University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

The state-of-the-art Vyaire Vyntus™ ONE Pulmonary Function System is now being used in respiratory research studies at the NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre at Glenfield Hospital. The new kit marks a significant advancement in our respiratory research capabilities. Clinical Professor in Respiratory Medicine, Professor Chris Brightling, said: “This technology will enable us to increase participant recruitment and develop novel academic studies.”

Our long service award celebrations are in full swing, with afternoon tea and breakfast events to recognise colleagues and their years of dedicated NHS service. Amie Seal, Communications Assistant, said: “It was lovely celebrating with everyone at the Secret Garden. I've worked at UHL for 15 years, and collectively the marquee held almost 2,000 years of service, which is incredible.”

From Kerala in India to Leicester, Pathway to Excellence facilitator, Stephy Harshal has become a champion of cultural diversity and support for international nurses at UHL. "Expressing your culture to others gives you more acceptance and makes you feel part of a team. It also makes me feel free to be myself," she shares. Her passion for nursing and dedication to inclusion remain strong in her work and South Asian Heritage celebrations.

The Special Chemistry Pathology team and friends took part in the Twilight Walk, in memory of their beloved colleague, Mike King, who passed away at the LOROS hospice last year. The team completed the 10km walk, which is held annually in Leicester city centre, to raise funds for the hospice that provided Mike with compassionate care in his final days. Trainee Biomedical Scientist, Alex Kosiewicz, said: “The team’s dedication and generous support from the community made this event a significant success. The money raised will help the hospice continue its vital work in providing care and support to those in need."

A groundbreaking ceremony took place on Friday 12 July, to celebrate an important milestone for Hinckley’s new Community Diagnostic Centre (CDC). The ceremony at the existing site of the Hinckley and District Community Hospital, marks the start of construction work to build a £24.6 million facility, providing CT and MRI scans, endoscopy, x-ray and ultrasound facilities. This investment in health services is one of only 40 to be awarded nationally by NHS funding in England. Chief Operating Officer, Jon Melbourne, said: "Today was an important milestone, as the Community Diagnostic Centre is a key part of the work we are doing with our system partners to bring care closer to home. It will also benefit patients and families by reducing the length of time people have to wait for access to diagnostic services."

Last month, the Clinical Fellowship Programme team organised UHL’s first enhanced induction programme for clinical fellows and locally employed doctors. Consultant, Dr Vasu Thanthullu, said: "The majority of our locally employed doctors are international medical graduates, who face the dual barriers of a new country and health system. The enhanced induction aims to welcome, value, and support our new colleagues to life at UHL and the NHS."

Multi-disciplinary teams from five wards have developed projects to improve patient care, as part of a pilot of the Leicester Excellence Accreditation Framework (LEAF). The new accreditation programme will give colleagues the opportunity to demonstrate and be recognised for proven excellence. At the end of their projects, teams will present their findings to a panel of senior leaders and be accredited, with the best-performing teams receiving ‘Gold’ status for their outstanding work. Chief Nurse, Julie Hogg, said: “This builds on our established assessment and accreditation processes, recognising the contributions of the multi-professional team to delivering personalised care and clinical excellence."

Congratulations to Staff Nurse, Zelda Lee, who has received a Student Link Award from our Practice Development Team. Zelda, who works in the Orthopaedic Pre-Assessment Clinic at Leicester General Hospital, was nominated by her Ward Manager, Lynsey Alves, who said: “Zelda leads her role without hesitation, always ensuring that student nurses are made to feel welcome before they even start their placement. “She is extremely proactive and responsive in her role and will actively help each student by showing them around, taking them to different departments and organising things for students to experience, so that they get the most from their placement with us. “Zelda is a truly remarkable nurse and deserves recognition for the fantastic time and effort she puts into supporting each individual student nurse.”

Colleagues from Leicester’s Hospitals and the University of Leicester are collaborating on a project which harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to help support our workforce. A team led by Dr Dennis Pepple, Associate Professor at the University, is developing an ‘organisational self-identification’ model, which will inform plans for how best to support colleagues and shape better and more people-centred policies for the Trust. The model, which helps to map how closely colleagues identify with their place of work, is already providing valuable information to improve recruitment and retention of colleagues. Dr Pepple said: “This long-term project will provide robust data analysis to support decision-makers as they seek to make Leicester’s Hospitals a great place to work.” Assistant Chief Nurse, Antonella Ghezzi, added: “This is an excellent example of collaborative working between institutions in Leicester. Our aim is to use innovative approaches to support the workforce, which in turn will benefit the care we deliver.”

Dr Rahul Patel and respiratory colleagues scooped the Specialty of the Year award at our recent Audit and Quality Improvement Programme Annual Awards. Our respiratory team have an excellent approach to audit and quality improvement, having won the award previously in 2017, with lots of examples of improvement made to patient care as a direct results of their projects. Well done to the respiratory team and all the other winners.