The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

A senior Nurse in Wolverhampton wants to use her experiences to help staff of colour have a better time at work after addressing a regional audience as part of Black History Month. Sharon Bury, Senior Sister in the community at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), spoke before more than 120 delegates at the Royal College of Nursing’s West Midlands conference on reclaiming the narrative of black history and culture. In a 34-year career, the mother of three has progressed from Auxiliary Nurse to her current role in the South Locality Team in Adult Community Care, having started in June 1990 at Dudley Guest NHS Hospital. In 1994 she secured a job at the Accident &Emergency combined Fracture Clinic Department at the former Royal Hospital in Wolverhampton. “The team did not see colour or use prejudice,” said Sharon, who is based at Wolverhampton Science Park and spoke at the conference in Birmingham. “The late Consultant Mr Andrew Thomas saw something in me and tutored me so I could achieve the maths level required. “He supported me through the Access to Nursing course at college, which I completed, and I’m forever grateful.” Full story via this link: https://bit.ly/3YIYZB2

Mealtime Mates to support recovering hospital patients to eat and drink – as well as provide company and conversation – are being sought across two Black Country NHS Trusts. These volunteers will play an important part in the wider health and wellbeing of those recovering at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital and Walsall Manor. Their role enhances The Royal Wolverhampton and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trusts’ Supportive Mealtimes Policy and kind, compassionate, encouraging volunteers are being invited to offer help. Garry Perry, Associate Director Patient Voice (Experience) for both Trusts said: “Encouraging patients to eat and drink is such an important part of their recovery as good nutrition can help to minimise tiredness, reduce risk of infection and reduce the length of their hospital stay. “We appreciate, however, that mealtimes can be difficult for some. They may need physical support, particularly if their conditions are restricting their movement, or more emotional support perhaps in the case of people living with dementia. Our volunteers can help encourage patients to eat independently too, as appropriate." “Interested in becoming a Mealtime Mate? Please get in touch as follows: Wolverhampton: Email: rwh-tr.volunteering@nhs.net Call - 01902 307999 ext: 88763, 07500 or 974526 Walsall: Email – wht.voluntary.service@nhs.net Call – 01922 656689

Two Nursing initiatives in Wolverhampton have been nominated for national awards to support staff retention and help patients. The community boot camp for budding Adult Community Nurses, and the remote digital monitoring by the Virtual Ward have been shortlisted for the Nursing Times Workforce Awards. The Virtual Ward is where patients are monitored at home by a two-way digital app. The boot camp is one of 12 nominations in the Best Workplace for Learning and Development category, and the remote digital monitoring as one of 11 initiatives in the Best Use of Workplace Technology section. Both initiatives are from The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust community teams based at Wolverhampton Science Park, Bushbury. Full story via this link: https://bit.ly/3NteHKj

Celebrations marked the 100th day-case joint replacement on a hospital ward in Cannock – on the same patient who had the first such procedure there. John Greybanks, 71, received a new right shoulder on 5 September 2024 after having a new left hip on 21 March 2022 at Hollybank Ward at Cannock Chase Hospital, part of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. The father of two and grandfather of three also had his left shoulder replaced there about a year ago – and now plans to have a new knee! Link to full story: https://bit.ly/3BMX7hE

A former patient who says she owes her life to the NHS has thrown an elaborate thank you party to show her gratitude to the Wolverhampton teams. Dr Yaa Victorine Ngamsha – Vicky – is originally from Cameroon but came to the UK to get married in 2001, moving to Birmingham in 2007 and Bentley in Walsall a year later. She was diagnosed with kidney failure and referred to our Trust for treatment before having a kidney transplant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QE) in Birmingham in September last year.

An “exceptional leader” at two Black Country Trusts has won a prestigious national award celebrating innovation and quality improvement. Sebastian Smith-Cox, Group Head of Workforce Intelligence and Planning at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, has scooped the Healthcare People Management Association’s (HPMA) Excellence in People KPMG Star Award. The HPMA, which boasts 5,000 members, is the voice of professionals in health and care and its awards recognise and reward outstanding work in those professions. Sebastian, who has worked for the NHS for 14 years, beat competition from eight other nominees to win the award. Link to full story: bit.ly/4eYVZFU

Our specialist cancer service is celebrating its 15th anniversary today! The Acute Oncology Service (AOS) brought together disciplines from Oncology, Haematology, Urgent and Emergency Care, Acute Medicine and Palliative Care – providing a united, patient-centred service.

