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The newsletter for Trust members with an interest in heart and lung care

June 2023

Celebrating National Nurses’ Week

The beginning of May marked National Nurses’ Week, an annual celebration recognising nursing staff for their work, dedication, and contribution to people’s lives every day. A week-long celebration, Nurses’ Week begins each year on May 6, culminating on May 12 with the celebration of International Nurses Day, to coincide with the birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale.

A key date in our calendar, read below to learn more about how we celebrated our nursing staff across our hospitals.

Nightingale awards celebrate exceptional nurses and midwives

A prestigious award inspired by Florence Nightingale has been presented to outstanding nurses and midwives. Sixty-three nurses and three midwives from Guy’s and St Thomas’ were presented with the Nightingale Nurse or Nightingale Midwife award at a ceremony held on 10 May.

The accolade celebrates the Trust’s links with the pioneering nurse Florence Nightingale, who established her first professional nursing school at St Thomas’ Hospital in 1860. The award is unique to Guy’s and St Thomas’, and since launching in 2017, more than 300 individuals have successfully achieved the award.

Natalie Tiddy, Nightingale Fellowship President Emeritus, presented the latest cohort with the coveted engraved badge and certificate during the Trust’s Nursing and Midwifery Week celebrations.

The event included a pre-recorded message from Dame Judi Dench and a speech by Professor Charlotte McArdle, Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for NHS England. Rohit Sagoo, director of British Sikh nurses, gave the keynote speech.

Read more here. 

Nursing journeys at Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield Hospital

Nurses make up the largest workforce at Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield Hospital, and as the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK and among the largest in Europe, nurses at our hospitals work in a number of highly specialised roles with patients from all walks of life.

We spoke with some nurses across Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield Hospital about their careers, their day-to-day jobs and what inspired them to get into nursing.

Kao Hsuan Man – Thoracic research nurse at Royal Brompton Hospital

What is your career history?

I was a nurse in Brazil where most of my experience was in the intensive care unit and theatres in Sao Paulo. Although I loved my job, I had decided to take a break for personal reasons which led me to a five-year break travelling and volunteering around Europe and Asia. Then COVID happened and I found myself back in nursing at a COVID Campaign Hospital in Brazil while waiting to move to the UK as a registered nurse.

What is your current job and what do you do day-to-day?

I am currently a thoracic research nurse. My main role involves finding and recruiting patients for ongoing research studies. My time is spent seeing patients, attending clinics and meetings, and study days where I might be doing anything from participating in conferences to going on courses to continue my professional and personal development.

Why did you get into nursing?

I was brought up to become a medical doctor. Just before applying for medical school, I had the chance to spend a few days shadowing doctors and realised that it was not what I had pictured. Since healthcare was always my preferred choice, I gave nursing a chance and found myself absolutely in love and in the right place. As nurses, we have the responsibility to care for our patients. Today, working in research, I am more aware of how vast and diverse our roles can be and how much we can contribute to patient care.

We also spoke to Mary-Beth Flaherty, inherited cardiac conditions nurse, and Alison Pottle, consultant nurse for cardiology.

Read about them here.

Research nurse of the year

Congratulations to Laura Barker, senior research nurse at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, who was awarded ‘Research Nurse or Midwife of the Year 2023’ by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

The award celebrates outstanding nurses and midwives across the Trust who have gone above and beyond for their patients and colleagues.

Laura was amongst several nurses and midwives honoured at an event held on Friday 5th May 2023 at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Laura works with several teams and on several research studies including the PARAMEDIC-3 trial, looking at the most effective way to treat someone when their heart suddenly stops, and the Dangershock trial which aims to determine whether a small pump inserted through an artery in the groin can improve the chance of survival in patients with shock from a heart attack.

On receiving the award, she said:

“This is a huge honour, and I honestly couldn’t have done it without working with such an amazing research team at Harefield Hospital, and under such a wonderfully supportive manager in Geraldine Sloane.”

Dr Vasileios Panoulas, consultant cardiologist, works closely with Laura and said:

“Laura is the most dedicated and enthusiastic research nurse I have ever come across. Always committed to delivering top quality research.”

A patient – and member of staff – was surprised by colleagues last month with a celebration to mark 21 years of apheresis treatment at Harefield. Stephanie White, a healthcare assistant in the outpatients’ department, is the hospital’s longest treated patient and one of the longest apheresis treated patients in the UK.

Stephanie started apheresis treatment in 2002 when it was suspected she had familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) – a genetic condition where the liver can't process cholesterol properly – and suffered with angina at a young age. She had to have stents inserted to the arteries that supply her heart and a bypass operation. FH was diagnosed and the apheresis treatment, which involves removing cholesterol from the blood, has effectively kept angina attacks at bay.

Stephanie said: “When I came here I was really quite poorly. I couldn’t walk any significant distance without getting an angina attack. And now I work in outpatients!” She joked: “I was here so often I thought I’d better get a job here!”

