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My pandemic redeployment to intensive care
Gags Sekhon, a Resuscitation Officer at Kingston Hospital, gives us an insight into the professional and personal impact of being redeployed to work in intensive care during the pandemic.
My role as a Resuscitation Officer encompasses two main responsibilities; delivering different levels of resuscitation training to various staff groups, and responding to emergency calls so I can support the resuscitation effort in an emergency situation. Last year, we knew from observing the situation in Italy and other countries that there was likely to be a surge of admissions into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and pressure on its capacity would probably rise really quickly. Consequently, the Trust started to work out who had the skill set to be redeployed to the ICU, so my team and I developed a training package for those who weren’t accustomed to working in an ICU and we delivered this to nurses, health care assistants, doctors and consultants. When the numbers really started to climb during the first surge, I was then redeployed to work in ICU.
“Previously I worked for 10 years as an intensive care nurse at a different hospital, so I was comfortable with going back to this area. Nevertheless, finding my way around a new department and the speed at which patients were deteriorating was a worry.”
In my resuscitation role I only attend emergencies and my patient contact is quite minimal, which meant going back to the unit in a clinical capacity presented a big change. I was definitely wary, but I wanted to be redeployed and to feel I was doing something useful to contribute to the pandemic efforts. Everyone working in the ICU was willing to do whatever they could to help. It was a challenging time, however it was great to see the whole hospital come together to support one another and the patients.
“The most difficult part was concern for my family and seeing how sick people were – I could see ICU patients who were younger and fitter than my parents and an overwhelming concern was that my wife was heavily pregnant.”
There wasn’t much evidence concerning the vaccination of pregnant women at the time and my wife was unvaccinated. I was also looking after two pregnant young ladies in ICU who were very sick with COVID-19. The parallel between these patients and my pregnant wife at home was hard and I felt concern about bringing the virus home, but fortunately the ladies recovered, their babies did very well and I now have a healthy four month old baby boy.
Now I’ve come back to my role where the focus is on teaching, although I’ve stayed on the Bank so I can continue helping out in the ICU doing clinical shifts. It’s tricky balancing this with caring for three children but I’ve discovered that I do still enjoy intensive care nursing and Kingston Hospital’s on-site nursery has been a fantastic support. I’ve found myself thinking about doing more clinical work in the ICU – whilst I do love teaching, I would like to potentially combine this with clinical work and caring for patients.
Welcoming volunteers back to Kingston Hospital
Carys Williams was the first volunteer back on site at Kingston Hospital. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, life has been very different for Carys and for the other volunteers who give their time to support the hospital. Many volunteering roles had been paused, but Kingston Hospital is now welcoming some of its volunteers back to the hospital, either virtually or in person, in a phased approach.
Carys said: “More recently, I’ve been able to take up one of the hospital’s new virtual volunteering roles which has been brilliant, but for a time at the start of the pandemic, I wasn’t volunteering at all and that was hard because I wanted to be able to help the hospital in any way I could. It was difficult not being able to come in and I missed seeing the patients.”
Read more
If you are interested in volunteering at Kingston Hospital, you can call the volunteering team on 0208 934 2549 or email [email protected]
Kingston Hospital to deliver new service for IBD patients after winning innovative grant funding
For the first time in South West London, Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients will be able to self-manage their care and communications with clinical teams, thanks to funding awarded to Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust by the NHS Health Innovation Network.
With the Health Innovation Network funding, Dr Rishi Goel, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Lead for IBD Services at Kingston Hospital, will be trialling the digital interface ‘Zesty’ to provide self-monitoring tools via a patient portal, allowing patients to have direct involvement in their care. Read more
Founder of neonatal charity awarded for services to parents and young people
Pauline Woods, former Kingston Hospital employee and founder of the charity Born Too Soon, has been titled MBE by The Queen for her services to parents and young people.
Pauline, who lives in Surrey, formed the charity Born Too Soon in 1985 alongside other parents and health professionals, to support premature babies on the Neonatal Unit at Kingston Hospital. Pauline retired in December 2018, leaving a lasting impact on the unit which provides intensive care, high dependency care and special care to babies that are born early or unwell. Read more
Expanding our Royal Eye Unit
Phase one of our planned development of the Royal Eye Unit (REU) to expand and enhance the acute referral centre, is now underway. The project will create more space for our patients and work is due to be completed in August this year.
The Friends of Kingston Hospital have generously provided £100,000 towards phase two of the development project, which will involve a two-storey extension to Bernard Meade Wing, to provide a medical retina unit at ground floor level and a paediatric day care oncology suite on the first floor.
We look forward to sharing further updates on this project during the months ahead.
Episode 1 of Kingston Hospital's Health Talks podcast
Episode 1 of our Health Talks podcast is hosted by Sarb Sandhu (Kingston Hospital’s Chief of Surgery) and focuses on the topic of ‘improving health’.
