December - Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust

Inside Issues
December 2010
This Edition
includes
Digital X-ray
Room
Opens
Snow
Heroes
Little Buds
Raffle
Essential
Repairs
Underway
Electronic
orders
High quality healthcare is important to
everyone at some time in their life.
Hospitals are only ever as good as the staff
who provide the essential care and support
when it’s needed most. The 2010 Staff
Awards held on 19th November, were a
celebration of the outstanding contribution
of individual staff and the teams who had
shown dedication and professionalism in all
that they do in support of patient care, 24
hours a day, 7 days a week.
There can be little that is more rewarding
than to be appreciated by one’s colleagues
and peers for a job well done. Working in a
hospital demands the utmost dedication
both as an individual and as a team. The
ceremony marked the most important event
of the year in the Trust’s calendar because
it allowed the organisation to formally
recognise the tremendous effort that staff
put in everyday.
Team of the Year 2010
Winner:Urology Cancer Team
What makes these awards so special is that
anyone can nominate a colleague or team
whom they feel is outstanding and deserves
recognition. They are for staff and are
judged by staff with a public representative
to ensure impartiality. To receive a staff
award is the highest accolade that can be
given to an individual or team. It is an
extremely competitive event and sometimes
it is difficult to decide upon the winners. In
some categories there were out and out
winners and in others it was so close that a
2nd and 3rd place was given. Even to be
nominated says a lot about an individual or
team.
Most importantly and at the heart of
everything the Trust does is the patient. For
the third consecutive year the trust was
joined by the Dartford & Gravesend
Messenger team who presented the
Public’s Award. The nominations for this
particular award were made wholly by the
public.
The awards
recognise
professional care
and exceptional
quality. In the 10th
Anniversary year
of the hospital, the
event was hosted
by television
personality and
radio broadcaster
Caroline Feraday.
Chief Executive’s Special Award 2010
Winner: Mulberry Ward
The Public’s Award (sponsored by the Dartford & Gravesend Messengers)
Winner: The Midwifery Department
Award Winners
Outstanding Achievement by an Individual
Award
Winner: Lallaine Cautivar, Ward Sister
2nd Place: Sue Daniels, E-Communications
Manager
3rd Place: Sarah Manley, PFI Contracts Manager
Individual Innovation Award
Winner: Kim Coleman, Staff Nurse, Pre-Operative
Assessment Clinic
Lifetime Achievement Award
Winner: Dr Jacqueline Kirk, Consultant Radiologist
2nd Place: Dr Roland Ede, Consultant
Gastroenterologist
Excellence in Partnership Working Award
(Team)
Winner: Home Enteral Nutrition Team
2nd Place: IM&T Development and Systems and
Software Teams
3rd Place: Occupational Therapy Service
Putting Patients First Award (Team)
Winner: Urology Cancer Team
2nd Place:IM&T Development Testing and Training
Team
The Public’s Award (sponsored by the Dartford &
Gravesend Messengers)
Winner: The Midwifery Department
Midwife of the Year Award (sponsored by Dawn
Johnston former Head of Midwifery)
Winner: Karen Youens, Public Health Midwife
Chief Executive’s Special Award 2010
Winner: Alice Russell, Senior Sister
Winner: Mulberry Ward
Volunteer of the Year 2010
Winner: Rita Holme
Employee of the Year 2010
Winner: Lallaine Cautivar, Ward Sister
Team of the Year 2010
Winner: Urology Cancer Team
Photographs of the evening,
including all of the winners, are
available on
ADAGIO
Award Finalists
The finalists were short listed by the judging panel from
over 60 nominations submitted.
