Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Hazel Collard, Paediatric Medical Secretary at Bedford, is retiring this month after 39 years with the trust. She said: “I started working at Bedford Hospital in 1985, and having worked for 39 years, I have seen a lot of changes. When I first started I was using an old-fashioned electronic typewriter and I took clinic letters down in shorthand. There were no computers back then, no emails, faxes, printers or photocopiers! I remember seeing the plans for the Cygnet Wing on my consultant’s desk, seeing the last brick laying ceremony and finally the opening by the Queen in 1996. “I have worked with so many lovely people and feel that the paediatric department is like an extended family to me. I shall miss working at the hospital very much, but I’m looking forward to my retirement and the next chapter of my life.” We wish Hazel a happy retirement!

Ward 22 at the L&D were assessed for a ward accreditation and were scored at Bronze! With improvements seen in all areas since the last visit, the assessors found staff had excellent knowledge and understanding around mental capacity assessments, how to handle safeguarding concerns, and pain and care management provided to patients. Well done to all, and to team leaders Cheryl Hill and Agnes Phakati!

Congratulations to our Individual of the Month for May - Daniel Golebiowski from the Domestic team! Daniel went above and beyond recently when there was a small fire in the plant room. He collected fire extinguishers in the surrounding areas and took them to the plant room, which enabled staff to extinguish the fire and prevent anything more significant happening.

Congratulations to the Cardiac Cath Lab teams on both sites - our Team of the Month for May! The teams have rallied together to overcome obstacles and ensure continuity of care for patients following the closure of the lifts in Beeden House at Bedford Hospital.

Join us at our community careers expo! Open to all ages, the community careers expo is a fantastic opportunity to explore the various healthcare careers available within Bedfordshire Hospitals. Discover different apprenticeship pathways and hear directly from healthcare professionals about their experiences and advice. Don’t miss the chance to register your interest for our upcoming Health and Care Academy programme too! The expo will be at The Mall Luton on Friday 19 July and Saturday 20 July from 9am – 6pm.

We are delighted to announce that the Paediatric and Neonatal units at the L&D have been jointly awarded the prestigious title of Best Base Hospital for Training in the East of England Deanery region. Congratulations also to Dr Rishi Arora, Paediatric Consultant at Bedford, for winning the Best Educational Supervisor Award and to Dr Mohammed Mohammed for receiving the Unsung Hero Award for ST4-ST8. This outstanding achievement would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of all our educators, trainees, and the extended multi-professional teams in Paediatrics and Neonates across both hospitals.

Congratulations to Ward 3 at the L&D for achieving Silver ward accreditation! The feedback was that the team displayed excellent knowledge of the processes and their purposes, had excellent team spirit between colleagues, and was 100% in the pressure ulcer standard. Well done everyone involved!

Congratulations to Peter Going, Porter at Bedford Hospital, who was named as Individual of the Month for April! Peter was nominated for his kind and caring manner with both staff and patients, often going out of his way to help.

Congratulations to the Diabetic Eye Screening (DES) Programme mobilisation team who were named as Team of the Month for April! The team worked incredibly hard to launch the DES Programme alongside the equivalent team at MKUH. The joint BLMK service went live on 2 April. This was a very challenging piece of work with a strict timeframe, and all members went above and beyond to get the project completed alongside their regular day jobs.

Last week Consultant Orthopaedic and Spinal Surgeon Dimpu Bhagawati hosted the latest North Thames Spinal Network (NTSN) meeting at the L&D! Dimpu was made Clinical Lead for the NTSN this year, and its great to see this role bringing other great minds to our site. Teams from the Trust and from the region came to help promote better management of spinal surgery and spinal pathways, meeting with external providers and healthcare specialists to share ideas and plan the next steps in spinal care. With the aim to improve quality of care for patients and equity of access to spinal services, the attendees heard presentations on Cauda Equina Syndrome, Failed Back Syndrome, Endoscopic Spinal Surgery, and Spine; “Let’s Talk About Sex”. We thank everyone who helped bring this together, and are excited to see future collaboration at these meetings.