Latest news

A Stoma Nurse at Royal Derby Hospital has been praised by a patient for being her "NHS Angel" while they undergo extensive treatment for a cancer diagnosis.

In a letter, the patient lauded Lisa Cockram for her holistic support to both themselves as well as their family, amid what they described as "devastating" diagnosis for which they are undergoing extensive treatments and surgeries.

This included following the patient's treatment journey; providing information on support networks and tips on how they can manage their concerns and access resources - including mental health support; and holding difficult yet compassionate conversations with the patient's immediate family, including very young children.

A patient has thanked colleagues at Royal Derby Hospital for their ongoing care after reflecting on his journey following a sudden illness which resulted in him having both legs amputated below the knee in December 2022.

Young patients who may not be able to celebrate Christmas at home this year were treated to a special festive visit over the weekend (Saturday 16 December) by bearded bikers dressed as Santa Clause.

This winter, NHS organisations in Derby and Derbyshire are calling on our communities to "think which service" is right for their needs, as pressure on the NHS increases.

The #ThinkWhichService campaign aims to help people get quicker care in the most appropriate place, providing over one million residents with the information they need to make the right choice of NHS service when they are not well.

Patients at Queen's Hospital Burton were treated to a surprise visit from Burton Albion Football Club players and staff yesterday (14 December).

First team players including Joe Powell, Sam Hughes, Deji Oshilaja, and Steve Seddon, were joined by academy staff Shaun Barker and Keith Gilroy, and captain John Brayford, as the Brewers paid their annual Christmas visit to wards and departments.

The team in Sir Robert Peel Community Hospital's Philip Ward is celebrating a year since welcoming its first patients, after undergoing a dramatic transformation from an unused ward area to a "loving, friendly" ward. In the six weeks prior to the ward opening for the first time on 28 November 2022, a new team of colleagues was created, with many of them rolling up their sleeves to turn what was an unused ward space into a fully functioning 24-bedded ward ready to provide patient care.

A Healthcare Assistant (HCA) at Royal Derby Hospital's Medical Assessment Unit (MAU) has been described as "an asset to the ward" following glowing feedback from the relatives of an elderly patient. Amy Howe was singled out by the patient's daughter, who described Amy as "friendly, helpful, and very caring", stating that she helped to brighten her mother's day.

Players and staff from Derby County Football Club met patients, their families, and staff at Royal Derby Hospital as part of their annual Christmas visit this week (8 December). Club captain, Conor Hourihane and Head Coach, Paul Warne, were joined by member of the men's and women's teams as they spent time speaking with patients and their loved ones in Neonatal Intensive Care, Sunflower, Dolphin, and Puffin Wards, and the Paediatric Critical Care Unit.

We have carefully reviewed our mask wearing guidance and, from Friday 8 December, masks will be a personal choice rather than a mandatory requirement for staff, patients and visitors inside our hospitals.

This updated guidance applies to all areas of the hospitals including clinical and non-clinical spaces. Masks will still be available at all entrances for anyone who chose to wear one.

After undergoing an extensive refurbishment, Clinic M at our Derby community hospital site has been transformed into a purpose-built space, which for the first time has allowed all clinical and non-clinical members of the team to be housed in the same area.

UHDB was honoured to recently invite the High Sheriff of Derbyshire, Theresa Peltier, to Royal Derby Hospital - as part of a visit to a number of our teams and departments where action is being taken to address health inequalities, and promote a culture of openness, diversity, and inclusion. 

As part of her ongoing theme for the year, 'Unity is Community', Theresa's aim is to gain insight into areas across Derbyshire where changes have been implemented to improve service delivery for marginalised groups.

The Lead of our Age Positive Staff Network, Evan Blackwood-Pitter, is a personal friend of Theresa, and made contact with her to explore a visit after learning of this theme. Following this, in collaboration with Harinder Dhaliwal - our Assistant Director for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) - and our EMBRACE Staff Network, we organised several department visits for Theresa to reflect this theme.

UHDB pharmacy technician Gail Hall won the Katherine Miles poster category at this year's Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK conference in Bristol.

Facing strong competition from her peers nationally, Gail produced a thought-provoking poster based on her doctoral research.

A member of the Car Parking team at Royal Derby Hospital has been praised for his "act of kindness" in helping a patient make it to their appointment on time.

Sue Stocks became stuck in heavy traffic when driving her mother, Margaret Wallis, to her appointment in the Kings Treatment Centre, and was becoming concerned about making the appointment time.

UHDB is delighted to today (Monday 20 November) launch new fasting guidance for adult patients which will allow them to sip a small cup of water every hour up until the time of their procedure.

