THE MAGAZINE FOR NHS LOTHIAN STAFFWWW.NHSLOTHIAN.SCOT.NHS.UK

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

LINDA McDonald set up charity,

Malawi Underprivileged Mothers

(MUMs), in 2005 and started

selling recipe books to raise funds

to improve maternity care at a

government-run hospital in the

country’s capital Lilongwe.

She’s since raised £600,000,

vital funds which have helped

build a new high-risk maternity

wing, provide six feeding stations

which cater for more than 600

pre-school children every day

and contributes to a programme

helping prevent mothers

transmitting HIV infection to

their children.

Linda received her OBE from

Princess Anne at a ceremony at

Buckingham Palace in October,

where she was joined by her

husband Iain and daughters Katie,

30, and Sally, 26.

Linda said: “It was a wonderful

experience going to Buckingham

Palace. The ceremony was held in

the main ballroom and there were

around 250 people there. Princess

Anne was lovely and spent time

talking to everyone. She asked me

a lot of questions about my work

in Malawi.”

Midwife awarded well-deserved OBEA Simpson’s midwife who has worked tirelessly to improve conditions for mothers and babies in Malawi has been awarded an OBE.

A message from our Chief Executive“I am overwhelmed by the recent

successes of our staff members,

teams and services as highlighted

in this issue of Connections.

“An outstanding number of our

staff have received awards and

accolades and I commend each and

every one of you for your hard work,

skill and dedication.

“NHS Lothian currently meets

the needs of approximately 850,000

people across Lothian and we could

not provide the services we do

without staff like you.

“The projects and activities

of staff highlighted really typify

excellent high quality, safe and

patient-centred care, which we strive

to achieve across the organisation.”

Tim Davison

e

”

INSIDE Awards: Staff success at Scottish Health Awards Spirit of Christmas: Staff prepare

for Xmas Behind the scenes: A star in our midst! Competition: Luxury hotel stay

Linda and her husband Iain

Tim DavisonChief Executive

Rising Star CONGRATULATIONS to Faisal

Ahmed, domestic assistant at

the Western General Hospital

who was the worthy winner of

the Rising Star Award at the

Princes Trust Scotland Celebrate

Success Awards in November.

News News

Staff success at Scottish Health Awards Fitting accolade for exercise initiative

THE ‘Fit for Life’ programme has been hugely successful this year scooping awards in both the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland Awards as well as the ‘Community Support’ category at the Scottish Dementia Awards.

COMMUNITY Mental Health

Physiotherapist, Jackie Hodge,

set up the exercise initiative ‘Fit

for Life’ fi ve years ago to provide

support for older people living

with a mental health condition.

As well as encouraging social

participation and helping to build

self-confi dence, the programme

helps participants with dementia,

depression or anxiety, to stay

active, improve their balance and

aims to reduce the risk of falling.

Outcome measures have

shown that the classes helped

improve the balance of 73 per

cent of participants and 90 per

cent requested referrals on to a

mainstream group after

completing the 12-week-block.

Running weekly throughout

the year, the free ‘Fit for Life’

classes are supported by

volunteers, some of whom have

themselves experienced mental

ill-health.

Jackie said: “It’s a simple idea

but really works. We’ve had

amazing feedback and results,

and have never had anyone leave

because they didn’t enjoy it.”

Meet some of the class

participants and see the class

in action in this short fi lm:

https://vimeo.com/127169130

ARBD Unit scoops Innovation AwardTHE Edinburgh Alcohol Related

Brain Damage (ARBD) Team

were worthy winners of the

Innovation Award as well as

winning two categories of the

poster competition at the

Public Health Conference.

The team has worked

tirelessly to fi nd a solution

to provide a safe and home-

like environment for patients

with ARBD and the service at

Milestone House does exactly

that. Congratulations!

BEAT Ambassadors are inspirational

CONGRATULATIONS to

the Scottish Beat Young

Ambassadors who won the

Volunteer Award.

The Young Ambassador

scheme has been hugely

benefi cial to many young people

and parents engaging with our

Child and Adolescent Mental

Health Service (CAMHS). Young

Ambassadors have become an

integral part of the parents’

support group within CAMHS,

providing positive messages

about recovery and practical

suggestions for family members

who have a son or daughter

experiencing an eating disorder

as well as supporting training

initiatives.

Following a successful

grant application to the Burdett

Trust, a BEAT transitions offi cer

is working within Lothian CAMHS

to develop the use of online

peer-based forms, buddy

systems and a national online

transitions training package

for staff. All the Young

Ambassadors are enthusiastic,

hard working and selfl ess in

giving up their personal time

to support patients with eating

disorders and this award is

incredibly well deserved.

