Part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Connect
The newsletter for Trust members with an interest in heart and lung care
August 2022
Welcome to the August issue of Connect!
In this issue I am delighted to announce the launch of a new member benefit. From today you can access our Trust membership portal. This will allow you to update your contact details, confirm your areas of interest and select communication preferences. Your updates will help us tailor our communication, event invitations and involvement activities to best meet members’ interests. For details on how to access the member portal please see the section below titled, ‘New Membership Benefit.’.
As we are now more than halfway through 2022, I thought this would be a timely opportunity to share some of the many ways you, our members, have been supporting our hospitals.
- Organising, chairing and moderating the Q&A sessions of the health and wellbeing webinars for members
- Participating in the Joint Programme for Patient, Carer and Public Involvement in Covid Recovery
- Contributing to the development of an electronic health record (Epic) through the Apollo Influencer initiative
- Joining our Patient and Public Engagement Group focused on improving patient experience
- Participating in ongoing research projects
- Joining various steering groups within Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals
- Representing the patient voice at various meetings for cardiology and respiratory focused national groups
- Completing the Peer Leadership Development Programme run by the Personalised Care Team at NHS England and NHS Improvement
- Joining the thriving Harefield Hamsters community for transplant patients
- Supporting our charities, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity and The Brompton Fountain
- Volunteering at our hospitals
Thank you for your inspiring enthusiasm and ongoing commitment to helping us shape the future of heart and lung care.
Best wishes,
Nancy
Membership Manager
NEW Member Benefit
Access the Membership Portal
As a member you can now update your contact details, interests and communication preferences by logging into the membership portal. This will help us tailor our communication and make sure you do not miss out on the areas that interest you most.
To access the portal, please click here.
If you need any assistance with access, please send an email to [email protected]
Virtual work experience courses launched for local students
Guy’s and St Thomas’ have launched a free virtual work experience programme to help students in the local area to get a taste of different NHS careers.
The virtual work experience courses, funded by Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity, give students the opportunity to learn in their own time via a specially created interactive online platform.
Staff from the Trust have helped to shape the content of the work experience courses, and the programme offers more than 10 hours of guided learning in up to 12 modules. The modules contain a variety of quizzes, assignments, presentations, activities, live webinars and videos with members of staff discussing their career and job role.
Read the full article here.
Professor Thomas Lüscher, director of research, education and development, and cardiology consultant at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, has been elected by members of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), one of the world’s largest medical societies, to serve as President Elect for the Board 2022-2024.
Professor Lüscher comments on his appointment: “I am deeply hounored and delighted to be able to serve this outstanding society, but respectful of the challenges ahead in a changing environment in medicine and cardiology in particular. I am also proud to be able to act as an ambassador of Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in the cardiovascular community.”
Read more here.
Prince Agyei shares his journey from student to biomedical scientist
‘I was born and raised in Ghana, moved to London in 2012, and had my first temporary contract with Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals in 2017 during my undergraduate degree course.
I worked with the Child Safeguarding team within an admin role at the time, and subsequently moved into working in the laboratory after my degree. In my current role I work as a biomedical scientist within the clinical biochemistry team. On a given day, I carry out a range of diagnostic tests offered within the department to support patient care. I use an analyser to do this, which is a machine in which you put patient samples and then run specific tests according to what the clinician has requested.’
Read more here about why Prince decided to work in healthcare, what he finds most challenging about his role, and more.
Focus on nutrition
Ras Kahai, a cardiorespiratory dietitian at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, works with patients with respiratory conditions, including pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that causes scarring of the lungs. She recently shared nutrition advice with Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis, a patient-led charity that supports patients and families to raise awareness of pulmonary fibrosis.
Click here to read the advice Ras shared.
Click here to view a recording of the member webinar that Ras co-presented, ‘Physiotherapy and diet – rehabilitation and beyond.’
In the press
Child vaping risks becoming ‘public health catastrophe’ in UK, experts warn
The Observer has been running a series about the impact of vaping on young people in the UK.
Despite it being illegal to sell the e-cigarettes to under-18s, research indicates a steep rise in underage vaping over the last five years, with the proportion of 16- to 18-year-olds who say they use e-cigarettes doubling in the past 12 months alone, according to Action on Smoking and Health.
Now child respiratory doctors have criticised the government for failing to heed warnings about the risks of allowing e-cigarettes to be sold in child-friendly packaging containing the names of popular sweet treats – including banana milkshake and jelly babies, both of which products contain 2% nicotine, the highest concentration allowed in the UK. Prof
Andrew Bush, a consultant paediatric chest physician at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, said: “I am concerned that we are sleepwalking into a public health catastrophe with a generation of children hooked on nicotine.”
Read the full article here.
Member Events
Free health and wellbeing webinars
How the pandemic has shaped our response to healthcare challenges and an update on the vaccination programme
Wednesday, 21 September
5.30pm to 7pm
Online via MS Teams
Click here to reserve your place.
Join Dr Richard Grocott-Mason, Chief Executive Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals for a discussion on how the pandemic has shaped responses to the current healthcare challenges. Participants will also hear about the Covid vaccination programme, including boosters, from Professor Nick Hart, Consultant Physician in Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine, Research & Development Office and Dr Ali Hashtroudi, Clinical Director and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Guy’s and St Thomas’.
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Save the date
Annual Public Meeting
28 September
18.00 – 19.30
Webinar recordings
Catch up on any webinars you may have missed. Access the webinar recordings here.
Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity
Heart vs Lungs is back and this year we are going around the world
From Sunday, 4 September until Monday, 3 October, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity will be hosting Heart vs Lungs: Around the world in 30 Days. This is a virtual fundraising challenge to raise funds for the Next Generation Genetics appeal.
Sign up for Heart vs Lungs: Around the World in 30 Days and choose either Team Heart or Team Lungs. Then limber up and cover ground for your team. You can walk, run, jog, cycle or roll. It all counts.
All the ground you cover will go towards your team’s total; whether you’re popping to the shops or running a marathon, every inch will help your team. The first team to cover enough ground to take them from Harefield Hospital to Royal Brompton Hospital the long way round will be the winner.
This will be the third year of Heart vs Lungs. In 2020, the two teams made it across Europe. Last year, they travelled from Harefield Hospital to Sydney, Australia. This year we hope that both teams can go around the world.
Heart vs Lungs: Around the World in 30 Days will kick off at the Harefield Fun Run and Family Day on Sunday 4 September. If you would like to take part in both events, there are discounted tickets available.
You can find out more about Heart vs Lungs: Around the World in 30 Days and get tickets on our website.
Brompton Fountain
Running for Royal Brompton
If you're a park runner, belong to a running club or just a casual jogger, why not ask some friends to run with you to raise funds for our charity. It's a great way of getting / keeping fit whilst raising vital funds to support cardiac, respiratory and intensive care at Royal Brompton Hospital.
By linking a JustGiving page to your Fitbit or Strava you can share your step count with your supporters so everyone can see how you’re making a difference for some of the most seriously ill children in the UK.
If you pledge to raise a minimum of £100 we will send you a vest or t-shirt to wear whilst you run.
Please email [email protected] to get your vest or to find out more about this fundraising initiative and the work we do supporting patients and their families.
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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