The appointments team in radiology are the latest team of the month as recognition for some fantastic work recently. Due to a replacement of one of the scanners, the team have had to move CT appointments around - and it hasn't been without complications along the way. Gail Griffiths, operations manager in radiology, who nominated the team, said: "The appointments team have done a fantastic job moving CT appointments from three scanners into two for a scheduled replacement of one of our scanners. "This involved micro-managing lists to best accommodate the preferences and needs of each patient whilst still enabling the Trust to meet cancer and emergency targets. It also meant that lists from December were over booked (with an associated change in working practice for clinical staff) to allow the urgent IP and emergency service to remain undisrupted throughout the five week replacement. "At the 11th hour, after all of this hard work had been done since November, the manufacturer had to change the date of the installation. All appointments then had to be reverted back to the usual pattern and the whole process needed to be repeated. "This is very much a 'behind the scenes' operation which ensures the clinical staff can concentrate on the acute work and without which the department could not function effectively."

Are you interested in helping people reduce their opioid use? Are you a nurse or allied health professional with an interest in research? Or have you reduced your opioid use and would like to help others do the same? The I-WOTCH study is a clinical trial co-ordinated from the Warwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick and funded by the National Institute of Health Research Health Technology Assessment (project number 14/224/04). The study aims to test the effectiveness of a patient-centred self-management group intervention, comparing withdrawal of strong opioids for people with non-malignant pain, with best usual care. They are looking to hire facilitators to co-deliver a group self-management intervention in community settings in and around the Midlands and North East of England. It is a three day intervention programme, running one day per week on consecutive weeks. They are hiring for three roles – nurse facilitators, study ‘lay person’ facilitators and allied health professional facilitators. More information, including the full job descriptions, can be found here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/research/ctu/trials/iwotch/vacancies The closing date for applications is Sunday 18 March. If you have any queries or would like to have an informal chat with the study team, then please email IWOTCH@warwick.ac.uk.

Well done to everyone who got involved in the fundraising events organised by the chaplains over Christmas, helping raise £375 for the Little Sprouts charity. The money was raised through a number of events which included the chapel Christmas draw, advent countdown in the chapel, and donations received when placing tags on the memory trees in both hospitals. Little sprouts are an award winning Community Interest Company dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of young people, adults and families in our community. Through its mobile kitchen and food education projects Little Sprouts work with people who may have multiple disadvantages, inspiring them to make better food choices through cooking workshops. As a side-by-side therapy the workshops have proved to build self-confidence and helped to reduce social isolation. The sessions promote learning basic cooking skills, sharing recipes and highlighting the benefits of family mealtimes and eating together. If you would like to learn more about Little Sprouts, please visit http://www.littlesprouts.org.uk/

THE trust’s stroke research team has been recognised for recruiting to a national trial. Ijaz Anwar, consultant physician in the stroke unit at the University Hospital of North Tees, is contributing to the RESTART study with support from consultant physician Arunkumar Annamalai. Dr Anwar said: “The REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial is trying to find out whether a certain antiplatelet medication which prevents clots, benefits people who have had a stroke due to bleeding, as these patients are at more risk of a clotting type of stroke than bleeding again. “These drugs are likely to make heart attacks, strokes and other clotting problems less likely, although they have the potential to make a brain haemorrhage (bleed in the brain) worse.” The important question is whether antiplatelet medication is beneficial overall for this group of patients. More than one third of adults who have suffered a stroke due to a bleed in the brain have been taking medication to prevent blood clotting before the stroke. The medication a stroke patient will have taken is usually stopped when the brain haemorrhage occurs. It is after a patient has recovered from a brain haemorrhage that they and doctors are often uncertain about whether to restart medications to prevent further clots occurring or whether to avoid them in case they increase the risk of bleeding. The stroke team have recruited six patients to the study – a challenging target as it involves patients having to restart their medication after a bleeding type of stroke. In recognition of this, they have been presented with a “Hit a Six Award” from the National Institute of Health Research. Dr Anwar added: “It is a fantastic achievement that we have recruited a group of patients for this study. This is something that has been a real challenge and it is real credit to the whole team.” The study will recruit more than 700 people across the country.