Jennifer gets WISEJENNIFER Walsh-O’Donovan

was the worthy winner

of the Hero Award at the

annual Women into Science

and Engineering (WISE) Awards.

Jennifer was recognised

for her work as a Clinical

Scientist/Rehabilitation

Bioengineer in the Southeast

Mobility and Rehabilitation

Technology (SMART) Centre

in Edinburgh. In SMART,

Jennifer works in the

wheelchair and special seating

service where she designs

customised solutions for

people who require additional

postural support.

Jennifer also works in

the gait analysis laboratory

where she analyses patients’

gait to guide their treatment.

The annual awards

celebrate the work of

individuals and organisations

who are leading the way for

women in science, technology,

engineering and maths.

THE Chronic Obstructive

Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Integrated Services Project team

are having a hugely successful year!

The team won the Care for

Long-Term Illness Award at the

Scottish Health Awards as well as

winning the poster competitions

at both the National Respiratory

Managed Clinical Network

Conference and the Institute

of Healthcare Management

Scotland Conference.

The project team set up a new

community-based respiratory

hub that integrates primary and

secondary care, out of hours and

emergency services. The team

fi rmly believes “wherever and

whenever the patient should

have the best service” and has

worked hard to ensure patients

are cared for in a consistent way

throughout Edinburgh day and night.

The hub is patient-centered

and aims to manage more COPD

exacerbations at home, empowering

patients to confi dently self-manage

their condition and to reduce

unnecessary hospital admissions.

Since April 2013, the project

has successfully reduced 1549

respiratory hospital bed days

in Edinburgh.

2 3

Hat trick for Community Respiratory Hub

Congratulations to all of our fi nalists – Jill Casey, a Clinical Support Worker at RHSC; the Substance Misuse Directorate Volunteer Team and Lyndsey Stewart and Louise Dalgleish both staff nurses in the Special Care Baby Unit at St John’s Hospital.

David Farquharson, Medical Director: “Protecting

ourselves and our patients from flu is vitally important.

With the exception of last year, the vaccines have generally

closely matched the influenza A viruses circulating during

the flu season. Being immunised is the best protection

we have against an unpredictable virus that can cause

severe illness.”

Staff Nurses

Stephanie Lyall and

Lucy Dumayne will be

making sure ward 11 at the

Western General Hospital

looks as nice as possible for

those patients staying with

us over Christmas.

The FACE (Fighting Against

Cancer Edinburgh) Christmas

Fair will be held at the

Western General Hospital

on Saturday 5 December

from 11am until 3pm.

Iain Telfer, Chaplain, Royal Infirmary

of Edinburgh said “One

of the wonderful things

about Christmas in the

hospital is the way staff

support patients and

their families going through

really tough times, when

all around are the happy

sounds of Christmas. In

the Sanctuary, we set

up a ‘tree of hope’ and

ask people to take a

moment to write a thought

for someone else on a

snowflake card to hang

on the tree. When it’s lit,

it looks lovely and, what

people write is very moving.”

Robert Thomson, a Pharmacist at the Royal

Edinburgh Hospital, gets

stocked up! Don’t forget

to collect and stock up

your repeat prescriptions

and general medicines in

plenty of time before the

festive period.

Mr. Gabriel Oniscu, Consultant Transplant

Surgeon, said: “We’re

looking forward to the

New Year – we are likely

to perform 50 living donor

kidney transplants in 2016.”

Pre-hospital care

team Medic One have

recently purchased new kit

bags containing state of the

art equipment which will aid

them over Christmas and New

Year as they respond

to emergency incidents.

The catering team

at St. John’s Hospital

are in for a busy festive

period. They’ll be serving

1200 Christmas dinners,

800 portions of Christmas

pud and making around

2500 mince pies!

The Lothian

Hospitals Choir

have been busy

rehearsing for their

Christmas Carol

Concert on 16

December which raises

money for children’s

cancer charity, CLIC

Sargent. Don’t’ miss

out hearing them in

full song! Tickets at:

www.usherhall.co.uk

The Gardeners

based at St. John’s

can travel hundreds

of miles over the

winter working

around-the-clock to

keep the hospital,

plus 16 health cen-

tres and five 24/7

care facilities across

West Lothian, gritted

and clear of snow.

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Jacqueline Reid, Senior

Charge Nurse, Respiratory Medicine,

RIE: “The festive period is a really

busy time for us, we always expect

an increase in admissions due to

the surge in respiratory viruses

over the winter months.”

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4 5

THE Lithotripsy Radiography team at the Western General Hospital

has won Scottish Team of the

Year from the Society and College

of Radiographers. The award

recognises the team's work to

set up a service for patients with

conditions such as kidney and

renal tract stones.