Outstanding Achievement by an Individual Award
Dr Innam Hadi – Consultant Radiologist
Brenda Stacey – Surgical Specialist Sister
Lallaine Cautivar – Ward Sister
Tracey Cummins – Fund Raising & Voluntary Services
Manager
Sarah Manley – PFI Contract Manager
Sue Daniels – E-Communications Manager
Individual Innovation Award
Julie Murphy – Senior Pharmacy Technician
Kim Coleman – Pre-Assessment Nurse
Excellence in Partnership Working Award
Complex Case Team, working in partnership with Social
Services
Financial Services
Winter and Pandemic Planning and Escalation Team
IM&T Development and Systems and Software Teams
Salaries and Wages
Home Enteral Nutrition Team
Occupational Therapy Service
CT Department
Recruitment Team
Clinical Research Team
Putting Patients First Award
IM&T Development Testing and Training Team
Mulberry Ward
Sapling Ante Natal Clinic
SMS Texting Team
Urology Cancer Team
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr Paul Key – Consultant in Genito-urinary Medicine & HIV
Dr Roland Ede – Consultant Gastroenterologist
Brenda Prentice – Health Care Assistant
Dr Jacqueline Kirk – Consultant Radiologist
Diane Parkin – Lead Clerical Officer
Sue Craven – Head of Therapies
Doreen Deakin – Surgical Secretary
Volunteer of the Year Award
The Meet & Greet Volunteer Team
Derek & Sylvia Wall
Joan Warwick MBE
Rita Holme
Poppy Banks
Olivia Turner
Dave Wilkes
The Kent Messenger Public Award (short listed and
judged by the Kent Messenger)
Gary Faber, Physiotherapy Assistant
Charan Basra, Haematology Nurse Specialist
The Midwifery Department
Ordering Radiology and Pathology tests is now as
easy as pushing a few buttons with the
implementation of electronic orders using the
Trust's Patient Administration System (PAS).
Known collectively as ‘Order Comms’ this project
started with a successful pilot of Radiology
requests earlier in the year by the Maxillo-Facial/
Orthodontic Outpatient clinics and Palm Ward.
The result is the availability of electronic
Radiology orders for both inpatients and
outpatients across the hospital. Part of this
change included the move in July by the A&E
Department from their old computer system to
PAS and now all orders for Radiology placed by
A&E are electronic. Currently around 64% of all
the inpatient and outpatient requests for Radiology
are made using PAS and this is increasing month
on month as staff are trained and become more
confident and proficient.
Doctors placing Pathology orders in real time on
Palm Ward
While all this was going on work was underway to
do the same for Pathology Blood Sciences tests.
Using the same approach as that for Radiology,
pilots were carried out with the help of Dr Philip
Mairs and his colleagues during his outpatient
clinics and the doctors, nurses and Medical
Inpatient Phlebotomists working on Palm Ward.
These were quickly followed by other Consultant
and Nurse-led outpatient clinics and Rosewood
Ward and the Pine Therapy Unit.
Order Comms brings a whole range of benefits to
both patients and staff. Paper request forms will
become a thing of the past – as will all associated
illegible handwriting problems. When you take
into account how many orders are placed for both
Radiology and Pathology the number of forms is
considerable, so removing the need for expensive
printed versions is a cost saving. Pathology
samples all have to be labelled and currently this
means writing everything by hand. Pathology
Order Comms comes with the advantage of bar
coded printed labels speeding things up both for
those taking the samples and the Laboratory staff
who previously had to manually enter the
information into their system. Based on the Blood
Sciences specimens received by the Laboratory
from the pilot areas, the improvement in both time
and patient safety is clearly evident.
Electronic orders can be placed using any PC
which has access to PAS, this includes all the
mobile PCs or COWs (Computers on Wheels) that
are now all around the hospital. To take
advantage of mobile working the Trust has
Inpatient Phlebotomists print out the specimen
labels using specially adapted PC trolleys
purchased specially designed phlebotomy units which
will not only provide access to PAS and printed labels
but also provides secure storage of the equipment
necessary to complete the collection of specimens. So
far units are in use by the Medical Inpatient
Phlebotomy Team and staff on Rosewood Ward and
the Pine Therapy Unit. Mobile phlebotomy units have
also been purchased for Surgical Inpatient
Phlebotomy, Willow Ward/PAU and the Children’s
Resource Centre and will be put to use as soon as
electronic orders for Blood Sciences begin to be used
by those areas.
team have been providing training and support in
both the Outpatients Department and all wards that
have started to use Order Comms. Further
information on training and how to access it is
given later in this article.
