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A childhood passion has seen a talented film-maker and NHS worker scoop three awards at a local festival. Video animator/graphic designer Matt Hubble took part in the Wolverhampton Film Festival and won in the following categories: Best Student Filmmaker, Best Animated Film and Best Film Overall. Matt has been working in his current role within Clinical Illustration at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust since December. His job entails helping the design team to produce various posters, documents and animations for the Trust.

‘Harvey’s Gang’ – an initiative to calm children’s fears about taking their blood to hospital to be analysed – has been launched by Black Country Pathology Services (BCPS). Samuel Lade, 15, of Wolverhampton, who has sickle cell anaemia and requires monthly blood transfusions, became the first patient in the Black Country to join Harvey’s Gang when he visited BCPS to have his blood analysed.

People living in the Whitmore Reans area are being invited to get a free health ‘MOT’ at a special community event taking place next week. The City of Wolverhampton Council and the Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group are holding a drop-in NHS Health Check Clinic at Newhampton Arts Centre from 3-8pm on Wednesday 8 June.

A highly successful method of testing staff for COVID-19 in the Black Country has been recognised with an international award. Black Country Pathology Services (BCPS) won the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) Congress 2022’s best in point of care award, at a ceremony at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, earning a £100 cheque.

Young patients attending New Cross Hospital can now receive a cuddle from their own teddy bear after a generous donation from the Freemasons. Teddies for Loving Care (TLC) started as a way of providing much-needed comfort to children in emergency departments, helping to reduce the shock and distress of their experience. The initiative is managed by Freemasons who also volunteer their time to run the scheme. Since its inception in 2001, more than three million teddies have been distributed to hospitals and organisations throughout England and Wales.

An additional visitor is now welcomed on to the postnatal wards at New Cross Hospital as COVID-19 restrictions continue to ease. Hour-long visiting slots will need to be booked via the online visiting form or by calling 01902 481868. Visitors will be encouraged to check with the inpatient if they feel well enough to receive a visitor. Siblings of baby will also be welcomed during the visit.

Patients can now have a partial knee replacement in a day thanks to a new procedure at Cannock Chase Hospital. The first operation was successfully carried out at Cannock and numerous patients are now benefitting from a new lease of life. Taking around an hour to complete, the procedure allows two thirds of the knee to be preserved while completely replacing the worn out part.

Appointed in 2020, I am the first Chief AHP at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT). The focus has been to create leadership responsibility for ensuring AHPs have a single point of visibility, accountable professional leadership across the Trust and strategic direction aligned to the Trust’s strategic objectives. The best part of my job is showcasing the fantastic work our AHPs do, ensuring their contribution is understood and fully recognised and that they are included in relevant Trust strategies.

NHS singers hit all the right notes after reaching the final of a singing competition – and are now chasing up to £1,000 in prize money. The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Staff Choir, The RWT Singers, has qualified for the final of the Midlands Choir of the Year competition. One of 16 choirs which appeared at The Hub, St Mary’s Church, an arts centre in Lichfield, the group wowed the three judges with its three songs to reach the final.

Two visitors will be welcomed to The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust's sites from this Wednesday 25 May, following on from the successful re-introduction of visiting earlier this year. Both visitors to New Cross Hospital will need to book a slot between 9am and 1pm on the day they wish to visit either made by telephoning 01902 481868 or via an online link on the Trust’s website.

“The trial has been a fantastic opportunity for me and signing up was the best thing I did”, is the glowing feedback from a patient currently taking part in an eye treatment research study in Wolverhampton. Judith Talbot is taking part in the TALON study, which aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a new investigational medicinal product for the treatment of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), with the objective to evaluate the potential to reduce treatment frequencies.

International Clinical Trials Day (20 May) is an opportunity for organisations to recognise the achievements and progress made by those conducting, or taking part in, clinical research. When a clinical trial is being considered at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, the Pharmacy Clinical Trials team is involved right from the beginning. Once the Trust has been selected to participate in a clinical trial the team will work with the Research and Development directorate to get everything ready and in place.

