Latest News

Patients will receive treatment for skin problems quicker thanks to the launch of a new service across the Black Country. The new service, which is one of the largest Teledermatology projects in the NHS, has been launched and aims to triage patients within 24 hours, excluding weekends. Run by clinicians across the Black Country Provider Collaborative (BCPC) the new Teledermatology service allows patients to book a consultation through their GP and receive feedback from specialists.

More than 70 leaders from six provider NHS Trusts attended a key summit hosted by the Black Country AHP (Allied Health Professionals) Council at Himley Hall. The inaugural Black Country (AHP) Leadership Summit began with a networking opportunity where leaders had the chance to meet with provider colleagues, members of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and NHS England (NHSE) Midlands.

Two long-serving Wolverhampton Cardiac Rehabilitation colleagues will be at the heart of decision-making after being elected to national bodies in recognition of their work. Chris Scordis, Specialist Exercise Physiologist and Joint Lead for Cardiac Rehabilitation at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), has been elected as the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) representative for British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation Exercise Professionals Group (BACPR EPG).

Teams at New Cross Hospital are proud to be among a handful of Midland NHS Trusts to have met key safety actions as part of a national scheme supporting safer Maternity and Neonatal care. The Maternity Incentive Scheme rewards NHS Trusts that meet 10 safety actions, and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is one of only eight Trusts in the Midlands to have achieved the standards.

As regular readers of my blog will know, I love to celebrate our colleagues in the Nursing profession. This edition is no exception but nevertheless one which involves mixed emotions as we say farewell to one senior member of staff and welcome another in her place. I’m paying tribute to Carla Jones-Charles, Divisional Director of Midwifery, Gynaecology and Sexual Health at Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust.

Creative young people from the BAME community are being invited to play their part in an exciting arts and heritage project around Windrush following a grant secured through The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) Charity. The Charity supports the Arts and Heritage Group which has successfully bid for a grant of just under £9,000 from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities (DLUHC).

A team which looks after the needs of internationally-recruited Nurses in Wolverhampton has won a national award. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s Clinical Fellowship Programme (CFP) International Recruitment Pastoral Team has won the NHS’s Pastoral Care Quality Award for smoothing the transition for Nurses joining its CFP from abroad. Hundreds of Nurses, mostly from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and the Philippines, have enrolled on the CFP to work at New Cross Hospital and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust over the past year.

It was an afternoon of celebration, balloons and badges as staff were honoured at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s Long Service Awards. A total of 218 colleagues who have served a staggering 6,135 years in the NHS – but mostly at Wolverhampton – were recognised at the glitzy event, held at the city’s Grand Station.

An “extremely well-respected” Senior Pharmacist has dispensed with work after 37 years’ service at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. Debbie, 58, who lives in Bushbury, started at RWT in 1986 as a trainee Pharmacist and has held several positions at the Trust including Dispensary Manager, Procurement Pharmacist, Lead Surgical Pharmacist and most recently Senior Neurology Pharmacist.

An innovative Virtual Ward, which has supported hundreds of patients to avoid hospital admission and recover at home, has been hailed an “exemplar.” Sir David Nicholson KCB CBE and Lord Patrick Carter praised the work of Wolverhampton’s Community health services following a visit to its Wolverhampton Science Park headquarters. Sir David, who is joint Chair of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, and Lord Carter, Special Advisor to the RWT Board, were given a guided tour around the Virtual Ward.

“If it wasn’t for the Willow Suite and the amazing bereavement midwives, we would be in a totally different place today.” Bereaved couple Alicia and David Slann wanted to give something back to the “fabulous” members of staff who supported them following the loss of their baby son Coby. They have donated a coffee machine to The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s (RWT) Willow Suite which is a bereavement suite within the maternity ward at New Cross Hospital for parents.

Two “inspirational” Wolverhampton District Nurses (DNs) were honoured with awards at a special ceremony to mark International Nurses Day. Adult Community Services decided to mark the occasion by rewarding staff for their efforts and Lauren Mason, District Nursing Sister, was voted most inspirational Nurse, while Sue Houghton, Community Practice Education Facilitator, was recognised as its longest-serving Nurse.

I am pleased to celebrate International Nurses Day; it is an occasion where we can celebrate globally the fabulous contribution that nurses make to our society. The theme this year is focusing on a brighter future of nursing and how the profession can help improve global health for all. The nursing family are central to health and social care in many countries; there is a diversity of roles and careers that support local communities.

To commemorate the birthday of Florence Nightingale, NHS Trusts across the country are busy celebrating nurses and their contributions towards high-quality patient care and treatment. The annual campaign, which takes place on 12 May each year, comes with its own special theme - the message for 2023 is: “Our Nurses. Our Future”. And staff at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) thought the best way to embrace this year’s theme would be to inspire the next generation.

