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A sensory room has opened to support younger patients at New Cross Hospital following a £20,000 donation from ex-Goodyear workers. The brightly-painted facility, which cost £20,638 and is on the Children’s Ward, A21, includes two mobile sensory trolleys, a soft play area, large reclining seats, and an infinity mirror and was funded by The 5/344 Transport and General Workers Union Benevolent Charity.

A dedicated one-stop eye service for cataract patients has opened today at Cannock Chase Hospital, trebling the number of those patients able to be seen. Cannock Eye Centre can now treat 50-55 patients per week, as opposed to 16-18 before the COVID-19 pandemic, after investment in additional Ophthalmology workforce, Consultants, Theatre Nurses and Healthcare Support Workers.

A Coronation Street star pulled in the punters to help a serial fundraiser donate £2,520 to Wolverhampton’s Diabetes Centre. Andrew Whyment, who plays Kirk Sutherland in the long-running ITV soap, was the star guest for Mckala Harrold’s latest annual fundraiser for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Charity. Actor Andrew, 41, appeared at Gilbert’s Bar in Willenhall with locals paying £10 a ticket to see him.

Tributes have been paid to a fun-loving and driven Wolverhampton nurse who has died after developing cancer. Kimberley Murphy, Senior Sister on Ward 2 at West Park Hospital, died of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma bile duct cancer, which forms inside the liver and spread to several areas of her body. The 41-year-old mum of two underwent chemotherapy quickly after being diagnosed in March 2022, but the disease spread aggressively and she passed away at Compton Care on 4 January.

Wolverhampton women are being urged to attend potentially life-saving smear tests. The NHS is calling on those who have not had their tests to book their cervical screening appointments, as around 27 per cent of women are not up to date. Sandeep Gosal, Gynae-oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said: “Attending regular cervical screening appointments when you are called is the best way to identify abnormal changes in the cells of the cervix at an early stage.

A new scheme has been launched to recruit experienced nurses to mentor newly-qualified peers at two Black Country NHS Trusts. Nine current or retired nurses are being sought for the part-time roles for a three-month pilot, with six invited to work at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and three at partners Walsall Healthcare. Legacy mentors are experienced nurses, or colleagues in other regulated professions, usually in the later stages of their careers, who provide coaching, mentoring and pastoral support to nursing recruits at the start of their careers.

Wolverhampton mums are among the keenest in the UK to support first-time parents to feed their babies – and that’s official! The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) was awarded top recruiter in 2022 from the University of Birmingham’s ABA-feed nationwide study. The study, which is open at 15 sites across the UK, aims to find out how best to support first-time mums to feed their baby.

A bouncing baby boy born at New Cross Hospital to a Wolves-mad couple has netted a claim to being the club’s youngest fan. Almost as soon as Bobbi Berry arrived, weighing 8lbs 9oz on Tuesday, 10 January, the tot was decked out in Wolves’ famous gold and black colours from head to toe. And it’s not surprising, for parents Jake Berry, 29, and partner Zoe Bradnock, 30, are Molineux fanatics. The couple, who live just a few goal kicks away from New Cross in East Park, attend home games in the Steve Bull Stand upper tier, seated in section J10.

An accountant is hoping he gets his figures right as he attempts to raise £4,000 for charity by climbing more than 17,500 feet over 80 miles to honour his tragic brother. Alex Howes, who works for Clinical Research Network West Midlands, hosted by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, is trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp next month. He is raising money for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Charity and the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Cytologists have performed their one millionth HPV Cervical Screening test within Black Country Pathology Services (BCPS). The team at the hub, based at New Cross Hospital, has also provided the joint second-best performance in the country. Ninety-two per cent of all samples taken have made the national standard of 14-day turnaround time - from the sample being taken to the result reaching the patient by post.