Development of PAS as a clinical patient
management system is a high priority for the Trust
and the success of many of the projects underway
depend on all staff, both clinical and non-clinical,
being involved and engaged in its development.
Critical to Order Comms is the maintenance of
Real Time Bed Management on PAS.
This involves making sure that the patient
information on PAS about their inpatient journey is
up to date. When orders are placed electronically
it is essential that the patient’s location and the
consultant team currently responsible for their care
are accurate. If this is not the case there is
potential for serious clinical safety problems, with
the requests and results being incorrectly
attributed to the wrong clinical team. In the worst
case this could lead to missed diagnoses and
adverse affects on clinical decision-making.
Benefits of Real Time Bed Management far
outweigh the effort of maintaining the information
and can provide Bed Bureau and the Site Team
with up-to-the-minute status on bed availability and
avoid the necessity for copious telephone calls and
queries to the wards.
For staff on the ward it also brings the ability to
create nursing assessments and clinical
documentation using patient demographics from
PAS. Using PAS to produce documents means
that all patient demographic information is printed
and legible, the documents look more formal and
professional and only the paperwork needed is
printed, therefore saving time and paper.
Mobile PCs and printers mean that Bloods can
be taken and labelled at the bedside
The development of electronic orders for Microbiology
and Serology tests are nearing completion with plans
to implement before the end of the current financial
year. Order Comms will not be restricted purely to
Radiology and Pathology, the benefits can also be
applied to other areas and there are already plans
underway to develop electronic orders for Therapies
and Oncology, with others under consideration.
Training is key to the success of these projects and the
IM&T Development Trainers and other members of the
Further updates on IM&T Developments, including
using PAS to generate Patient at Risk (PAR)
scores and electronic note-keeping will be
published in future editions of ‘Inside Issues’. In the
meantime if you have any questions about
anything you've read in this article or if you have
any queries about accessing training courses and
support please get in touch with the IM&T
Development Team. Their office is on level 2 in
the Main Reception (next to Chopras Pharmacy)
and you are welcome to drop in or call on any of
the following extension numbers: 8813, 8792,
8808 or 8948.
Do you need training on IT or computer
systems? Then look no further! We have
two trainers, Barry Sagay and Claire
Kilburn. Barry is a Microsoft Specialist
and Claire has vast experience in a
variety of systems. Both are committed
to keeping up-to-date with their IT skills
and providing the best possible
education for staff. Their repertoire
includes basic IT, the Microsoft Office
suite, PAS and MyEDN. So if you want
to get started using a PC, learn to use
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access or any
of the other Office software this is your
opportunity.
Training on the Trust’s Electronic
Discharge Notification (MyEDN) and all
aspects of the Patient Administration System
(PAS) is available. PAS is the Trust’s primary
system for managing every patient episode within
the hospital.
Each session will last one to three hours as they
will be tailored to meet the needs of the trainees. If
one day isn’t convenient for you then you are
welcome to choose another date. Although it is
sometimes difficult for managers, we recommend
that staff be allowed to attend during the day. The
trainers are very flexible and
in special circumstances can accommodate out-ofhours training. Appropriately trained staff can
significantly improve efficiency and accuracy and
across the Trust saving time and improving patient
care.
Whatever your circumstances we will do our utmost
to accommodate your requirements. Please
contact the following for more information:
Contacts
Email: IM&Tdevelopment.training@dvh.nhs.uk on
Trust email – this automatically goes to all Training
team members and they will acknowledge your
email within 1 working day.
Phone: Claire Kilburn, IM&T Development Trainer
– ext 4320
Barry Sagay, IM&T Development Trainer - ext
8962
Sandra Gilliard, IM&T Development Testing &
Training Manager - ext 8948
If you call us and we are not available, we will get
back to you within 1 working day.