Reducing the length of stay for hospital patients and decreasing waiting times were some of the top initiatives rewarded at an innovative awards ceremony that celebrated improvements made across our Trust. We held our second joint Quality Improvement (QI) Awards last week and were overwhelmed with the amount of brilliant entries. Read the full story on our website.

A new Ultrasound facility has opened in Cannock as part of a £15m development to improve patient waiting times – accommodating more than 500 appointments per week. Four new Ultrasound (US) rooms are now ‘live’ at the Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC) at Cannock Chase Hospital (CCH). They form phase two of the CDC, the purpose-built-modular building which hosts four state-of-the-art scanners – two CT and two MRI – costing around £1m each. The CDC also contains endoscopy and other physiological services. The new Ultrasound rooms will contribute to further improvements in waiting times for patients from Cannock, other parts of South Staffordshire and Wolverhampton. The US leadership team of Karen Hill, Superintendent Sonographer, Tash Smith, Deputy Superintendent of Diagnostic Radiography, and Sarah Davies, Imaging Assistant Team Leader, has ensured the opening has gone smoothly. “The team is really pleased with the new department. It’s been a pleasure working on this project with the US leadership team,” said Lucy Willcox, Head of Operational Radiology at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT). “As usual, they have gone above and beyond to make this a success. “This development will also move outpatient scanning into the community to support the NHS improvement strategy, freeing up capacity at New Cross Hospital to improve acute (Emergency Department) and inpatient services. “The new facility is a more efficient working environment because all specialties – Ultrasound, MRI and CT – are next door to each other.” More weekend working will take place as staff work to cut waiting times, with patients now being seen seven days a week. Tash said: “It’s a much better facility than we had before. Having the three specialities next to each other means we collaborate better as previously it was more fragmented, and it’s also better for training when we bring our apprentices over here. “We can offer patients more flexibility too because scanning can be done at Cannock and New Cross Hospital.” Phase one of the CDC opened in March this year and it has its own dedicated staff. The new facility performs around 35,000 scans per year and employs up to 70 colleagues. Full story: https://bit.ly/3Nh6JDU

A web expert more used to uploading other people’s content has had his own novel published. Colin Cranfield, Web Content Officer at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), has just produced his literary debut, titled ‘Julian, Superman’. Aimed at adults, the 281-page paperback is set in 1968 and centres around Julian Bailey, a 10-year-old boy growing up in a greater London suburb who may – or may not – have super powers after falling down a chasm while out playing with his friends. Julian’s exciting escapades are at odds with the fortunes of his parents and the two other families heavily featured in the book, the Turners and the Harrises. His father Mr Bailey becomes involved with a shady character called Mr Peterson, which offers an intriguing twist to the plot. Colin, 53, from Sutton Coldfield, started writing the book when he was a student in the summer holidays of 1995. Revisiting it during the COVID-19 pandemic after mothballing it for many years, he has dedicated much of his spare time over the last two years to complete it. His passion for writing enabled him to pass a Master’s degree in Twentieth Century Writing at the then University of Central England, now Birmingham City University, after graduating from Staffordshire University with a BA (Hons) degree in American Studies and Literature. Colin then had his own web design and management company before joining RWT in 2017. “I got the inspiration when I was standing at traffic lights and almost crossed in front of a car, and that got me thinking about when you’re a child and how you think you’re invincible,” he said. “I liked ‘Lord of the Flies’ by William Golding, but I didn’t want it to feel like the Famous Five, hence the darker themes and twists to the plot.” Colin, who works in the digital function of the Communications Team serving RWT and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, has a plot worked out to develop the characters further. He originally planned to have three books in one, but is now writing them as a trilogy. Now he is well into his second novel, which is set in 1977. “Setting the first one in 1968 was an arbitrary date but coming at the time of the hippy movement and flower power, it was an exciting time with the music and culture changing,” he said. “It also needed to be an era far enough in the past so I could create the three parts. “So the second one is set in 1977, the time of punk, while the third book is from 1986, which was when the Yuppie (young, upwardly mobile professional working in a city) era started.” Limited copies of Colin’s novel are available now in print by emailing him at colincranfield@hotmail.com, priced £12.99 including postage and packing. It is also available as an e-book via Amazon (priced £2.49), Kobo (£2.99), Apple Books, Barnes and Noble. Full story: https://bit.ly/4eBHHLN