A retention drive to include mentoring support has been launched to encourage nurses to continue their careers at two Black Country NHS Trusts. Evidence has shown if nurses stay with The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and partners Walsall Healthcare for one year, they’re likely to double their stay, and if they stay for two years, they’re more likely to stay for half a decade. Several ways are being used to achieve this through an initiative called Supervision Together all Year (STaY).

A team that supports Wolverhampton patients to access the help they need to avoid hospital admission and remain at home has now become a 24-hour service. The Care Co-ordination Team, run by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, started its round the clock response on Monday 9 January and staff say they are “proud” to be improving people’s access to Adult Community Services Staff process referrals - which come from Paramedics. GPs, Social Care and patients themselves - to ensure people are assessed by the right service at the right time.

An Ambulance Receiving Centre (ARC) has opened at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital, improving the experience of hundreds of patients each week and allowing paramedics to get back on the road sooner. The ARC provides an additional 17 ambulance offload spaces, as well as additional staff to support with handovers as part of OneWolverhampton Partnership’s plans to ease pressures on the Emergency Department (ED) over winter.

Have you or a loved one received outstanding care in hospital or in the community? If so, why not nominate staff at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust for a special award? Patients can now nominate healthcare staff for a special honour as part of an awards ceremony in Wolverhampton. The Patient’s Choice Award is for an individual or team who consistently shows compassion and kindness in the care they provide.

As this is my first blog of 2023, I wish you all a belated happy new year! I hope you managed to spend some time with loved ones and have managed to recharge your batteries. A new year is always a time for new starts and I’m pleased to report senior nurses across The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust are now all wearing the same uniforms. These will be worn by myself, Debra Hickman and Lisa Carroll, Directors of Nursing, and Cath Wilson, Martina Morris, Caroline Whyte and Christian Ward, our Deputy Directors of Nursing.

Foodbanks have opened at two Black Country hospitals as part of a package to support healthcare staff coping with the cost of living crisis. Free hot drinks and free bread for toast or a cereal bar are also being offered to all 16,000 staff across both The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and partners Walsall Healthcare, as well as a subsidised hot meal for £1.50 each. The Staff Wellbeing Hub at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital and the Manor Lounge at Walsall Manor Hospital include a small food and essential items shop.

As you might be aware, we have been offering controlled Inpatient Visiting from 2022. From Monday 9 January, we will be offering visitors the opportunity to visit patients in two of our emergency pathways wards – Acute Medical Unit (AMU) and Surgical Emergency Unit (SEU). Each ward will be permitting one visitor per patient per day at either of the following times: Surgical Emergency Unit (between 2pm-3pm and 3.15pm-4.15pm daily (two daily available visiting slots) and Acute Medical Unit (between 2-3pm and 3.15pm-4.15 pm daily (two daily available visiting slots).

World Radiography Day is an annual celebration marking the anniversary of the discovery of x-radiation in 1895. Radiographers worldwide are encouraged to use the day to promote radiography as a career, as a vital contribution to modern healthcare, and as an opportunity to increase public awareness of diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy. Recruitment, retention and upskilling of radiographers was a priority for Health Education England this year, with services encouraged to develop sustainable workforce models.

It was a New Year to remember for Nicola Rowe and her partner Dean Yates. As Big Ben chimed 12 and Auld Lang Syne echoed around the country, little Ivy Diane Yates made her entry into the world at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital. She was born at just one minute past 12, making her one of the first babies of 2023. Weighing 8lb 1oz, Ivy is the first baby for Nicola, 37, and Dean, 44, and they were overjoyed with her safe arrival. “It’s been a long couple of days,” said Nicola. “But she was worth the wait, and we are so happy, she is beautiful.”

A team from Wolverhampton has struck gold after being named one of the best healthcare ‘recruiters’ in the country. The NHS Futures Team – The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s work experience team based at New Cross Hospital – has been awarded the Health Education England (HEE) Work Experience Quality Standard Gold Award. The Trust is one of only three in the NHS to have gained this recognition, and it comes after the team recruited 78 people from 127 work experience placements offered in 2022, a 61.4 per cent success rate.