Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust

Congratulations to the team who run our Career Hub sessions for winning a Working Together staff award in recognition of their work. 👏 Career Hub sessions are an additional service the team provides to support colleagues to have conversations about their next career steps. The sessions benefit a huge range of clinical and non-clinical people, from those looking for pathways into nursing, overseas colleagues who want to understand more about career progression in the UK, people looking ahead to partial retirement, and many, many more. Well done and thank you to everyone involved in running these sessions. 

Join us for our AGM to find out more about the key developments and achievements of the RUH over the last year. The meeting, which is open to all, will take place on Monday 23 September at the Apex City of Bath Hotel on James Street West in Bath city centre from 4.30pm – 7pm. There will be an update on how the Trust is progressing against its ‘You Matter’ strategy and how we performed against our key goals for the year. We will also look ahead to our plans and priorities for 2024–5. Members of staff will also be in attendance to share key projects and initiatives they have worked on. Trust Chair Alison Ryan said: “We all enjoy this annual opportunity to talk the people we care for and in our community about what is happening at the RUH and, just as importantly, to hear your views on our services.” If you would like to attend the meeting, please register in advance on the event website: https://lnkd.in/ecsEkZsC

This weekend we were proud to attend the first Bath Pride event and to represent and celebrate our LGBTQ+ community. 💙 Thank you to all our colleagues for taking part and to everyone who joined the march with us or stopped by to say hello at the RUH stall. A special thanks to Baz and David for your commitment and hard work.     We’re excited to see Bath Pride grow in the future as we continue to improve experiences of the people we work with, the people we care for and the people in our community.   The RUH, where you matter. 🏳️🌈

Congratulations to our healthcare support workers Gregory Jessop, Leah Moyle and Andreena Anderson who have received national awards in recognition of excellent care. 👏 The ‘Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Midwifery Officer Awards’ were presented by Sally Matravers, Regional Deputy Director of Nursing and Quality alongside our Chief Nursing Officer Toni Lynch. The awards reward the significant and outstanding contribution made by nurses, midwives, healthcare support workers and maternity support workers in England. We’re so proud that Greg, Leah and Andreena have been recognised with these awards. 💙 Read more on our website.

What advice would our Director of Pharmacy and Medicines Optimisation, Uzo Ibechukwu, give to pharmacy trainees? Hear all about Uzo's career journey through different roles in pharmacy and what his current role involves in this video by BSW Pharm Trainees.

This week we were very proud to welcome Duncan Burton, England’s new Chief Nursing Officer and maternity safety leader Donna Ockenden. Duncan and Donna toured our Maternity services, which were rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) earlier this year. They also visited the Neonatal Unit to hear about the family-centred care we provide. This was a special visit as Duncan started his nursing career at the RUH more than 25 years ago. He said: “I have very fond memories from the RUH and working here helped to make me the person I am today. “I remember my first day, feeling a bit scared but so excited to get started. I was really proud to get my blue epaulettes for my tunic, which marked that I was now a registered nurse. “My time here taught me to try different things and take on new challenges, and there were many opportunities to learn new things and develop. However, back then, I never would have believed that I’d go on to become the Chief Nursing Officer for England one day.” Duncan spent several years on the Respiratory ward, before taking a role on the Neurology ward. Then, in 2002 the bright lights of the city beckoned and he moved to London to continue his career. Last week Duncan was appointed as the new Chief Nursing Officer for England – the most senior nurse in the country. He shared inspirational words of wisdom for RUH nursing and midwifery staff looking to take their next career steps, advising them to embrace every opportunity and support each other. RUH Chief Nursing Officer Toni Lynch said: “It has been really special to welcome Duncan and Donna to the RUH, and we have felt proud to show what we do here. “Ultimately it was a chance to share the great work our dedicated and talented colleagues do every single day, to ensure we are making a difference for the people we care for.”

Celebrations were in order last week, when construction work on the Sulis Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SEOC) officially got underway. Based at Sulis Hospital in Peasedown St John, near Bath – which has been part of the RUH family since 2021 – the new centre will help us perform an extra 3,750 non-emergency, orthopaedic operations on NHS patients every year 🎉. The Centre will treat patients who would otherwise be seen at the RUH, and will also look after people from the wider South West region. Andrew Hollowood, the RUH’s Chief Medical Officer, was among those commemorating the breaking of ground at Sulis. “We all want to achieve the best possible outcomes for the people in our care. One of the ways we can do this is to reduce the time people wait for elective surgery, so they can get on the road to recovery and a better quality of life more quickly. "Today is a significant milestone for this goal as construction work begins on the Sulis Elective Orthopaedic Centre. I’m looking forward to welcoming our patients to the Centre when it opens later this year.”

Congratulations to the team from NICU who have formed the Family Integrated Care Special Interest Group and have been presented with a Working Together staff award in recognition of their work. 🏆 The group is all about forming a culture of partnership between families and staff, to empower parents as confident and knowledgeable care givers. Since the group formed earlier this year they have supported the whole team to introduce a number of really helpful improvements. These include a new parent support group including weekly education sessions, providing packs for siblings, and piloting ‘skin to skin’ cuddle wraps for parents to use. Well done to everyone involved in forming this group, which is making such a big impact already 😍👏

This week we launched our new Research Strategy, which has a key focus on supporting and developing research studies that address the healthcare needs of the local community. 🤝 Richard Graham, Director of Research and Innovation, said: “Hospitals that actively engage in research deliver better care to their patients and have better staff recruitment and retention, which is why we are fully committed to ensuring research is at the heart of what the RUH does. “We want to make sure that we are able to engage even more patients, carers and members of the local community in our research by facilitating the type of research studies that address local health concerns.” Other commitments made in the strategy include: 🔹 Develop and implement systems to ensure that research studies are accessible to all patients, regardless of location, demographics or characteristics. 🔹 Collaborate with community organisations and patient advocacy groups to identify barriers to accessing research opportunities and develop targeted interventions for those patients underserved by research. 🔹 Provide ongoing training and mentorship programs to support the continuous development of research skills and knowledge among the workforce. Visit our website to find out more about research at the RUH and to view the new research strategy in full: https://lnkd.in/ggeuTRFe

Two of our longest serving staff members have received awards recognising their dedication and commitment to the hospital at a special ceremony hosted by the Mayor of Bath. The Mayor of Bath, Councillor Michelle O’Doherty, presented the Mayor’s Medal for 50 Years of Service to Loretta Murray and the Mayor’s Badge for 40 Years of Service to Tracy Fishlock. They were joined at the ceremony by RUH Chief Nursing Officer Toni Lynch. Loretta began her career at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases (RNHRD) before moving to the RUH as a senior healthcare assistant in our Rheumatology Outpatients team where she supervises a team of care assistants. Tracy has spent all her time at the RUH in the Radiology Department. She started her career as a darkroom technician, then progressed to become a radiography assistant (RDA) before moving on to a call handler role. Massive congratulations to Loretta and Tracy for receiving such special awards and for their fantastic dedication to our patients 😊