Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Join us at our Annual Members’ Meeting to celebrate the incredible achievements of our staff over the past year. The meeting will take place on Tuesday 10 September. This is an opportunity to hear about our ambitions including our new five-year clinical vision and the ground-breaking research taking place across our trust. It’s also a chance to meet with our staff and learn about their amazing work. Visit our website to find out more and register 🎟️ https://shorturl.at/bndxe

Staff across the Royal Free London (RFL) were recognised for their stellar achievements over the past twelve months at the group RFL staff Oscars. In recent weeks, site Oscars events have been held, with last night’s awards at the Emirates stadium celebrating the group-wide winners in 14 categories. Speaking at the event, which was attended by over 300 staff, chair of the RFL Mark Lam said it was a privilege to be a part of the trust. “There were over 900 nominations from across the trust for the Oscars awards this year, which was the highest number of nominations ever received and it’s so special to be here to recognise everything you have achieved this year.” Chief executive Peter Landstrom reflected on the past year for the RFL, and touched on the recently launched five-year trust clinical strategy. “Every single one of us in every site and department has a part to play – whether we’re booking patients into their appointments, welcoming them when they arrive at our buildings, offering them vital care and treatment, ensuring we stick to our budgets, or checking in on our colleagues. “The RFL Oscars is an opportunity for us to take time out to say thank you to all our staff – not just the winners from our site awards who join us this evening – who make this organisation a wonderful place to work.” Each year the Royal Free Charity supports the awards, with chief executive of the charity Jon Spiers saying: “We sponsor these awards every year because it’s really important to us that you are recognised for the extraordinary work you do. Thank you to everyone involved!

A huge thanks to Stephen Mangan for his superb hosting of the RFL Oscars on Thursday night. He took some time out to send us this video after the awards evening concluded. 😍 🏆

As we celebrate our colleagues at the group #RFLOscars awards tonight, we look back on some highlights and incredible achievements from our staff this year 👏

A world-leading eye surgeon and a consultant in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine have attained professorships from University College London (UCL). Saurabh Jain has been appointed the first ever professor of ophthalmology at the RFL and Mike Spiro has been named as a professor of anaesthesia and intensive care medicine. Saurabh has a special interest in adult strabismus (a condition where eyes don’t properly align with each other when looking at an object), paediatric ophthalmology and cataract surgery. He runs training courses, has mentored several residents and fellows over the years and regularly presents his research findings worldwide. Saurabh said: “I’m delighted to have attained this professorship from UCL. It’s a validation of the high level of teaching our ophthalmology team provide to our medical students and for our active observership programme. This includes improving access to work experience for students from deprived areas and schools to improve access to the ophthalmology profession. With so few places available at medical school I feel it is incredibly important to champion entry into our profession from all walks of life. This is something I feel passionately about.” Rohit Jolly, clinical lead for ophthalmology at the RFL, said: “I would like to congratulate Saurabh on this brilliant achievement. This shows that we have one of the country’s leading ophthalmology services, delivering the very best possible outcomes for our patients and training the next generation of outstanding eyecare doctors. Saurabh has always led the way in terms of setting high standards for clinical care, research and training and many of us, me included, are a result of his commitment to the above. We are very lucky and proud to have him within our department." Mike Spiro, has been appointed a professor of anaesthesia and intensive care medicine. Mike has worked as an RFL consultant for the past nine years focusing his research to streamline perioperative care and recovery after liver transplantation. He was a driving force behind the establishment of the Liver Critical Care Unit and he led, alongside Mr Dimitri Raptis and Professor Joerg Pollok, the eras4olt.org initiative with the International Liver Transplantation Society (ILTS) to produce the world's first comprehensive, evidence based enhanced recovery pathway for liver transplantation. Mike is the co-lead of the Royal Free Perioperative Research Group and vice chair of the ILTS anaesthesia and critical care committee. He is also workstream lead at NHS Blood and Transplantation to establish a national enhanced recovery pathway for liver transplant recipients across all seven UK centres. In addition Mike is director of the NIHR funded HealthTech Research Centre for Sustainable Innovation.

As we celebrate the 76th anniversary of the NHS, we want to look back at our own history and the people who have helped to shape our trust. Thank you to everyone who has given their expertise and time to the NHS or our partners, like the Royal Free Charity. We truly couldn't do it without you. #RFLFamily

A physicist at the Royal Free Hospital has been awarded a grant to carry out research using a revolutionary new scanner. The positron emission tomography (PET) scanner creates a three-dimensional picture of the whole body in one go and allows doctors to see how tumours and organs are functioning. Because the new machine, which was installed in March, can deliver a much lower dose of radiation to patients, while scanning faster and producing better quality images, it will allow new avenues of research using PET scans to be carried out for the first time. One trial already being considered is scanning healthy people at high risk of developing lung cancer as the low dose of radiation minimises the risk of harm. The new scanner could also help determine whether colon polyps need to be removed. It is currently difficult to tell if they are cancerous or not and so the standard approach is to remove them. But the scanner – which is 11 times more sensitive than the latest standard machines – might be able to show whether the polyps are benign, saving patients from unnecessary procedures. As well as opening up new avenues of research, the lower dose of radiation means that pregnant women with cancer can also be scanned with low risk to them and their unborn child, helping doctors to make more informed decisions about the best course of action. Beverley Holman PhD, diagnostic nuclear medicine and PET CT physics lead for the trust, received the senior clinical and practice research award from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). The award enables Beverley to carry out research for two days a week over the next five years, starting in September. Beverley said: “Being able to do research using the new scanner was always our aim and there are so many potential applications for the scanner – the sky’s the limit. This is a hugely exciting time for this area of research and I’m delighted we’ve been given this funding. “This is a chance for lots of people across the trust to get involved. It will also enable people in my team to take part in research with everyone working together to improve patient care.” It is anticipated these research projects and many others could quickly lead to changes in current working practices across many departments. The Royal Free London hosts one of the busiest cancer services in the NHS, receiving almost 50,000 referrals each year and cancer care forms a key pillar of the trust’s clinical vision. Beverley will also be working with the National PET imaging platform (NPIP). Launched in 2023 NPIP is the UK’s first-of-its-kind national total-body PET platform for drug discovery. As a collaborative partner to NPIP’s national network, the Royal Free London will conduct clinical and research work that can be shared with the network.

Chase Farm Hospital and our group clinical services support patients across north central London, providing them with access to planned surgery and ensuring they can get prompt access to diagnostic services no matter which of our hospitals or sites they visit. Chase Farm Hospital is one of NHS England’s eight elective surgical hubs and a leading centre for planned surgery across north central London, delivering high standards in clinical care. Learn more about our local clinical priorities for Chase Farm Hospital and group clinical services here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eycN3d-x

Barnet Hospital treats one of the largest elderly populations in London and the borough has more than 100 care homes. We will build on our expertise, helping people to age well and prevent frailty, becoming a leading example within north central London and beyond with a focus on expanding services, research and innovation. People are now living longer and experiencing more long term and complex health conditions. This means it is vital for us to work with our partners in primary, community and social care settings to address all aspects of our patients’ health. It’s essential that pathways between different care providers are seamless, improving patient experience and getting the best possible outcomes for patients of all ages. Click here to learn more about Barnet Hospital's clinical priorities 👇 https://lnkd.in/eWRvYAPY

Huge congratulations to our former colleague Professor Paul Griffiths, who has been named an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours for services to virology. 👏 Paul worked for many years at the Royal Free Hospital and is a leading expert in the field of virology, specialising in cytomegalovirus.