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An award-winning Nurse who is “the loveliest person and kindest friend you could ever wish for” has retired after 42 years working with the NHS in Wolverhampton. Elayne Healey, 60, Nurse Practitioner at the Urgent Treatment Centre at the Phoenix Health Centre in Parkfields, has brought down the curtain on more than four decades’ service at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

A Wolverhampton-based clinician will be shaping the future of Speech and Language Therapists working in Critical Care after joining a national panel. Becky Edwards, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) in Critical Care at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), has been successfully appointed onto the NHS Elect Clinical Advisory Panel for Allied Health Professionals to develop capability frameworks for SLTs working in Critical Care.

Cytology champions at Black Country Pathology Services (BCPS) have achieved the best turnaround times for cervical screening results in the country – an “outstanding” achievement for a department that has had to adapt to significant change over the last few years. Cervical screening changed in 2019 to become a Primary HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) test. A huge centralisation of cervical screening services led to more than 50 laboratories bidding for just nine lots across England.

Shaped by contributions from over 700 Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors, the Quality Framework (QF) 2023-25 went live in April this year. Underpinned by six pillars – Excellence in Care, Workforce, Culture, Education, Communication and Research and Innovation – it represents our shared vision for continuous improvement with the aim of providing safe, effective and high-quality care for all patients at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust (WHT).

Funding of up to £5,000 is now available for community groups to offer activities to reduce isolation and loneliness among vulnerable Wolverhampton residents, thanks to a joint charity and volunteer initiative. Earlier this year, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) Charity, in partnership with Wolverhampton Voluntary and Community Action (WVCA), was awarded £220,000 from NHS Charities Together for a project Holistic Opportunities Preventing Exclusion (HOPE).

A grateful patient has donated £5,000 to the Heart and Lung Centre at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital after being given “a new lease of life”. Ashok Puri, 67, from Cradley Heath, underwent a quadruple heart bypass operation in January 2023 after being referred by City Hospital in Sandwell when he suffered chest pains. He was in hospital for six days before being completely discharged in April 2023.

A dedicated and hugely popular senior Pharmacist who has worked for the NHS for more than four decades is finally dispensing with work to enjoy a well-earned retirement. Kamini Gandhi, Medicines Management Pharmacist, has been in the Prescribing Support Team (PST) at The Royal Wolverhampton Trust (RWT) for nearly 20 years and before that worked in Pharmacy department at New Cross hospital for 20 years.

OneWolverhampton Place Based Partnerships and Walsall Together are delighted to welcome Stephanie Cartwright as the new Group Director of Place. Starting her career as an apprentice in the NHS, Stephanie now has more than 30 years’ experience, and brings with her a wealth of knowledge in a wide range of areas including development of organisational strategies, people and stakeholder management and leadership. 

An internationally acclaimed clinician has gone into print after writing a book on epilepsy which he hopes will become a worldwide resource. Phil Tittensor, Consultant Nurse for Epilepsies at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), has written the 205-page paperback called ‘Fast Facts: Epilepsy in Adults’ with co-authors Sheila Shepley and Professor Martin Brodie.

A hiking healthcare professional is taking on a triple mountainous challenge hoping to raise £500 for charity. Andrea Campbell Jackson, Service Support Manager – Virtual Ward and Hospital at Home – Adult Community at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), is aiming to complete the Three Peaks Challenge later this month. The mum of one, 41, is trying to scale – and descend – the tallest mountains of each country in mainland UK, including travelling between each of them, within 24 hours.

After being diagnosed with sickle cell disease when he was just 17 months old, Aaron Farnell is determined not to let the condition take over his life. The 24-year-old is currently trying a new medication, while being treated at New Cross Hospital, and is hoping it eases his pain. People with sickle cell disease produce crescent-shaped red blood cells that block blood flow. Symptoms, which often have to be managed as life-long complications, include painful episodes, increased infections and anaemia.

It’s the size of a double-decker bus, incinerates 38 tonnes of waste a week which heats a hospital and saves £200,000 a year. The incinerator at New Cross Hospital certainly earns its keep. It burns all clinical waste – anything medical and/or that has come into contact with a patient. All hazardous and clinical waste generated by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Hospital Trust is incinerated and the steam produced is used to heat the site.

An “excellent, tenacious” Nursing Associate (NA) who has helped change two healthcare policies and Wolverhampton’s Primary Care Network (PCN) have both been shortlisted for national awards. Sian Farrington, 30, NA at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), is vying for the Ann Shuttleworth Rising Star Award at the Nursing Times Awards 2023 - 2023 shortlist, while RWT’s PCN is a finalist for the Nursing in Primary Care honour.

