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The newsletter for Trust members with an interest in heart and lung care
May 2023
New hope for people living with severe asthma
A new treatment to help people with severe asthma which cannot be controlled by inhalers and steroids is being given to patients at Royal Brompton Hospital following the success of an international clinical trial led by consultants at the same hospital.
Tezepelumab, is made up of human antibodies that suppress the specific part of the body’s immune system that leads to unnecessary inflammation, causing severe asthma attacks. It is part of a new generation of drugs called ‘biologics’.
The new drug, given as an injection, has been found to reduce the number of asthma attacks and admissions to hospital or A&E in patients with severe asthma. In the clinical trial published in 2021, 43.8% of patients on tezepelumab experienced an asthma attack compared to 60.1% of patients who did not receive the drug. Patients on tezepelumab had a 79% lower risk of being admitted to hospital or A&E than patients not on the treatment.
The severe asthma service at Royal Brompton Hospital is the UK’s largest standalone severe asthma service and looks after approximately 1,300 patients a year with severe asthma on asthma biologic treatments and anticipates that around 100 of the most severe patients will be eligible to receive the new treatment in the first instance.
Read more here.
Respiratory disease in early childhood linked to higher risk of death in adulthood
Contracting a lower respiratory tract infection in early childhood is associated with a higher risk of dying from respiratory disease as an adult, according to new research.
A study published in The Lancet in March 2023, led by Dr James Allinson, consultant in respiratory medicine at Royal Brompton Hospital, and colleagues from Imperial College London, University College London and Loughborough University, has found that children who had a lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), such as bronchitis or pneumonia, by the age of two were almost twice as likely to die prematurely in adulthood from respiratory diseases.
The research showed the rate of premature death from respiratory disease was about 2% for those who had a LRTI in early childhood, compared to around 1% for those who did not. The findings remained after adjusting for socioeconomic factors and smoking status.
Non-Executive Director appointments at Guy’s and St Thomas’
Two new Non-Executive Directors have been appointed to join the Board of Directors of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
Dame Pauline Philip DBE and Professor Deirdre Kelly CBE have been appointed with effect from 1 July 2023.
Pauline has extensive experience of working in Board-level roles across the NHS, including as Chief Executive at Luton and Dunstable NHS Foundation Trust. From 2002 to 2010, she was the Executive Director responsible for Patient Safety at the World Health Organisation.
Deirdre has considerable non-executive experience on the boards of a number of healthcare bodies including the Care Quality Commission, the General Medical Council, NHS Blood and Transplant, the Health Research Authority and the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.
She is also a Professor of Paediatric Hepatology at the University of Birmingham and Consultant Paediatric Hepatologist at Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Prof Kelly set up the Paediatric Liver Unit at Birmingham Women’s and Children's Hospital which provides a national and international service for children with liver failure and undergoing liver and small bowel transplantation.
Read more here.
Family thank hospital for live-saving heart op on two-day old baby
The family of a little girl born with a rare heart condition has thanked the cardiology team at Evelina London Children’s Hospital for saving her life.
Before birth, six-month-old Daphne was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect known as transposition of the great arteries, where the two main blood vessels leaving the heart are swapped over.
Uncle Paul Farrer, from Walton-on-Thames, said: “My sister Hayley found out at her 20 week scan that Daphne had a rare, congenital heart defect. We knew that Daphne would need specialist heart surgery soon after birth, so Hayley had her antenatal care moved to St Thomas’ Hospital. She had this amazing, positive outlook even after Daphne’s diagnosis.”
Born in August 2022, at just two days old Daphne underwent her first operation to keep a small gap open in her heart, called an atrial septostomy. Eight days later, she had open heart surgery to move the two major blood vessels into the correct place, known as an arterial switch.
Children’s cardio-respiratory and intensive care services delivered at Evelina London Children’s Hospital and Royal Brompton Hospital are part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
Read the full article here.
'Donor heart number FIVE saved my life - I didn't get my hopes up until transplant'
Jack Pepper, 19, received a heart transplant at Harefield Hospital in May last year after a fatal run-in with sepsis weakened his heart to failure.
Over a two-month period, four potential replacement hearts became available for Jack Pepper, only to be ruled out at the last minute as unsuitable following routine checks.
When asked whether he feels a new heart has given him a new lease of life – a turn of phrase that is often associated with transplants – Jack is quick to agree, attributing this to his donor, and the doctors and nurses that cared for him at Harefield. “I owe my whole life to them,” he says. “They saved my life, and they’ve given me a second chance at living my life.” When asked whether he feels a new heart has given him a new lease of life – a turn of phrase that is often associated with transplants – Jack is quick to agree, attributing this to his donor, and the doctors and nurses that cared for him at Harefield. “I owe my whole life to them,” he says. “They saved my life, and they’ve given me a second chance at living my life.
Read Jack’s story here.
The key to everything
What’s it like being a security guard in a hospital? Our head of communications Luke Blair finds out after spending an early morning with the man who opens all the doors at Royal Brompton Hospital.
I have finally found the one person who holds the key to everything, knows everyone, and knows how to open every door – literally.
He is of course the security man – in this case, the security man who opens something like 50 doors, gates and security grilles, at the start of the Royal Brompton Hospital’s day.
“I always check in here – we’ve had homeless people coming in to sleep” he says, a few minutes into our hike around the offices, corridors, basements, rooftops, and plant rooms, that make up this typically labyrinthine piece of NHS estate.
In some ways it is obvious that a public building, which in one sense never closes its doors, will attract people who find themselves homeless. Some of the places they end up are under desks in the hospital’s basements. Others are on comfortable sofas in seldom-used rest areas.
The security man does not though just ‘evict’ them. “We’re not just bouncers, are we? We’re the NHS. It’s our job to help people.” Some he has helped to “sort themselves out”, others he guides to different support services.
Read the full blog here.
The Brompton Fountain
We are delighted to launch our new charity partnership with GiveShop UK. By downloading their app and selecting The Brompton Fountain as your chosen charity you can shop with leading retailers online and instore for us to receive donations at no extra cost to you. Using the app is free and users benefit from a range of exclusive discounts. To find out more and download the app please visit: https://giveshop.co.uk/how-to-shop/. Please download the GiveShop app and help us raise funds for seriously ill children at Royal Brompton Hospital.
New monthly pamper evenings for parents on the wards
Following the success of our Mother's Day Pamper Evening in April, The Brompton Fountain will now be hosting monthly relaxation evenings for our families staying on the wards. Parents have the option of a manicure or massage and the opportunity to connect with other families over some snacks and bubbly while they wait. This is only open to families while they are staying in the hospital because it provides parents a vital chance to have a minute away from the wards and take a moment for themselves.
Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity
Tickets are on sale now for Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity’s 2023 London Bridges Walk. This year, this epic fundraising event will coincide with the 75th birthday of the NHS.
Join us on Sunday 2 July for a walk through the spectacular scenery of Central London, on a route that takes in the world famous sites of the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, Lambeth Palace, St Thomas’s Hospital and the Tate Modern, as well as crossing six iconic bridges over the Thames.
Everything you raise will go towards The Patients’ Fund, which provides the small things that make a big difference during a visit to the hospitals. From TVs to distract patients during treatments, to measures to improve patients’ sleep, The Patients’ Fund is here to make a trip to the hospitals that little bit easier for everyone.
Sign up for the London Bridges Walk and join friends of the hospitals in wishing the NHS a very happy 75th birthday, whilst raising funds to make these two amazing hospitals even better.
Tickets can be purchased on our website, here.
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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