 in each space such that every row, column and 3x3 block contains exactly one of each number.

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RetirementsMr Bob Willis, ex Chairman of the Rotunda Board of Governors, has retired following over 50 years of service to the Hospital. We wish him good health to enjoy his retirement for many years. We also wish Mr Wallace Beattie good health in his retirement from the Board having given many years of loyal service.

L - R: Dr Robert Willis, Ms Hilary Prentice and Mr Alan Ashe

Best  WishesMr Sakhu Ngwenya, Acting Deputy Human Resources Manager, left his position in the Hospital on the 26th November. He has relocated to the UK. We wish Sakhu and his family the very best in the future. His warm smiling personality will be missed by all of his friends and colleagues in the hospital.

Sakhu Ngwenya

ObituaryIt is with deep regret that we learned that our colleague Ms Margaret Deegan, Household Department, passed away on 14th November after a short illness. Margaret was a very good team player. She was a private person, a good listener with a great sense of humor. A straight talker, she said it as it was, she loved a good laugh and a "sneaky" cup of tea. She will be missed by all of her colleagues and friends in the Rotunda. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time.

Ms Teresa McCluskey, ADOMN, resigned her position in December. We are grateful for Teresa's hard work on a number of projects especially the Smoke Free Campus, the Service User Forum and her involvement in the first Patient Safety Day and the Midwifery/Nursing Metrics Programme. We wish her well in the future.

Teresa McCluskey

Margaret Deegan

This year's Mini Med School, took place the week of the 4th of November.