A first-time mum-to-be is one of the 60 participants who have signed up to a crucial study looking at preventing anaemia in pregnancy. Jess McArthur, a midwife at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, has seen the effects of anaemia in pregnancy first-hand so when she heard about the study she said she had no concerns signing up to help others. She said: “Being a midwife and now being pregnant I felt a professional and personal duty to help improve outcomes for other women.

“Fun, wacky, inspiring and innovative” are just some of the words used by her NHS colleagues to describe Alison Wells. Now they have another word to describe the hugely popular nursing mentor – retired – after bidding farewell to her in a specially-commissioned video. The Deputy Head of Nurse Education has called time on her time at New Cross Hospital after eight years at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and 35 years with the NHS.

“He was in a coma and had not been expected to live during the previous week. His wife was praying to him and we could hear his children running up and down and screaming in the background, as children do. During the call, a single tear ran down his cheek, then he died. Me, the ICCU sister and another nurse who were there with him at the end all just started to cry as well – it was extremely emotional.” These are the words of a theatre nurse, who was so struck by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic that he turned to poetry and has now had a first book published – with plans for three more.

A healthcare worker who was paralysed after developing a rare disorder and left unable to speak says she owes her recovery to the specialist care she received from her own colleagues at New Cross Hospital. Kerry Williams, an assistant stroke practitioner in the community at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, was admitted to New Cross on February 13th after feeling unwell. She was experiencing pins and needles down her left side and was struggling to walk.

NHS Blood and Transplant is appealing for people from Wolverhampton to donate at the new Birmingham plasma donor centre. Plasma is used to make immunoglobulin, a medicine used to treat many rare diseases in immunology, neurology, and more. Only around 25% of appointments at Birmingham plasma donor centre in New Street are being filled each day. NHS Blood and Transplant needs more people to start donating plasma, to build stocks.

Nurses at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust already know they’re a cut above the rest but now they definitely will be after a generous donation on International Nurses Day. Hair stylists Urban Coiffeur of Wednesfield have donated 400 cups of coffee and vouchers offering 20 per cent discount off any haircut and/or styling as a thank you to staff at the Trust.

More than 100 drawings and a special thank you banner created by talented schoolchildren have been given to Wolverhampton nurses as a special thank you on International Nurses’ Day. Pupils at the city’s Woden Primary School created the artwork for all nurses at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT). Children from all year groups took part and there drawings were handed over to Debra Hickman, Director of Nursing at RWT, on Tuesday.

He weighed less than a bag of sugar at birth but fast forward more than two decades and grateful Jeevan Kang has been back to New Cross Hospital’s Neonatal Unit to thank devoted staff for their care. Jeevan celebrated his 22nd birthday this week and, to celebrate International Nurses Day, donated a cake to the unit where he spent the formative weeks of his life after being born nine weeks premature.

This #InternationalNursesDay we want to shine the spotlight on Helen Boyce. Helen is Senior Matron for Haematology, Oncology and Specialist Palliative Care and has provided an outstanding service to the NHS for 38 years. She started her nursing career on August 1st 1984 at New Cross Hospital in the Wolverhampton School of Nursing - now Building 12, qualifying as a Registered General Nurse in 1987.

I want to wish every nurse at both The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust a happy International Nurses’ Day. The International Council of Nurses’ theme for this year’s Nurses’ Day is ‘Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in Nursing and respect rights to secure global health’. Reflecting on the last two years, the importance of global healthcare and nursing leadership has never been more important.

A Wolverhampton nurse will be one of the lucky few to attend a special service to commemorate the life of Florence Nightingale. Sara Eacopo, Senior Sister in The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust’s Community Children’s Nursing Service, will travel down to London for the celebration which is being held at Westminster Abbey tomorrow (Wednesday, May 11) at 6.30pm. It is held annually by the Florence Nightingale Foundation, and celebrates nursing, midwifery and all staff working in these professions.

Two new specialist cubicles have been opened to treat children with cancer thanks to a hugely generous donation left in the will of a former patient who “wanted to make a difference.” The donation came from Michael Worrall who chose to donate the money through a gift in his will to The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust Charity. It was used to create two new cubicles on the children’s ward at New Cross Hospital - named The Worrall Suite.

