January/February 2016 - Birmingham Children`s Hospital

SECOND
EDITION
JAN-FEB
2016
V O L U M E
DID YOU KNOW?
Carmit Bachar from
1 ,
I S S U E
1
S E C O N D
E D I T I O N
Away in...Main Outpatients
Cleft the Halls; our tombola was a great success!
The Pussycat Dolls
On Wednesday, 16
December, the Cleft Team
Lip and Palate.
held their first Christmas
tombola in our hospital’s
Click here for a video Main Outpatients. A little
of Carmit discussing elf and her helpers came
to visit the families and to
growing up with a
let them have a go at
cleft.
winning some fantastic
prizes. Amongst some of
the prizes were tickets to
see Aston Villa, family
admission to the Sea Life
Centre and a show at the
Birmingham Rep Theatre.
We thoroughly enjoyed
organizing the event and
seeing the happy faces of
our patients. We want to
Photo: Lee Cherry 2006
thank everyone who
(Cherry Multimedia)
donated prizes, bought
raffle tickets and threw in
Check out more of CLAPA’s
was born with a Cleft
their spare change.
Owing to all of your
kindness and generosity
this Christmas, we
managed to raise a
brilliant total of £367 for
the Cleft Lip and Palate
Charity here at BCH.
videos at:
https://vimeo.com/clapa
New Year Wishes
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Clefty Christmas 1
CLASH4CLEFT
2
Star Photo
2
FAQ
3
Enquiry Emails
3
Staff Spotlight
4
Coming Up
5
Contact Us
6
I would just like to say a
Happy New Year to all of
our Cleft Families! We had
a wonderful Christmas
here in the department
with our Jolly Jumper Day
and our Christmas
tombola. Sincerest
gratitude to those who
supported the event and
all of our projects
throughout 2015. I hope
you all had a happy and
healthy Christmas.
We hope you all enjoyed
it as much as we did and
we look forward to our
future fundraising
projects in 2016!
Thank You!
As for 2016, we look
forward to all of the
upcoming developments
within the department.
Including the renovation
of our page on the BCH
website and brand new,
informative resources to
support our patients. We
cannot wait for you to see
it all!
Liz Adamson
Regional Cleft
Service Manager
Could you arrange a non-uniform day with a twist: a day where pupils have
to wear clashing colours and mismatched prints? How about a neon t-shirt
and checked trousers? A leopard-print skirt and a floral blouse? Double
denim?!
Does your child’s school already hold a charity day or non-uniform day? It
could provide the perfect platform for you to hold a Clash4Cleft event in
order to raise some money in aid of the Cleft Team Charity here at BCH. If
each child made a charitable donation of £1, this would make a
considerable sum for the team. Money that can go towards support groups,
patient resources and research.
Not only would it be a fun activity for the students, but it is of course for a
very important cause as the work of the Cleft Team is crucial in
providing physical and emotional support for Cleft Patients and their
families. We would love for you to take part by organising your own Clash
Day!
If you would like any BCH banners, collection tins, balloons or just more
information, then please contact us to see what we can provide!
Let us know if you plan
to host your own Clash
Day by emailing
cleftservices@bch.nhs.uk
See the back of this
newsletter on how to
submit any raised funds
OR TWEET US
@CleftTeamBCH
Rachel Brown - ‘Stunning sky over @Bham_Childrens this morning.
Makes early starts a bit easier! #Birmingham #skyline’
Answered by Claire Hunter - Specialist Speech and Language Therapist
‘I have heard the term “Active Nasal Fricatives” (ANF). What are they and are they
treatable?’
Active nasal fricatives are consonant sounds that a child produces by
actively directing air down their nose, sometimes with accompanying
nasal turbulence (a ‘rattly’ sound in the nose). Usually the child
produces ANF in place of a ‘s’, ‘z’, ‘f’ or ‘sh’ and because ‘s’ and ‘z’ are
so common in English, ANF can give the impression of an overall
nasal quality.
NOSE
Tongue
This speech pattern may occur in children with a cleft palate but do
not worry, often there is no structural issue. Active nasal fricatives require speech
therapy, not surgery.
When carrying out speech therapy for ANF, it is important that the child understands
the difference between the ANF and the sound that they should be producing (e.g.
‘s’). For younger children we use the idea of Mr Mouthy and Mr Nosey to help explain
where the air is coming from. Once the child shows good understanding of this
concept, we then move onto practising how to make the sound. In this way, ANF
(nasal speech) are very treatable.
Do you have further
questions about
Speech? Call our team
on 0121 333 9380
CLEFT HELPLINE
Just left your appointment and remembered that you
have forgotten to ask a question? At home and feel like you
need a professional’s opinion?
The Cleft Team have been able to set up a mailbox specifically for non-urgent
questions. Perhaps you have some concerns about your child’s self esteem or you are
wondering if you can introduce drinking cups to your baby that replaces their bottle questions that do not require immediate attention. If you do have an emergency, then
please ring the Hospital A&E department on 0121 333 9509.
Please send appropriate questions that you may have to the below address. Emails will
only be answered on Monday - Friday and may take a few days to be responded to due
to the busy schedules of our consultants. Otherwise our consultants will be happy to
answer all of your questions during your clinic appointments.
bch-tr.CleftEnquiries@nhs.net
Staff Spotlight
Watch out for a Staff
Spotlight in each issue!
Ian Sh
arp
(Cons
ultan
t Cleft
and C
Surge
linica
on
l Lead
)
What does the average day at BCH
entail for you?
An average day here for me is
between clinics and operating. I see
a range of different ages but my
work is predominately 8 year olds
and older; a range of pre and post
cleft service! Interaction with Mike
wouldn’t get the grades; probably
and the team gave me an insight and I
because I was too busy acting at
realised how interested I was in Cleft.
school! So I started in dentistry and
The nice thing about it is the duration
then worked my way up.
of time that you get to spend with
your patients. I see them from 8 years
What else do you think you would
old up to about 20 and you see them
be doing if you weren’t in this job?
develop through their formative years
I could potentially have been an
which is great.
anaesthetist or perhaps could have
gone into teaching and taught
ops, bone grafts and follow ups in
teenage years monitoring teeth,
jaw, mouth and growth. I also pick
out the patients who might need
orthodontist treatment or jaw
surgery. I normally operate on a
Friday and work with a fantastic
team in Theatre 8 and a fantastic
team in Outpatients also. It has
What is your proudest
academic dentistry.
moment whilst being at BCH?
It means a lot to me that the rest of
Favourite film?
the team have faith in me to be the
Leon (1995). It’s a love story with
lead for the Cleft department. To
beautiful cinematography!
have that vote of confidence and that
people can think I can do the job has
First single you bought?
been wonderful.
U2 – New Year’s Day.
What did you want to be when you
If you could live anywhere, where
were younger?
would it be?
My aunt always used to remind me
In a 17th century Villa on the banks
that when I was really small, I wanted
of Lake Como.
always been about the patient care
for me and it is a very pleasant
atmosphere to work in.
Why Cleft in particular?
After my training in dentistry,
medicine and maxillofacial surgery,
I did a craniofacial fellowship that
brought me into the hospital and
working alongside the Cleft Team.
One of my trainers was consultant
Mike Wake, who helped set up the
to be a driver for the Danish Bacon
Company; it was on an industrial
Dream holiday?
estate not far from where I lived and
I need to visit Africa. The vastness,
it was the smartest looking factory
the culture and the wildlife would
out of all of the others! I wanted to be
be fantastic to experience.
a doctor later on and was advised
that I wasn’t clever enough and
(See next page)
Do you find yourself to be particularly
my own shirts, etc. I actually find it quite
sporty?
relaxing.
Not at all. I am very goal-centred so if you give
me a target and say that I have to train for so
Taking over as Clinical Lead, what are you
many weeks by this date then I’ll do it, but if
looking forward to most about the role?
you say run every day because it is good for
It is a really interesting time for the NHS with
you then I won’t! I always find something else
one of the main challenges being money,
to do instead.
maintaining quality and transforming the
I was hopeless at school with sport but at
service in difficult times. So I am looking
university I played hockey. I’ve always liked
forward to defending what we have got and
cycling and walking outdoors but I don’t get to
trying to develop it against any hurdles that
do it as much as I’d like to!
may appear!
A fact about yourself that you think would
surprise people?
Every Sunday evening I spend about two hours
doing my family’s ironing for the week. That
can be up to ten school shirts, school trousers,
Thanks Ian. We look
forward to some exciting
changes with you as
Clinical Lead and we also
look forward to you
bringing home the
(Danish) bacon...
CLAPA Patient Voices Meeting

