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The newsletter for Trust members with an interest in heart and lung care
October 2022
Black History Month 2022
October 1st marked the start of Black History Month, an annual cultural event that aims to recognise and celebrate the histories, contributions and achievements of Black communities in the UK.
Black history has an important place within the NHS, dating back to its inception in 1948, the same year the HMT Empire Windrush arrived at the Port of Tilbury in London, bringing some 500 passengers from the Caribbean, many of whom came to work for the NHS and are part of NHS’s history.
The theme for this year’s Black History Month is ‘Time for change: action not words’, calling support from allies to tackle racism with action rather than words or gestures.
Luke Blair, executive sponsor of the BAME Network at Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield Hospital, said: “This is an important moment in the year for us all to recognise what more needs to be done, actively, to tackle racism and discrimination in all that we do, every day, at work, at home, in our communities, and among our colleagues.”
Among the different activities taking place at our hospitals to recognise the month, the following events are open to all, including patients and visitors:
Thursday 13 October, 8.30am - 5pm
Foyer, Royal Brompton Hospital
Brixton Round Table Books, an inclusion-led bookshop based in Brixton, London, celebrates underrepresented children’s books, writers and illustrators. They’ll be setting up a stall at our hospitals, giving you the chance to get your hands on specially curated books. Also setting up shop will be Afrikan Natural Konnection to Health (ANKH), who will be selling a range of products from the Black community.
Lung transplant patient given the chance to be spontaneous, active and enjoy the simple things in life again
Louis Knibbs, a 44-year-old father and partner from Silverstone, Northamptonshire, is revelling in the routine things in life again, something which would have been unthinkable three and a half years ago when he was put on the transplant list in desperate need of a double lung transplant. For Organ Donation Week, which took place 26th September – 2nd October, we spoke to Louis about his transplant journey, and what happened after he received a call from Harefield Hospital at 6am on New Year’s Day 2022, notifying him that a compatible donor set of lungs had become available.
Royal Brompton speech and language therapist recognised for work in pandemic
Clinical lead for adult speech and language therapy at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, Lee Bolton, has been recognised by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) for his work in developing risk guidelines for speech and language therapists working with patients during the pandemic.
Lee was awarded a prestigious RCSLT Honours Award for developing and implementing guidelines for speech and language therapists (SLTs) across the UK to limit their exposure to Covid-19 while working with their patients. SLTs were in a vulnerable position during the pandemic, frequently conducting assessments and procedures with their patients which produce airborne water droplets, which could contain Covid-19 viral particles.
Heart failure remission trial gets green light
A clinical trial which aims to determine whether patients with a previous diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) that is now in complete remission can have the number of drugs they are given reduced, has been awarded £250,000 by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
The study will be led by Dr Brian Halliday, consultant cardiologist at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals and clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College. He previously published results from another BHF-funded study which highlighted the need for lifelong medication for patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). The trial, known as TRED-HF, led to changes to guidelines for heart failure management and treatment in Europe and in the USA.
DCM is a disease of the heart muscle which makes the muscle walls become stretched and thin, causing them to weaken. This leads to the heart being unable to contract properly and pump blood to the rest of the body. It is one of the most common causes of heart failure in the UK, affecting up to 250,000 people.
Five south east London NHS trusts join forces to tackle long COVID
In a first-of-its-kind programme, five NHS trusts and their hospital charities have joined forces to make sure people from all communities that are living with long COVID can get the very best care.
The five hospital charities and NHS Charities Together will fund a flagship UK initiative that will harness the expertise of individual NHS trusts in south east London to develop a ‘gold standard’ of multi-disciplinary care. They are:
Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity
King’s College Hospital Charity
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust Charity
Maudsley Charity
Oxleas NHS Trust Charity
Long COVID is the name given to a variety of symptoms that persist after a person has recovered from COVID-19. The main symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath and brain fog.
To view Professor Nick Hart’s Long Covid presentation slides from his recent members’ webinar presentation, please click here.
Meet Alison Pottle, consultant nurse for cardiology
Alison Pottle has been the consultant nurse for cardiology at Harefield Hospital since 2000. She has set up a variety of nurse-led services and works to push the boundaries of what nurses do. Here’s what Alison shared in a recent interview with our Communications Team.
Can you describe what you do day-to-day?
Every day is different! I have worked at Harefield since 1987 but have been in my current post as consultant nurse for cardiology since June 2000. It was one of the first such posts in the country, so it has been a steep learning curve, and the job has developed hugely in the past 21 years.
My role is predominately patient-based; I work with a team of nurse specialists running various nurse-led services, including outpatient clinics, ward rounds, and the lipoprotein apheresis unit. My role is broad and can involve anything that the medical consultants, management, and I feel could positively affect the patients, which can mean that there can be a lot to do! It is nice to be appreciated, but it means there are just not enough hours in the day!
Member Events
Join our free
health and wellbeing webinars
Focus on sleep
Tuesday, 11 October
11am – 12pm
Online via Microsoft Teams
Click here to reserve your place.
Lack of sleep not only adversely affects daytime activities due to trouble concentrating, low mood and irritability, but it can also damage your health. Join us to hear from Dr Alanna Hare, consultant in sleep and respiratory medicine, who will discuss the importance of sleep, diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders and the latest research.
Webinar recordings
Catch up on any webinars you may have missed. Access the webinar recordings here.
Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity
A round up of the latest events and what’s new
This summer we have been busy at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity. We returned to our full programme of summer events, which kicked off with the 9th Annual Shakin’ Stevens Golf Day in June. The summer festivities continued with Harefield Hospital’s Summer Picnic and The London Bridges Walk in July, both of which brought friends of the hospitals together for some fun in the sun.
In September the Harefield Fun Run and Family Day returned to Harefield for the first time since the pandemic began, and our annual virtual challenge, Heart vs Lungs: Around the World in 30 Days, kicked off.
Our Autumn events are now all on our website. All of you brilliant bakers can sign up for The Great Brompton & Harefield Bake Off and get crafting some cakes to raise funds for the hospitals. Then on Thursday 3 November The Great Brompton Quiz will take place with a special guest host asking the questions.
Soon we will be announcing details of our Christmas carol concerts. Royal Brompton Carols by Candlelight will take place on Wednesday 30 November at St Luke’s Church in Chelsea and Harefield Carols by Candlelight will take place on Thursday 8 December at St Mary’s Church in Harefield. Keep an eye on our website for more details coming soon.
You can find out more about all these events and get tickets on the Charity’s website.
Brompton Fountain
Keeping Patients Safe
Brompton Fountain is very proud to be partnering with The MedicAlert Foundation, the UK’s only charity providing medical ID services, to support Brompton Hospital’s young patients up to the age of 25.
MedicAlert protects those with underlying medical conditions, keeping them safe in emergencies, by ensuring that care decisions can be made based on their individual needs. Our partnership provides a year of MedicAlert membership, along with a piece of medical ID jewellery. This scheme is funded by The Brompton Fountain, with a discount provided by MedicAlert, to enable the charity's funds to go further and support more patients.
To find out if you are/your child is eligible to apply please send us an email: [email protected]
You can also find out more about Medic Alert via MedicAlert - Medical ID jewellery & services.
To learn more about your Trust membership, share your feedback or update your contact details, please contact Nancy Dickinson at [email protected]
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