The team was nominated by

Carol Ann Stephenson, Specialist

Radiographer, who said:

“The radiography team has

over 100 years of experience

and due to the dedication of

radiographers, nurses and

other supporting medical

staff, the centre is now

recognised as an international

centre of excellence. The award

is validation of the dedication,

had work and achievement

of the team in providing a

fi rst-class service to patients

and clinicians throughout

Scotland.”

COMPLIMENTS all-round for the Complementary

Therapy Service (CTS) at the Western General

Hospital. The team were recently recognised for the

support they provide to patients on Ward 1.

Jamie Crisp was so grateful for the care the

service provides for his wife, Lynn, that he decided

to take part in the demanding Iron Man challenge on

the island of Arran to raise money for the service.

Lynn has been attending Ward 1 for several years

and has found the gentle, soothing touch of the

massage to be relaxing and supportive, helping her

cope with long hours of treatment.

The event involved an open water swim, a 56 mile

cycle as well as running a marathon. Jamie completed

the full challenge and raised an amazing £5,700 for CTS.

The CTS team are extremely grateful to them

both for such a fantastic donation which will assist

greatly toward the continuation of the service which

entirely relies on charitable funding and donations.

News News

LUBNA Kerr is a part-

time clinical Pharmacist

based at St John’s

Hospital, she also runs

three cardiovascular

risk clinics as well as

having set up a charity

called Centre of Health

and Wellbeing. As well

as all of this, Lubna

has a very glamorous

profession outside NHS

Lothian and she took

some time out of her

busy schedule to tell

us all about it…

Lubna, we hear you

have a very interesting

life outside of NHS

Lothian, can you tell us

a bit about it?

“Yes, I retrained as

an actor three years

ago and I now juggle

my job here with acting

and stand up comedy.

I also enjoy writing and

got to the fi nal of a

competition run by the

Scottish Mental Health

Foundation.

“Most recently I

was in Scot Squad

on BBC1. Before that

I played Mina in Still

Game which involved

21 shows at the Hydro

in Glasgow. Some of

my colleagues came

to see the show but I

had to keep my role a

secret until afterwards

– luckily my character

wore a mask and had

a different accent so

they didn’t realise it

was me!”

What do you enjoy

about acting and stand

up comedy?

“It’s great to be able

to play lots of different

characters and I

absolutely love making

people laugh. Despite

being a pharmacist,

I truly believe that

laughter is the best

medicine!

“It’s the most

amazing career change

and I’m proof that you

can do anything you

want if you set your

mind to it.”

Who is the most

famous person you’ve

worked with?

“I started off my

career as an extra and

I worked on the fi lm

World War Z with Brad

Pitt. I’ve also worked

with David Tennant as

well as being an extra

in the James Bond

movie Skyfall.

“My agent got me

an audition for the new

Bond fi lm, Spectre, but

unfortunately I wasn’t

successful – I’ll be

taking my voodoo doll

with me when I go

to see it!”

What would be your

ideal role?

“My dream is to play

in a period piece such

as Downton Abbey.

“I’d also quite like

to be the next female

villain in a Bond fi lm –

you never know, maybe

Barbara Brocolli will

read Connections and

give me a call!”

Leading the way in quality improvement Behind the Scenes

A star in our midst!

Prestigious award for Radiographers’

Iron Man on Arran

Innovation in eHealth

MATERNITY and neonatal

services at the Royal Infi rmary

of Edinburgh have been leading

the way on Being Open, a national

piece of work to improve

communication with patients and

families about adverse events.

Rhona Hughes, Clinical Director,

Obstetrics and Neonatal said:

“Our staff have worked

hard to develop and test a new

process, which has refi ned and

standardised practice so that all

women who experience a serious

adverse event receive information

about the review process, are

invited to identify questions for

the review to address and are

supported, by a key contact,

during the review.

“The project has improved

communication with community

health teams and other staff

involved in providing follow-up

care. Further support is also

provided to staff through rapid

debriefi ngs following an adverse

event.”

The innovative pilot will be

rolled out to maternity services

at St John’s Hospital in early 2016.

This is just one example of the

quality improvement work across

NHS Lothian. The Clinical Quality

Approach aims to build on existing

projects to create a whole

organisation approach to quality

improvement by delivering ‘high

quality, safe and person-centered

care at the most affordable cost’.

Find out more and get

involved, here.

THE Heart Manual Department

has won fi rst prize for Best

eHealth Innovation 2015 at

the Scotland eHealth Awards

for the digitising of the

Heart Manual.