New drop-in sessions are launching in Wolverhampton and Bilston later this month to enable young people to talk to a health professional during the summer holidays. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust's School Nursing Service is hosting drop-in sessions for the first time during the long break - at WV Active Bilston-Bert Williams and the Mander Centre Health Hub. These sessions will enable young people aged from 11 to 19 to access support whilst off school.

A study day to raise awareness of birth trauma, how it may be prevented and how parents and staff can be well supported in the aftermath is being run across two Black Country Trusts. Tracy Denmade is a Patient Experience Midwife with Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and she has organised the session to run jointly with The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust In Walsall, Tracy, who is a Birth Trauma Resolution Practitioner, set up a Birth Reflections Service for women and their birth partners and has been listening to their experiences, pledging to act upon the feedback.

More than 30 families and parents-to-be attended an event in Wolverhampton to celebrate and raise awareness of breastfeeding. The event, at The Hub in Ashmore Park and organised by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), showcased free support services and activities available for mums in the city. It also offered ‘have-a-go’ taster activities and fun crafts which families engaged with on the day.

More than 400 children and young people have been supported to receive care from the comfort of their own homes in the first year of a Paediatric Virtual Ward being set up through The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT). The virtual ward means that children are monitored at home using app technology and appropriate devices and there are six care pathways covering: Respiratory, Intravenous antibiotics, Awaiting diagnosis, Extended observations, Bronchiolitis.

Images showing a range of past and present hospital scenes – including young patients playing on an outdoor balcony on the Children’s Ward in years gone by compared to the bright sensory room found there today – are featured in a calendar produced by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) Charity. The Charity has worked with the Arts and Heritage Group to produce the 18-month calendar which fittingly starts from July 2023, the month that the NHS celebrates its 75th birthday, and goes through to December 2024.

From improving air quality to reducing dental anxiety and saving energy and paper through online pre-op assessments, the first joint Quality Improvement (QI) event for two Black Country NHS Trusts showcased innovation in healthcare at its best. More than 200 staff from The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust attended the event at GTG Wolverhampton in Wednesfield, featuring more than 80 posters displaying staff initiatives, with the on-line poster gallery attracting more than 600 votes.

A Wolves shirt is being raffled off by a pub in the hope of raising £1,000 for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) Charity as part of the NHS’s 75th birthday celebrations. Signed by the first-team squad, the jersey has been generously donated by The New Pheasant pub in Wednesfield, which is just a few goal kicks away from New Cross Hospital where the charity is based. Complete with a certificate of authenticity, the shirt was given to the pub by Wednesfield Taxis, a company that chauffeurs Wolves staff and sponsors the Molineux club.

Compassionate, inspirational and entertaining staff across Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital made today’s 75th birthday of the NHS one to remember. From a Porter’s magic tricks, to the Head of Nursing’s passion for her role and some clinical research highlights – today’s contributions also formed part of BBC Radio WM’s breakfast and morning shows. 

Baby Jeremiah’s arrival at New Cross Hospital today was extra special as he arrived on the NHS’s 75th birthday. Vicky Krutinova, 29, and Lukas Krutina, 29, who live in Perton, were thrilled to welcome their second child into the world at 5.23am today. Their new bundle of joy was 11 days overdue, and the couple are ‘overjoyed’ that he now shares a special birthday with the service that welcomed him into the world.

A Wolverhampton healthcare worker whose brother was fatally stabbed is hoping to raise awareness with a birthday skydive to fund vital equipment to try to prevent others dying the same way. Martyne Johnson, Portering Supervisor at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, is the older sister of Tom Kirwan, 23, who lost his life after being knifed outside the former Uberra nightclub in Wolverhampton City Centre in 2012. No one has been convicted of Tom’s death and there remains a £20,000 reward for information leading to a successful conviction.

A roundabout near Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital has had a makeover to celebrate the NHS’s 75th birthday – thanks to a generous-spirited pub landlord. Wayne Parkes, 59, licensee of The New Pheasant in Wednesfield with wife Janet, 51, has used his skills as a former builder to transform the traffic feature into a tribute to the NHS to mark the occasion on Wednesday, 5 July. He has created three feet high stand-up NHS 75 lettering in mdf, made a cake in the middle and displayed four banners saying ‘Happy Birthday NHS’.

Botox is now being used to treat certain bladder conditions as an outpatient service in Wolverhampton – and it will be the first such Nurse-led service in the Black Country. The treatment, which is being performed by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), is called Botox treatment for idiopathic overactive bladder or neurogenic over-active bladder disorders. It involves injecting Botox via flexible cystoscope under local anaesthetic (camera inspection of bladder).