Hear from Lauren Castledine-Wolfe (Specialist Staff Health and Wellbeing Physiotherapist), Juliet Butler (Team Lead Physiotherapist for Care of the Elderly) and Anuradha Srivastava (Adult Dietitian) as they discuss the importance of looking after your physical and mental health, and share their tips and advice for healthy eating and staying well.
Listen to episode 1 of Health Talks
Coming soon…look out for Episode 2 of our Health Talks podcast, on the topic of dementia.
Access the latest information about our departments and services online
We have recently re-launched the Kingston Hospital website, with enhanced departments and services pages and the latest information for patients and visitors. If you have any feedback on the new website, please contact the Communications Team: [email protected]
Van Gogh Alive Charity Day
Tuesday 14 September is Charity Day at the Van Gogh Alive exhibition in the beautiful Kensington Gardens. All net proceeds from ticket sales on 14 September will be donated to three charities - Kingston Hospital Charity, Global’s Make Some Noise and Shout 85258.
Monies raised for Kingston Hospital Charity will help transform the care environments for children with cancer and for the growing number of patients with age-related macular degeneration and other conditions affecting the back of the eye.
Book your tickets and support Kingston Hospital Charity on 14 September: Van Gogh Alive UK - the most visited immersive, multi-sensory experience in the world!
Meet the Governor: Ali Dicks
Ali Dicks is an elected staff governor, representing Kingston Hospital’s Allied Health Professionals and clinical support staff. We spoke to Ali about her time as a governor so far.
Q. When were you first elected as a staff governor?
I was first elected as a staff governor in November 2020, in an uncontested seat.
Q. Why did you decide that you would like to be a governor at Kingston Hospital?
During 2020 I became increasingly interested in the leadership structures within Kington Hospital, as well as the strategic direction of travel. In particular, I felt passionate about the potential contribution that the Allied Health Professional groups of staff can make.
I feel proud to work at the Hospital, because I am privileged to work alongside a very dedicated, knowledgeable and committed team of people who really do put the patient first. I decided that the staff governor role would provide a valuable conduit between the staff delivering care on the frontline, and the hospital management.
Q. What do you think your experience and skills bring to the Council of Governors?
I have worked as a qualified physiotherapist for 22 years. I trained in South Africa and worked there for 18 months, before relocating to England. Prior to joining Kingston Hospital in 2008, I had worked in locum roles, the private sector, and studied full time for my Masters degree. Up until last year, I had worked solely in a clinical role. I had just started a combined clinical and operational leadership role when the COVID -19 pandemic struck. Whilst this was a particularly challenging time to take on a new role, it also created opportunities to meet a variety of different staff from across the Trust, to be exposed to various leadership styles and generally become more familiar with the inner workings of the hospital.
In addition to being someone who delivers care at the hospital, I have also been a recipient of care as a patient. I therefore care deeply about Kingston Hospital's patients, staff and the services it provides.
Q. What have you enjoyed the most about being a governor so far?
I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting my fellow governors, members of the board, and the Trust’s Non-Executive Directors. Their wealth of knowledge, varied backgrounds and extensive experience is very informative and inspirational. I sit on two sub-committees (the Membership Recruitment and Engagement Committee and the Strategy Committee) and have started to develop a much broader understanding of the strategic challenges facing the Trust. I have also started to have the opportunity to provide staff feedback to the senior management team and have felt positively reassured by the responses I have received.
Q. What are you looking forward to as a governor of Kingston Hospital?
I am looking forward to meeting my fellow governors face to face, because up until now, we have only been able to have virtual meetings. I also look forward to being able to join the governor "walk-arounds" of the hospital, so that I can increase my visibility to the staff I represent, and talk to them about issues in their area.
Governor elections 2021
Nominations for this year’s governor elections will open in September.
We will be sharing further information about the nomination process, soon. Please check the Trust website and social media channels over the coming weeks.
Visiting on adult inpatient wards
Some of our adult inpatient wards can now receive one named family member, friend or carer for a daily visit. On Astor and Isabella Ward, this should be the same person each day. Patients will be asked to agree with their family or friends, who will be visiting them.
Visitors can then book by calling the visitor booking line on 020 8934 3824 or discussing visitors directly with the ward staff. Multiple visits can be booked at once.
If your family member is on KPH or in our Intensive Care Unit, you should speak directly to the ward to arrange visits.
Visitors will need to read and sign our Visitor Agreement. If you are a nominated visitor for your family member, you can do this on our website.
The visitor booking line is open:
- Monday to Friday, 9am - 11am
- Saturday and Sunday, 11am - 1pm
Why not ask your friends, neighbours or local corporate groups to become members and support their local hospital?
It’s free to join and anyone aged 14+ can become a member: https://kingstonhospital.nhs.uk/get-involved/become-a-member/
Keep in touch
Twitter - @KingstonHospNHS
Facebook - Kingston Hospital
Instagram - kingstonhospitaluk
From time to time, the Trust may send you some information about the work of the Kingston Hospital Charity, which helps to raise vital funds for the Trust. This may include its ‘Our News’ newsletter. If you would prefer not to receive information about our charity please contact the Communications Team on [email protected]
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