Alison Pottle, nurse consultant in cardiology, said: “It has been a pleasure to treat Steph for the past 21 years. She is a wonderful example of how apheresis treatment can improve symptoms and help people to lead a full life. The treatment can reduce the levels of cholesterol by up to 70% at each treatment but it has to be carried out every two weeks to maintain the reduction. Steph rarely misses her treatment and it’s great for the apheresis team to see such a positive result.”

Cardiologist wins excellence in education award

Congratulations to Dr Chiara Bucciarelli-Ducci, consultant cardiologist at Royal Brompton and Harefield, for receiving the ‘Excellence in Education Outstanding Mid-Career Educator Award’ by the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), an association of the European Society of Cardiology.

Dr Bucciarelli-Ducci has specialist expertise in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and while she works as a consultant at our hospitals, she is also CEO of an international non-profit which brings together medical and non-medical professionals in the global field of cardiac MRI. Since her appointment in 2021, Dr Bucciarelli-Ducci has attracted numerous international trainees to train with her team at Harefield Hospital.

Dr Bucciarelli-Ducci commented: “I am extremely honoured to receive this recognition – it is a privilege to work with such talented young colleagues and help them reach their full potential. I am also deeply grateful to my consultant colleagues and their invaluable contribution to our strong cardiac MRI education programme at Harefield.”

The award was announced during the EACVI 2023 conference in Barcelona, where cardiac MRI fellows from Harefield also presented papers.

A new chief executive for Evelina London

Ms Gubby Ayida has taken up her role today as Chief Executive of Evelina London’s Women's and Children's Services, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

A consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist for over 20 years, Gubby brings with her a strong background in medical management and leadership. She successfully led the Women and Children’s division at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust across their two acute hospital sites. Prior to taking up her role at Evelina London, she was Medical Director of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Special Advisor to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s Board on diversity and inclusion.

Gubby succeeds Dr Sara Hanna, who took up the role of interim Chief Executive in December 2022 following Marian Ridley’s departure.

Gubby said: “I am very excited and honoured to have the opportunity to lead Evelina London and to help it continue to grow into a world-leading centre of life-changing care for even more children, young people, women and their families.

Read more here. 

Celebrating Volunteers Week

To celebrate Volunteers Week our arts team, rb&hArts, put together an inspiration video featuring volunteers. Here from a few of our volunteers about how they got involved and what activities they .

Thank you to all our members who volunteer to help support our hospitals.

Watch the video here.

A typical day in the life of a Respiratory dietitian

Dietitians’ Week, which fell on 5-9th June this year, is the British Dietetics Association’s annual celebration of dietitians, showcasing the incredible work they do to support patients. From providing specialist dietary advice to offering psychological support to address the impact of dietary changes, Ras Kahai takes us through her typical day working as a respiratory dietitian at our hospitals.

“Don’t judge me!” a colleague says, looking guiltily at her pink iced doughnut.

It’s a common reaction. As a dietitian, I’m often thought of as the ‘food police’ (I prefer Diet-Titans myself). But I give my colleague some reassurance - dietitians are not just there to tell people off.

We dietitians are qualified healthcare professionals who bridge the gap between scientific research on food, health and disease, and who provide individualised and practical advice to patients.

So, this week, being Dietitian's Week, is a good time to recognise and celebrate the important role dietitians play. In our modern world, where nutrition-related illness is on the rise, the importance of the role is ever increasing.

Surprisingly in the NHS in England, dietitians make up a modest workforce of 4,400, compared to an estimated 164,000 doctors and 360,000 nurses. At Royal Brompton Hospital and Harefield Hospital, dietitians specialise in treating nutritional problems associated with heart and lung disease.

Read more here. 

The Brompton Fountain Summer Fair

The Brompton Fountain Summer Fair will be held on the 2nd of August from 11am to 3pm in the reception of Royal Brompton Hospital. There will be a selection of stalls with exciting products - from jewellery and clothes, to books and cakes - and face-painting for children.

Our raffle features great prizes including an overnight stay in Surrey with a gourmet dinner and breakfast, home decoration, a series of facials, and football tickets. All are welcome to join so remember to save the date in your calendar!

Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity

The NHS’s 75th birthday is just around the corner – on Wednesday 5 July - and everyone at Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals Charity wants to say a huge happy birthday to this wonderful institution.

You can join us in celebrating 75 years of the NHS at our London Bridges Walk, on Sunday 2 July. The walk takes in world-famous sights around our Capital City, including Lambeth Palace, the Royal Festival Hall, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tate Modern and Royal Brompton and Harefield’s sister hospital St Thomas’, and crosses six iconic bridges over the Thames.

Everything raised at this year’s London Bridges Walk will go towards the Patients’ Fund. The Patients’ Fund (see article in this newsletter) provides the small things that make a big difference to a visit to the hospitals. This could be TVs to distract patients during uncomfortable procedures or comfort boxes for patients receiving end of life care.

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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