This evaluated initiative

means that clinicians now have

a choice to use either the

Heart Manual in book or digital

format with patients and as

such, the resource has been

extremely well received in the

UK and further afi eld.

The initiative was partly

funded by Edinburgh and

Lothians Health Foundation.

For further information visit

www.theheartmanual.com

Some of the team from ward 211

6 7

Innovation in eHealth

Some of the team from ward 211

ore and get

Louise Taylor accepts fi rst prize from Eddie Turnbull

News Competition

Scottish Research Nurse of the Year!

Chance to win an overnight stay at Lochside Hotel and Spa

Andrea’s Postgrad Prize

WELL done to Judy Coyle,

Lead Research Nurse with

Emergency Medicine Research

Group Edinburgh (EMERGE)

who was awarded Scottish

Research Nurse of the Year

2015 at the Scottish Research

Nurse and Co-ordinators

Network annual conference.

EMERGE is based in the

Emergency Department at the

Royal Infi rmary of Edinburgh.

CONGRATULATIONS to Andrea

Taylor who recently won the

Postgraduate Prize at the

Queen’s Nursing Institute

Scotland (QNIS) Awards for

her work while studying at the

University of Edinburgh.

Andrea, a community midwife,

focused her study around

supervision, midwifery leadership

and person-centred midwifery

and her article has since been

published in the British Journal

of Midwifery.

She said “I’m thrilled and really

hope my article will stimulate

debate. As part of my prize I was

invited to attend the QNIS Annual

Conference where I found the

discussions and presentations in

regard to nursing and specifi cally

community nursing extremely

contemporary and innovative.”

You can read Andrea’s blog

about winning the prize here.

THE Lochside Hotel and Spa are offering one lucky

reader the chance to win an overnight stay for two

in an executive bedroom inclusive of a two-course

dinner, full Scottish breakfast, one hour use of their

thermal suite as well as a welcome Spa gift in the

room on arrival.

Set within 20 acres of land, overlooking The Loch

of the Lowes and with the nearby Creoch in sight,

The Lochside House Hotel boasts magnifi cent views

of the surrounding Ayrshire countryside.

As well as the prize, the Lochside House Hotel

and spa offers exclusive discounts to NHS staff

including 30 per cent off accommodation, afternoon

tea for two for £15 and an exclusive saving on their

luxurious Spa Days.

To fi nd out more about the latest offers

available to you at The Lochside House Hotel visit

www.nhsstaffbenefi ts.co.uk

To be in with a chance of winning this fantastic

prize, simply answer the following question: How

many Christmas dinners will St John’s Hospital’s

catering team make this year?

Prize sourced by NHS Staff Benefi ts. Email

your answer, name and phone number to

Lothian.communications@nhs.net or send to

Communications Department, NHS Lothian,

Waverley Gate, 2-4 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh,

EH1 3EG by Friday 1 January 2016.

NHS Staff Benefi ts have recently

launched their new website,

making it easier than ever for

NHS Lothian staff to access

discounts from a variety of

businesses.

To familiarise staff with the

new look, the team from NHS

Staff Benefi ts will be visiting

hospitals across Lothian in the

coming months to answer your

questions about benefi ts that

are available to you. Keep your

eyes peeled on the intranet for

a roadshow near you.

Just in time for the launch,

some new companies have

signed up to give discounts

to NHS staff including People’s

Ford, Chisholm Hunter and a

selection of other local

businesses in addition to the

already large range of offers

that are already available.

You can visit the new

website at:

www.nhsstaffbenefi ts.co.uk

WELL done to the NHS Lothian

team of runners who took on the

Motor Neurone Disease Scotland

5km Fun Run in September.

The team raised a total

of £1,380 for Motor Neurone

Disease Scotland in recognition

of the contribution of recently

retired NHS Lothian non-executive

Board Member, Robert Wilson,

who has MND.

MND Fun Run

STAFF nurses, Laura

Bentley and Gillian Weir, have

raised over £2000 for the

Complementary Therapy Service

at the oncology day unit at St

John’s Hospital.

Laura and Gillian went the

extra mile and organised a

Halloween-themed event at

Uphall Golf Club with a raffl e,

an auction and lots of dancing!

The Complementary Therapy

Service at the unit is run

entirely on generous donations

and this was a fantastic effort

which is gratefully appreciated

by all of the team.

Dedicated Donation

New NHS Staff Benefi ts website

If you have a story for a future

issue or for advertising enquiries,

please call 0131 465 5645 or

email sianmackenzie@nhs.net

THE WINNER OF LAST MONTH’S PRIZE OF A FAMILY MEMBERSHIP AT DAVID

LLOYD IS REBECCA GATES, ADDICTIONS NURSE, HMP EDINBURGH

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