We are currently the best trust in the country for our A&E target – at 97.6% - on the BBC performance tracker! Visit this link for more information http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41483322

YOUNG people with learning disabilities are being offered life changing opportunities to work in the NHS thanks to a new initiative. Project Choice has placed nine of its members into volunteering roles at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. The programme, funded by Health Education England, aims to help young people with learning disabilities, difficulties and autism by setting up placements to get them the work experience they need to get into paid employment within a year. Area manager Steph Walker said: “We are delighted with how all of our young people at the trust are doing so far. They are all gaining experience and bridging that gap between the skills they have and those they will need to be in full time employment.” “Our support is tailored to each person and we match employment options to each person’s skills. The interns we have working at the University Hospital of North Tees are doing an array of different roles including finance, portering, elderly care and sterile services to name but a few. “We are looking to increase our scope of placements that we can offer our interns as their interest and range of skills grow.” Dominic Cain and Ryan Watson are two of the young people who continue to progress since joining the trust. Dominic, who is 18 and has autism, has been working as a porter. He said: “I like everything about this job. I’ve been here 10 weeks now and am really starting to feel like I know the role. I would definitely want to work here if given the chance.” Head porter Andy Howard said: “Dominic has been doing really well. He keeps progressing. He’s enjoying it and is now very much part of the team. All of the staff have taken him under their wing. “I would certainly like to offer him a job here when the time comes.” Ryan, who is deaf, has been working in central stores. He is helped by communication support worker Ian Chamberlain from MeSign sign language specialists. Ian said: “Ryan is meeting people and is growing in confidence – I see it every day. “This will give him the experience he needs to be able to go out and get a full time job.” Anyone interested in finding out more or exploring whether a placement would work in their service area can contact Stephanie.walker3@nhs.net or 07866757262.

A family from Cumbria have raised money for the trust’s neonatal unit as thanks for the care given to a baby born five weeks prematurely. Heather Black and her colleagues from Unity in Cumbria raised £233 for the neonatal unit at the University Hospital of North Tees. This was as thanks for care given to Heather’s sister Emma and Emma’s baby, Arya, who was transferred from Whitehaven to North Tees. She said: “During this time our family were very worried, but when we came to visit we were always made welcome. “The care Arya received was amazing and although she has had a rough start to life, she is now okay and a happy healthy baby. “I work for Unity, the local NHS drug and alcohol service in Cumbria, and each year we hold a fundraising event where we bake cakes, hold a raffle and so on to raise money for a charity. “This year we chose to donate the funds to the unit as the support my sister, her partner and Arya received was excellent and we would like offer the money to support families in the future on the unit.” Ward matron Julie Colarossi said: “We are so grateful to Heather, her family and her colleagues for raising money for the unit, thank you so much - we really appreciate it.”

A NEW state of the art CT scanner was delivered to the University Hospital of North Tees over the weekend. As you can see from these pictures, moving medical equipment this size takes a lot of planning from the trust's estates and radiology departments - not made any easier by the unpredictable weather over the last few days. The Siemens SOMATOM Definition Edge scanner will replace one of the existing scanners when work to install it is completed next week. Gail Griffiths, Operations Manager Radiology, said: "Along with the Flash scanner we already have in the department, this will help us to continue to provide the very best care to our patients by helping us produce fast, high resolution images and improve workflow to enable us to achieve emergency and cancer targets".

The trust has recently recruited its first Patient Research Ambassador (PRA), Shirley. She joined the trust in November last year and brings to the role a wealth of research knowledge and experience. Read her story here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MFA-nuAgFtX9SIFeMJF4MuCzbUU56l7m/view

Calling all staff - the trust is holding two courses around difficult conversations and leadership. The difficult conversations course is a half day interactive workshop which covers the various aspects of what makes a difficult conversation difficult. You will also be taught hints and tips on how to effectively handle difficult conversations, and will be introduced to concepts to help provide structure to future difficult conversations you may face. You will have the opportunity to complete a self assessment questionnaire to discover your strengths and weaknesses when faced with difficult situations. The information to leadership course is a one day interactive workshop that will introduce the basics of effective leadership while offering the opportunity to define and refine your own personal leadership style. The workshop will allow you to develop your own leadership skills through fundamental learning materials, presentations, interactive group exercises and diagnostic tools. For more information see yesterday's staff news round up.

If you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome and are interested in research you might be able to help. You can sign up to be contacted about future research at the trust by visiting www.contactme-ibs.co.uk