Compton Care has been spreading the word at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) this week to get people talking about death, dying and grief in the workplace. This is part of Dying Matters Awareness Week (8-14 May), a national campaign to open up conversations around death and dying, which is focusing on starting that conversation at work this year.

After enjoying a seat just a few rows underneath the Royal box and seeing a host of celebrities at Sunday’s Coronation Concert, Consultant Radiographer Jo Weekes is “just about coming back down to earth” back at work at New Cross Hospital. Jo says her musical highlight was Take That but the most magical memory of the day was seeing the Royal family. “To see them up dancing and enjoying themselves like anybody else was the most amazing sight,” she said.

Maternity and Neonatal colleagues at New Cross Hospital greeted a new arrival – their first staff celebration of Eid-al-Fitr. Around 40 colleagues from several departments including Housekeeping, Support Workers, the Safeguarding Team and the Research Team, along with Specialist Midwives, joined Maternity and Neonatal staff in the Maternity basement to tuck into Asian food, fruit and sweet treats. Eid al-Fitr, or Eid, marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, when many Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset each day.

A "dedicated and inspirational" manager of Community District Nurses in Wolverhampton has won a prestigious award for her leadership and adapting her service to change. Hayley Law, Service Delivery Manager – Planned Care Adult Community based at Wolverhampton Science Park in Bushbury, has won the Nell Phoenix Charitable Arts Fund Award. Nell Phoenix was a patient who received excellent care at the old Royal Hospital in Wolverhampton in 1968 and generously left a sum of money in her will to set up a fund for the nurses of Wolverhampton to enjoy the arts.

Patients joined in the coronation celebrations by adding their own Royal seal of approval at Cannock Chase Hospital. Fairoak Ward, which looks after stroke and elderly patients, was decked out fit for a King after patients and staff put out the bunting to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III and the Queen Consort. Patients made their own red, white and blue hats, as well as contributing to a giant piece of artwork on display commemorating the King.

Radiographer Jo Weekes is all ready for a right Royal weekend as she takes her place at the Coronation Concert at Windsor Castle this Sunday. The star-studded event is part of a weekend of celebrations to commemorate the coronation of The King and Queen Consort. Jo, who has worked at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust for six years, was thrilled to receive notification she had been selected through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

It was an event fit for a King as dozens of “incredible” volunteers were recognised and serenaded at New Cross Hospital as part of the coronation celebrations. More than 50 volunteers at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) attended a celebration and recruitment event in the marquee outside Emergency Department, organised by The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Charity and supported by the Trust’s Patient Experience Team.

Specialist Midwives across the Black Country have been working on a host of initiatives to make Maternity Services more equitable and inclusive – including staff sessions to highlight and support communities’ cultural needs. Four Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Midwives work across the Black Country Local Maternity and Neonatal System (BCLMNS) covering the four places of the Black Country, namely Sandwell, Walsall, Dudley and Wolverhampton.

Seven Maternity Support Workers (MSWs) are set to make history at New Cross Hospital after being appointed as Apprentice Midwives. The MSWs at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) – all women – will start the same BMid degree courses as student Midwives at the University of Wolverhampton in September to kickstart three years of study through their apprenticeships.

Tettenhall Road Medical Practice, based in Wolverhampton, has become the latest GP practice to join The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s (RWT) Primary Care Network (PCN). The Trust’s PCN offers GPs and their staff the opportunity to become part of a large acute and community provider to truly integrate patient care. By investing in GP practices, the Trust can contribute to redesigning services, improving the health and wellbeing of the local population.

Midwives across the Black Country, who make a daily difference to families’ lives, are being thanked and celebrated today. On International Day of the Midwife (IDM), the Black Country Local Maternity and Neonatal System (BCLMNS) is acknowledging their “fantastic efforts” across the region. The theme for this year’s IDM is: Together again: from evidence to reality'.

Here at RWT we are proud to celebrate this year’s International Day of the Midwife (5 May) – it is a special day where colleagues in the midwifery community come together to reflect on the successes, and the challenges, of the last year. Firstly, we’d like to say ‘Thank You’ to all our Midwives and Maternity Support Workers here at our Trust. Both our patients and colleagues are grateful for your efforts.

This week I am pleased to promote the Quality and Safety Enabling Strategy which defines how we will strive to excel in the delivery of care – one of the four strategic aims of the joint Trusts’ Strategy. Its development was led by Martina Morris, Deputy Director of Nursing, and it is the first joint strategy for The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust (WHT).