For general queries about IM&T Development feel
free to call Sandra on ext 8948, Debbie Pile on ext
8792 or Neil Perry on ext 8813.
You can now collect your car parking badge from the Meteor staff between 8:00am and 6:00pm on any
of the following days:
Main Hospital Entrance:
Main Hospital Entrance:
Wednesday 15 December 2010
Thursday 16 December 2010
Friday 17 December 2010
Meteor Car Park Office:
Saturday 18 December 2010
Sunday 19 December 2010
Main Hospital Entrance:
Tuesday 21 December 2010
Wednesday 22 December 2010
Thursday 23 December 2010
Thursday 30 December 2010
Friday 31 December 2010
Main Hospital Entrance:
Wednesday 5 January 2011
Thursday 6 January 2011
Friday 7 January 2011
Meteor Car Park Office:
Saturday 8 January 2011
Sunday 9 January 2011
Please bring your staff ID badge with you, along with your car registration number/s and your contact telephone/bleep details. Badges must be on display from Monday 17 January 2011. Failure to display your
badge on three occasions will result in the loss your access card.
The Christmas raffle was organized by
Matt and Sarah Allen, the grateful parents
of one of our babies, Ronnie, who was
born 10 weeks early and spent 7 weeks on
Walnut.
The raffle raised £875 for the Little Buds
Fund.
The prizes and the winners are:
1st prize- Family ticket to Legoland- Richard
Cameron
2nd- Family Ticket to Orchard Theatre
(Pantomime)- Angela Hamer
3rd-Paul Mitchell hamper hair and beauty
products-Wendy Aldrich
4th –Week football course- Jill OPD (DVH)
5th £50 Russell and Bromley Voucher – Mr
Dennis
6th- Martini Glasses –P. Bowling
7th-Champagne Spa gift box –Tony Stocker
8th- Little Black Dress paperback booksLesley Samuel.
This year the Antenatal Clinic was
nominated for the Dartford and
Gravesham NHS Trust Annual Staff
Awards held on Friday 19 November.
The team went on to receive the Kent
Messenger Public’s Award as part of the
Midwifery Department. All the staff had
been so pleased and in high spirits
because of the awards that when we
realised it was on the same evening as
Children In Need we did not hesitate in
coming up with an idea to try and raise
money and awareness for this worthwhile
and very popular event.
We contacted the local Asda Store in
Greenhithe, who very kindly put aside
their few remaining t-shirts for us, and on
Friday we ditched our uniforms for the day
and wore “Pudsey Bear” T-Shirts (with the
kind permission of the Maternity
Management – Deborah McAllion, Head
of Midwifery and Viv Tate). Some of us
had slightly different hairstyles and
makeup to add to the atmosphere. Some
staff members baked and offered a
selection of cakes, biscuits, sweets and
cold drinks for our "Mums To Be" (and
anyone else that cared to join us).
Essential repair works is being undertaken to the
brickwork on the Staff Residences over a 40-week
period which started on Monday 8th November 2010.
The work is being undertaken by Carillion Building,
with liaison through the local Carillion office. The
programme is as follows:
•
•
•
•
•
Home 1: Monday 8th November 2010 –
Friday 14th January 2011
Home 2 (Acorn House): Monday 31st
January 2011 – Friday 25th March 2011
Home 3: Monday 11th April 2011 – Friday
27th May 2011
Home 4: Monday 13th June 2011 – Friday
28th July 2011
The Bungalow: survey to be undertaken in
early April 2011, and if any repairs are
required, these will be undertaken during
April and May.
The planned process for the four homes is to remove
the old bricks over a two-week period, and then to
replace them with new bricks over a 6-week period.
Staff living in the residences will be moved out while
the works take place. This is being arranged by
Janice Brogan in Carillion.