We are delighted to share that our Radiotherapy team won Highly Commended in a prestigious national award for its innovative work implementing tattoo-free radiotherapy and improving the patient journey for patients receiving treatment for breast cancer.

The team, which is based at Royal Derby Hospital, was recognised in the Health Service Journal's (HSJ) Partnership Award last night, Thursday 16 November, for the rollout of Surface Guided Radiotherapy (SGRT) - a very precise form of radiotherapy that eliminates the need for permanent, visible tattoos and marks to be placed on the patient's skin.

A Senior Clinical Educator was one of a lucky few nursing and midwifery colleagues from across the country to attend a prestigious reception to celebrate the birthday of His Majesty the King at Buckingham Palace yesterday (14 November).

A Senior Sister at Queen's Hospital Burton's Emergency Department has been praised for her desire and commitment to providing a development programme for junior Sisters and Charge Nurses to help them to develop their leadership, clinical knowledge, and managerial skills.

Josie Murphy acted on feedback from colleagues who expressed a desire to undertake more training within the department to aid their career progression after taking on senior roles in the team, such as Sister and Charge Nurse.

The impact of Josie's compassionate approach to leadership and development saw her awarded with our latest Excellent Employee Monthly Making a Difference Award - which was presented to Josie by Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive, Simon Crowther, alongside several members of QHB ED in a surprise ceremony.  

A housekeeper who is proactively trying to reduce waste and promote sustainability while also keeping her department clean and safe is now the proud winner of the latest CEO Making a Difference Award.

Patients who are having a knee or hip replacement at UHDB are benefitting from a state-of-the-art robot that helps assist their procedure, delivering more accurate, less invasive surgery, reduced recovery times, and improved outcomes for patients.

Patients who are undergoing dialysis treatment for kidney failure have been using their appointment time to create poppies for a touching display at Royal Derby Hospital.

A team of compassionate nurses working to ensure more children can receive end of life care at home with their loved ones has been recognised nationally after winning a Nursing Times Award - as well as being shortlisted for a second award. UHDB's Childrens' Community Nursing Team, working in partnership with colleagues from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) and Derbyshire Healthcare United (DHU), formed the 'Derbyshire Paediatric Palliative Care Urgent Response Service', to assist children to die in their own homes with their families and home comforts close by, when they otherwise have been admitted to a hospital or hospice.

The Tobacco Dependency Treatment (TDT) programme recently marked a significant milestone, as it celebrated its one-year anniversary since its launch in September 2022 - helping thousand of patients on their journey to quitting smoking in just 12 months.

The TDT programme was launched across all UHDB sites to support patients and our communities in quitting smoking. This is a campaign that has been launched across the healthcare system in Derby and Derbyshire, as well as within our sites in East Staffordshire, which offers personalised support for treating tobacco addiction to all patients admitted to our hospitals, including pregnant people and their partners accessing maternity services.

The team was one of only three from 220 trusts in the UK to be awarded with the TRAC Benchmarking Award for Time to Shortlist earlier this month, with interview shortlisting taking an average of just 3.4 days for more than 450 vacancies in quarter two this year (July - September 2023).

Members of the community are invited to attend a Remembrance Day Service at UHDB to pay their respects and honour our Armed Forces.

There will be services held at both Royal Derby Hospital and Queen's Hospital Burton on Saturday 11 November.

Thanks to the hard work and commitment of the Trust's Anaesthetics team, spearheaded by Anaesthetic Registrar, Dr Alex Churton, the use of desflurane has been reduced dramatically since 2022 - vastly reducing the amount of CO2 produced by the Trust while continuing to provide safe and effective anaesthesia to patients.

Are you a student adult or paediatric nurse set to qualify in March 2024? Here at UHDB, we have a range of opportunities across our five hospital sites across Derbyshire and Staffordshire which you can apply for now to give you the chance of being able to take the first step in your nursing career immediately after finishing your studies.

Following Storm Babet, a number of roads across Derbyshire and Staffordshire remain closed due to flooding.

The Neonatal team at Queen's Hospital Burton has been awarded the Bliss Baby Charter Gold accreditation, which recognises exemplary care to the babies cared for in the unit and their families.

The team, which cares for babies who are unwell or have been born prematurely, is one of only 13 departments to achieve Gold accreditation out of 191 units in the UK.

A male breast cancer patient has praised the team at Royal Derby Hospital's Breast Unit for the care they provided to him after his recent treatment for the disease. 69-year-old Mike Burrows, from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, says he felt "out of his depth" as a male undergoing treatment for a condition largely associated with females, and heaped praise on the incredibly "supportive" team who helped him through his treatment.