Do you have ideas for the new cleft page on the BCH website?

Any general feedback for the BCH Cleft Team?
Attend the next CLAPA Patient Voices meeting on Wednesday 24
February 2016 at 6.30pm. Venue to be confirmed. Please see the
contact details for CLAPA if you wish to find out more information.
Marvellous Superstar Club, Rare Disease Day (Saturday
27 Feb 2016, 10am to 3pm, BCH Outpatients Department)
The hospital welcomes two newly appointed Roald Dahl nurses
who will provide support to children who have rare diseases and
genetic conditions. A day of fun and food for any Cleft Patients that
wish to attend! - CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS
Want to share
your story, an
enquiry or wish
to feedback?
HOW YOU CAN
MAKE A DONATION!

A cheque made payable to ‘BCH Charities’
with a covering letter stating that the
money is for the Cleft Team.
CONTACT US
Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Cleft Lip and Palate Department
Steelhouse Lane
Birmingham
B4 6NH
Tel: 0121 333 8235
Email: Cleft.Services@bch.nhs.uk

The Fundraising Hub (near the hospital’s
welcome desk).

Donate online - http://www.bch.org.uk/.

Or alternatively phone the
Fundraising team on 0121 333 8506.
Follow us on
Twitter!
Your Editor
Welcome to a new year and a new
edition! Lots of exciting things are
coming your way so if there is
anything that you would particularly
like to see happening within the
Cleft Team or in the newsletter then
please give me a shout!
My first Christmas with the team
was wonderful and I cannot wait to
get stuck into all of the new projects
in the year ahead!
Until next time!
CleftTeamBCH
CLAPA is a charity
http://www.clapa.com/
that provides
support for Cleft Patients and their families.
From infancy through to adulthood, they
provide a range of services such as support with
feeding to organising support groups for those
affected by clefts; particularly in school and in
social settings with activities such as confidencebuilding camps.
For more information, contact Claire Evans (your
Regional Coordinator for Central England)
Mobile: 07792 772362
Alice.Sheppard@bch.nhs.uk
Email: Claire.Evans@clapa.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/
happyfaceswestmids/