At this stage it is not planned to move office staff out
of Acorn House during the works; however if the
noise, dust and disruption carried out affects staff it
may become necessary to allocate alternative
accommodation.
For the duration of the works car parking is
being strictly controlled to ensure that
construction traffic can get in and out of the
site, and that staff cars are protected. The
following arrangements have been
introduced:
•
•
•
•
The car-parking barrier has been
reinstated
Parking is restricted only to those
living in the residences, those
working in Acorn House and the
Bungalow, and those working in the
Jasmine Centre – this is because the
number of available spaces will be
reduced
Staff must only park in designated car
parking spaces: i.e. only those
marked with white lines.
All car drivers must display their
contact details (for example a phone
extension) clearly so that they can be
contacted by Meteor should the
vehicle need to be moved.
Any queries should be directed to Carillion c/o
Andy Baker 01322 428125
Great advice and workouts from
highly qualified and trained fitness
professionals in the Physio
Department Gym.
Tuesdays 5-7pm with Dan Hayes
Thursdays 5-7pm with David Borrel FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE PHYSIO
RECEPTION OR EMAIL
danhayes_pt@yahoo.co.uk
Carers can access Z-beds
Carers can ask for drinks when they are on the ward
Carers are entitled to use washing and toilet facilities whilst they are on the
ward
For more information please speak to Lesley Goldsmith, Trust Learning
Disability Lead. On ext: 8865
No more paper surveys!
Now more than ever, it is essential that we ask patients what they think of the Trust’s services. The
Trust Board expects ward/departmental feedback presentations to the Patient Experience Committee.
This committee comprises of Trust Governors and
Lay Members from the public.
The Trust has invested in 2 hand held devices and 2 free standing kiosks for use in all areas. Enter
your questions and at the touch of a button your reports can be generated in real time.
How to get electronic feedback from your patients?
Please contact Lesley Goldsmith, PPI Manager who will help create your survey questions
lesley.goldsmith@dvh.nhs.uk or 8865
A message from the developer …..
I am delighted to have just started a 12-month
secondment with Darent Valley Hospital. I will be
working closely with a diverse group of people at
DVH, from frontline staff to senior managers, in
an effort to optimise clinical IT systems, also
known as healthcare informatics.
When I first began working for the Trust in 2005
as a house officer (or F1 doctor) I felt I could
contribute more, and I went on to design the
EDN system. After 5 years of development, EDN
now operates within the brand-new trustNET
system, and is one of the busiest systems in the
hospital. Things are about to get busier however,
and in the next few weeks and months we will be
launching template-based discharge letters, for
high flow areas like Day Care and the Pine
Therapy Unit, producing hundreds of care
summaries per week.
Whilst the trustNET development board also has
a number of other projects queued, we would be
delighted to hear
from you, whatever
your job role is.
If you feel passionate
about improving the
care of your patients,
or if you have an idea
how things could run
more efficiently, and
you think that it could
be achieved with
healthcare
informatics then I
would be pleased to
hear from you.
My closest associates are Lesley Goldsmith and
Neil Perry. If you would like to participate, or just
want to know more about what we do, feel free
to contact Lesley or Neil and they can put you in
touch with me.”
Dr Peter Karalis.
Susan Acott, the Chief Executive, said a massive
thank you to all staff that struggled into work through
the severe weather conditions.
work at 1am. Despite this, she worked the rest of
her shift and stayed late into the day shift before
leaving and returning to work again that night.
Staff made heroic efforts, many staying over night
and/or working extra shifts. Those with four wheel
drives ferried colleagues in to ensure the wards were
safe and emergency care remained available to all.
Synergy - delivered and collected linen every day
from Dunstable in Bedfordshire.
Tillery Valley - delivered food from South Wales
every day to ensure that all patients continued to
have hot food, despite the treacherous conditions,
particularly on the M25.
The following is a list of just a few of the people at
Darent Valley who helped to make all the difference in
extreme circumstances.