A Virtual Ward in Wolverhampton has been praised for its ‘great’ innovation after showcasing its service to executives from NHS England and NHS Improvement. Executives from NHS England & NHS Improvement including Tim Ferris, National Director of Transformation and Dr Vin Diwakar, Regional Medical Director & CCIO (London region) were shown the facility at Wolverhampton Science Park.

A group of medics went on the run to raise almost £2,500 for equipment to help vulnerable children attending their department at Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital. Eight members of staff from A21 Paediatric Assessment Unit at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust joined more than 13,000 people in the Great Birmingham Run 2022, with seven running the 10k race and one completing the half marathon (13.1 miles).

Maternity staff have been given handy lanyard cards to help them better support diabetic mums-to-be at New Cross Hospital as well as enhance their knowledge. Consultant obstetrician Lucy Morse, Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN) Emily Cothey, DSN Gaynor Curtis and FY1 doctor Juan Ellauzi are all part of a specialist team that focuses on diabetes in pregnancy. They have launched lanyard cards for ‘management of Hypoglycaemia in maternity’ and ‘management of Ketonuria in pregnant diabetic women’.

“My mum gave her best to the NHS for 40 years of her life and in return the NHS gave her the best at the end of her life,” are the powerful words of grieving daughter Michelle Staples. This Dying Matters Awareness Week (2-6 May), we spoke to Michelle to find out how the District Nursing Team at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust helped to give her mum Marene Potts, who died in September 2021, aged 83, the best end of life possible.

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic patients with life-limiting conditions are being urged to access the range of care and support available for them through Wolverhampton’s Compton Care. Almost a third (31.5 per cent) of Wolverhampton’s population are Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic, yet just three per cent of the people who use Compton Care’s services identify as Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic.

A first-time mum will start training to be a midwife later this year after she was inspired by the outstanding care she received at New Cross Hospital. Holly Revill, from Cannock, gave birth to her daughter Nelly Wootton on February 24th last year and said her experience was ‘absolutely phenomenal’. The 25-year-old, who was previously a neonatal nurse, said because of the amazing midwives she encountered during her long labour she is returning to Wolverhampton University in September to train as a midwife.

“We are celebrating and thanking our midwives across the Black Country and West Birmingham on their special day today – but want them to know they are appreciated all year round.” Today is International Day of the Midwife and the Black Country and West Birmingham Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) will be showcasing those who make a difference to families across its communities.

Happy ‘International Day of the Midwife’ to all the wonderful and courageous midwives at both The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust! Naturally, I want this blog to focus on our midwifery services at both organisations, and, in observing the theme of ‘100 years of progress’, I want to focus on how those functions have developed over the years and in the future.

Here at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust 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. The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for staff and service-users in maternity and neonatal services, but we’ve been pleased to reintroduce second birth partners in recent weeks, meaning we can enable our mums to safely share the birthing experiences with two loved ones.

A determined nurse is taking on a mountain of a charity challenge as she aims to tackle Everest Base camp. Raising money for the Laura Hyde Foundation, Sukdeep Dhadda, TB Nurse Specialist at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, will hike for 11 days to reach Everest base camp at an altitude of 5,400 metres. She will be joined by Susan Ward and Ryan Williams on the climb, friends from school.

A physiotherapist from Wolverhampton’s New Cross Hospital has landed a key regional role which will help shape development, recruitment and strategy for years to come. Charlotte Xanthidis, Clinical Specialist Neonatal Physiotherapist in the Neonatal Unit, has been appointed as Lead Physiotherapist for the West Midlands Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (WMNODN).

“The support here is amazing. I love working in Neonates”, “I’ve learnt a lot and been supported all the way”, “It’s nice to be in a team that treats you like family” These are just some of the comments made by Neonatal staff who are urging others to come and join them at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and make a difference to local communities. A recruitment event is being held this weekend – Saturday, May 7 – for potential midwives, adult trained nurses, newly qualified nurses, paediatric nurses and international nurses to join New Cross Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used in a clinical trial at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT) to help to evaluate the benefit of colonoscopies, leading to earlier detection of bowel cancer. Wolverhampton is one of nine areas across the country running the COLO-DETECT study, which sees researchers using AI technology to improve polyp detection during colonoscopies, allowing doctors to detect signs of bowel cancer at its earliest stages, with the ultimate aim of saving lives.