ITU Matron, Amanda Beadle, drove her staff in with
her 4x4 for every shift, doing a round trip each time
through horrendous conditions. In addition to working
excess hours on ITU she went to the car park with a
shovel to dig her staff’s cars out every evening to help
them get home safely. Amanda drove many miles to
collect staff, bring them in, and take them home again.
This included staff from other departments. She
brought toiletries for those who could not get home,
stayed in hospital accommodation and ensured all
staff had food and clothing, she is a true snow hero.
Tina Earl who works on ITU, left home mid afternoon
on Tuesday 30th November to be on time for her night
shift. She was stuck on the A2 for 9 hours and got to
Lee Barnes, based himself at the Hospital for the
duration of the adverse weather. He was able to
ensure the Switchboard and Helpdesk were
manned to deal with the vast increase in call activity
and assist the Trust in the transportation of key
workers to the site in dangerous conditions.
He also assisted with digging staff cars out to allow
them to get home safely.
Gurkamal Aujla (Gurky), based himself at the
Hospital and was able to coordinate all
Housekeeping staff to provide food and cleaning to
all patients. Gurky also helped to dig cars out of the
main car park and from staff accommodation. He
ensured residences were cleaned to allow key staff
to stay overnight often working 18 hour days.
Alan Hinds, who lives some distance from the Hospital,
was on site every day working long hours to provide
hot food to all staff working extra hours in extreme
circumstances. He worked hard to ensure patient
meals were uninterrupted by working closely with
suppliers on contingency plans to ensure deliveries
continued.
Kevin Irlam- band 6. Despite not being able to get in
Leigh Wiltshire, working 18 hour days coordinated
snow clearance, transport and logistics for all hospital
functions. He used his own vehicle to collect key Trust
staff. One day he was stuck in traffic for 8 hours.
CCN’s
Mel Maddison, who walked for 2 and a half hours to be
here and spent the day in resus unasked on Tuesday
as she knew that that was what was needed.
Andy Curley, assisted in the senior management
planning for the whole of the 4 day period. He
deployed his team to ensure the hospital building was
fully functioning during the worst weather the building
has endured in its 10 year life. Andy was on duty for up
to 20 hours per day and also found time to dig staff out
of the Car Park.
Geraldine Smith, worked a part day on Thursday and
then a night in A+E.
Many other Trust and Carillion staff volunteered to
snow clear and dig people out working hard in extreme
conditions.
Laurie Banks and John Sheridan local farmers
assisted with the snow clearance with their heavy plant
vehicles. They were operating 12 hours a day over a 5
day period to ensure by Monday 6th December all car
parks were operating as normal.
Janice Brogan had to act on an emergency request to
open a closed building for staff in difficult conditions
and in the process slipped on the ice and broke her
arm, she then got it set and continued to work.
Linda White in Recruitment, walked from South
Darenth every day across fields to get here and
worked on the wards as a clerk to keep the wards
running smoothly.
On Tuesday 30th November, Karen Nadin and
members of the Physio team rescued an amputee
patient on a mobility scooter which broke down in the
snow in the Fast Track bus lane. The patient was
trying to make it to Darent Valley to keep his
appointment.
Chestnut
Debbie Griffiths: On Tuesday and Wednesday she
worked long days. She is a preceptor and was an
absolute trooper in the way she simply got on and
made no fuss.
Agnes Shoko, as above, immediately realised she
would need accommodation on Monday and booked it
to be sure she could be here on Tuesday. With Debbie
was outstanding for Tuesday and Wednesday. As if
they did not have enough to do as band 5’s with new
doctors a patient arrested at 18.30 which they
successfully resuscitated.
during the week, he phoned the ward from home to be
sure to support his colleagues and help them through,
His calm and support were extremely welcome. He
worked Friday night after coming in Friday during the
day, in order to cover the ward
Julie Gladman came in on Friday and Sunday
supporting bed team and A+E fantastically. She was
instrumental in getting a patient from A+E to the heart
centre on Friday within 10 mins of arrival for Ppci- life
saved.
Ebony
Sister Jackie Grant. Stayed until midnight one night
to be sure her staff were okay, walked in and out from
Bexley and had the most wonderful “we will be fine –
whatever staffing we do and don’t have” attitude.
Heart Centre
Caroline Blair A member of the nursing staff who
made it in all week and worked out of area on the ward
and was fantastic.
Over the weekend a number of the Finance staff
volunteered to assist the Wards and other front line
Departments to support the clinical staff in areas which
were experiencing staff shortages due to the snow.
The following staff assisted in these areas:
Karen Streeton – Linden Ward
Rebecca Brookes – Juniper Ward
Claire Rust – CDU and A&E
Adele Dutton – A&E
Sue Oake – Willow Ward, Control Room and Bed
Bureau
Anita Gorvan/Jo Summers/Cleo Chella – Mulberry
Kathy Peache – Rowan Ward
Jenny Still – Ebony and Spruce Wards
Anne Donovan – Short Stay Ward
Veena Nischal – CDU
Joanne Woodey—Oak
Jane Beadle— Medical Secretaries
Vicki Philpott—Chestnut
It was a great Team effort from the Directorate who
volunteered their own time to support the Hospital by
ensuring services to patients were maintained during
the very severe weather experienced last week.
Have your snow pictures published on ADAGIO.
Send them to sue.daniels@dvh.nhs.uk
The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics
has been educating Trust staff on the
importance of nutrition allowing the
opportunity for colleagues to increase
their knowledge.
The aims of the week were to raise
awareness of the importance of a healthy
balanced diet for staff and what this
consists of, improve health in the
workplace, promote the need to
accurately screen all patients for
malnutrition on admission using the
Trust’s nutritional screening tool, identify
any training needs and raise the
importance of protected mealtimes on all
wards
The week (22nd—26th November) consisted of
taking our education and training to the wards
(adult and paediatrics) which were visited each
afternoon. To attract the attention of Trust staff a
decorated trolley was made eye catching and
interactive with information, posters and leaflets.
The trolley was manned by Dietitians, Dietetic
Support Workers, Health Trainers and
Occupational Health.
Overall dietetic staff felt the event was a success
generating interest and positive feedback.
West Kent NHS Health Trainers are a new
development initiated from the Government’s
Change 4 Life campaign. Areas covered are
Dartford, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks,
Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge and Malling.
Their main focus is to help people adopt a
healthier lifestyle, offer support, motivate and
encourage and to help maintain behaviour
change. It is important to note they are not there
to provide professional advice but to help find
and use the correct services.
2nd Prize - Cheese Board Set - Lea Breuning, FY1,
Beech Ward
Occupational Health was promoting free Health
MOTs to all Trust staff throughout December
and January by appointment only.
Supplement tasting with a twist invited a crowd;
recipes such as crème caramel and chocolate
milkshakes incorporated the prescribed
supplements used in malnutrition such as
Enshake and Ensure Plus.
A nutrition quiz was designed based upon healthy
eating guidelines; all those who answered correctly
were entered into a prize draw.
1st Prize - £25 John Lewis Vouchers - Mark Pennell
Charge Nurse, Palm Ward
3rd Prize - £15 John Lewis Vouchers - Juley,
Audiology Department
4th Prize - Free Starbucks Coffee each day for 1
A big thanks to everyone who took part. If you want
to know the quiz answers contact the Dietitians
Department.
I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the
Nutrition and Dietetic department to thank all those
who participated for their time and effort.
Miss J. Daddy
Acute Dietitian
For just over 100 years Xrays have been used for
diagnostic purposes. Images
were produced when the xrays interacted with light
sensitive film that was
contained within a cassette.
The photographic film was
then passed through a
number of tanks of chemicals
to develop, fix and wash the
film and then dried. The
image produced on the film
is what we all recognise as
an x-ray.
In the last 10 years
technology has advanced
rapidly with the introduction
of Computerised
Radiography (CR). In 2005 as part of a national project
DVH removed all of our conventional processing
equipment and replaced them with CR readers, films were
replaced with image storage plates, and then there was
the introduction of the PACs system.
The major advantages of this system includes no more
chemicals, no more film, no more physical film storage
space, image manipulation, more rapid processing time
and higher patient throughput.
The CR readers converted the images into a computerised
format which increased the potential image quality and
enabled the image to be manipulated altering for example
magnification, contrast and sharpness of the image.
The latest advance in technology is the introduction of
Digital Radiography (DR). This new technology now
removes the need for image storage plates and introduces
the Detector. This is a purely digital system offering a
speedier image production time and yet again a vastly
improved image quality. Potentially radiation doses can be
reduced too.
This new system will further increase patient throughput
and the increase in image quality will further aid diagnosis.
DVH Radiology Department are currently building a new
X-ray room and installing a new DR system. It is situated
off the A&E corridor and X-ray main waiting room. This
new room will provide a service for patients from A&E,
Fracture Clinics, Outpatients, GPs and Inpatients.
The Radiographers have new challenges ahead as they
learn to adapt all of their techniques as working with a DR
system is going to be very different to Conventional or CR
Radiography. Once installation is complete and training
has taken.
With the new room being located closer to
A&E and Fracture Clinic the patient
experience will be improved and should
encourage a better working collaboration
between all the departments.
The Christmas Concert was held in the main out patient
department this year and for once we were all warm! In past
years we have used the foyer but last year it was really too
cold to contemplate using it again.
There was a huge turnout despite the freezing temperatures
outside. Gerard Sammon, Director of Operations, welcomed
patients, Governors, members of the public and staff to the
Christmas Concert in our 10th Anniversary Year.
Stephen Mulvaney, Assistant Director of Education and
Learning, was a great host and lightened the concert in his
well known fashion!
The Eynsford Brass Band led the singing and the Out Patient
department was filled with music.
It was a joy to see patients from the adult wards and Willow
Ward. One patient enjoyed it so much she didn’t want to go
back to her ward until she’d had her mulled wine and mince
pie! Carols included Joy to the World, I Saw Three Ships
Come Sailing In, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, The Holly and
the Ivy and Silent Night.
A special thank you goes to Linda Collins, the Out Patient
Senior Sister for making it possible to use the department
and Mr Paul Gluckman, Consultant ENT Surgeon, who had
an evening clinic running during the concert.
The Hospital Chaplain, the Reverend Martin Kelly, gave the
blessing and Jenny Kay, Director of Nursing, closed
the concert by thanking the audience.
My personal thanks go to Sandra Gilliard, Debby
Morrow and Ben Light (a Volunteer) for helping me
organise the event and made it such a success.
On behalf of the Trust Board we
would like to thank you all for your
hard work throughout the year and
wish you a
Sarah Dunnett
Chairman
Susan Acott
Chief Executive
Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year
30 pupils aged from 8 to 11 years from St
Anselms Primary School, Dartford delighted
patients, visitors and staff by singing a variety of
Christmas carols and songs in the foyer of Darent
Valley Hospital.
Laura White their teacher said the children have
also enjoyed performing at other venues around
Dartford such as Blue Water, Gardenia House
residential home for the elderly, and the Orchard
Centre, as well as St Georges Cathedral in
London.
Tracey Cummins, Fundraising Manager was also
delighted to receive the sum of £155.68 from the
bucket collection made during their performance
to benefit the Hospitals Lollipop Fund for sick
children.
At this time of year we are grateful for any money
that helps to buy presents and parties for children
and the elderly helping to keep spirits up for those
who find themselves in hospital at Christmas.
We are also grateful to the local Beaver and Scout
groups who have delighted our patients and visitors
with performances during the evenings and
weekends in the front foyer and around some of the
wards.
For more information on the Darent Valley Hospital
Charity Fund contact:
Tracey Cummins Tel 01322 42825