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What does research mean to you?

Guinea Pigs?

Lab Rats?

Drug trials?

Common misconceptions, which the Research Development & Innovation (RD&I) Department hope to dispel.

At the NHS 70 open day on Saturday 16 June, RD&I will be in the squash courts with many activities to show what research is really like.

James Lind the first person to conduct a randomised controlled trial in 1747 is even making a special guest appearance, along with Bear-Lind-a, a selfie booth and a dressing up area for children.

You can experience being recruited into a randomised chocolate trial…promise there will be no placebos! As well as seeing how the research of the past is helping to shape the healthcare of today and beyond.

A research reminiscence wall will give visitors the opportunity not only to see early examples of our research experience but also a chance to tell their own experiences of any research. There will also be videos running throughout the day on the future of research.

We hope that these activities will convince visitors to invest in the future of healthcare, by visitors signing up to our research database.

Come along for a day of interactive fun and education for all the family. For more information and to book on to events or talks, please download our app: http://bit.ly/NHS70PlymouthApp*.

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*We are experiencing some issues with the app appearing on the Apple Store – you can view a pdf version here – if you would like to book onto any sessions, email communications.phnt@nhs.net.

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History of Audiology

IMG_7247.JPGThe NHS started fitting hearing aids right at the beginning – 70 years ago. This was in response to the vast number of service men and women who had suffered hearing loss in the Second World War.

The basic method of doing a hearing test hasn’t changed in all that time – but the equipment certainly has!

We’ve gone from valves to digital technology. The same is true of the hearing aids themselves. No more big boxes worn on straps round the waist, but tiny devices with maybe 1000 times more processing power than the computers that ran the Apollo moon landings.

Who knows what the future will bring? Most predictions miss the mark by a country mile. But I suspect that the technological revolution we are going through at the moment is likely to be outstripped by the biomedical revolution coming soon – with the understanding and manipulation of genes in particular offering opportunities that we are only just beginning to grasp. The next 70 years are going to be amazing.

Come along for a day of interactive fun and education for all the family. For more information and to book on to events or talks, please download our app: http://bit.ly/NHS70PlymouthApp*.

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Adam Beckman

Audiology

*We are experiencing some issues with the app appearing on the Apple Store – you can view a pdf version here – if you would like to book onto any sessions, email communications.phnt@nhs.net

 

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Interested in careers in healthcare?

We will be hosting a Careers Fair as part of our Open Day on Saturday 16 June 2018, bringing together the city’s educational and vocational organisations to help you explore potential career opportunities in healthcare.

Representatives from the various organisations will be available between 10.00 and 14.00 to talk to about your aspirations and the opportunities which are on offer. The organisations who will be attending are:

  • University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (Apprenticeships, Volunteering, Preceptorship, Midwifery and many more)
  • NHS Professionals
  • Livewell Southwest
  • Plymouth Marjon University
  • Scott Medical and Healthcare College
  • Army Reservists
  • University of Plymouth

Specialist careers talks will be taking place throughout the day. These always prove to be really popular, but you can book ahead using our #NHS70Plymouth Open Day app or by calling Lauren on 01752 439654 to save a place.

  • (10:00-10:10) NHS Professionals
  • (10:15-10:25) Livewell South West
  • (10:30-10:40) Good applications on NHS Jobs
  • (10:45-10:55) Healthcare Assistants
  • (11:00-11:10) Voluntary Team
  • (11:15-11:25) Preceptorship Team
  • (11:30-11:40) Allied Health Professionals
  • (12:30-12:40) Healthcare Science
  • (12:45-12:55) Midwifery
  • (13:00-13:10) Good applications on NHS Jobs
  • (13:15-13:25) Scott College
  • (13:30-13:40) Marjons
  • (13:45-13.55) Army Reservists

If you are interested in job opportunities within UHPNT, all available vacancies are advertised on NHS Jobs, but please come along and talk to us for some hints and tips about the application process.

We look forward to meeting and welcoming you to our Careers Fair and are more than happy to answer any questions you may have. For further information please contact Matt Glastonbury/Lauren Scott within the Recruitment Team on 01752 432100 or via email on plh-tr.Recruitment-Team@nhs.net.

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Come inside our operating theatre of the past, present and future

IMG_8396.JPGPlym Children’s Theatres will once again be opening its doors as part of the Trust’s NHS70 Open day on Saturday 16 June (10.00-14.00). This is a great opportunity for children and adults to come and find out more about what happens inside an operating theatre.

Once again, we will be running our Teddy Bear Hospital – so if you know of a teddy or toy who is in need of some medical attention, please bring them along to be checked over, bandaged, or even stitched back up by the experts. The teddy bear’s owners are welcome to help and there are reward stickers for the owners and patients.

Come inside our operating theatre of the past, present and future – showcasing the changes that there have been in caring for people having surgery over the 70 years that the NHS has been in existence. Visitors will be able to see how the equipment we use to keep patients safe during anaesthesia has improved. Find out more about the different job roles in an operating theatre team and how we work together to look after patients, you could even have a go at “scrubbing-up”.

Plymouth Kidzzz – the charity that supports Plymouth Children’s Theatres, will be offering the opportunity to get involved with some pebble art and there will be lots of other activities for children and adults.

Come along for a day of interactive fun and education for all the family. For more information and to book on to events or talks, please download our app: http://bit.ly/NHS70PlymouthApp

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Sarah Wimlett
Consultant Anaesthetist

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#NHS70 Open Day on Saturday 16 June 2018

Wooden doctor desk background with copy space at bottomThis year the NHS celebrates its 70th birthday. We thought a great way to celebrate it would be to hold an Open Day with the theme of #NHS70 – the NHS past, present and future.

Some of our many services will be showing what healthcare was like in the past, how it is now and what it might look like in the future.

We will have on show equipment used in healthcare in decades past, for example old equipment used to test your hearing and old lenses and artificial eyes. We’ll also be exploring how roles, such as those of nurses and therapists have changed since the NHS first started. Being a Major Trauma Centre, we’ll be able to explain how things like survival rates have changed (and improved!) for patients and why.

From the chance to step into a modern day operating theatre to viewing our unique historic library collections, from discovering more about blood  and the history of microscopy to cracking bones, from finding out how research has changed over the years to trying your hand at delivering a mock baby … we’re inviting people to come along and find out more.

Download our programme for full details

But the #NHS70 Open Day won’t be all looking back. By very popular demand, we’ll once again have a Careers Fair so those interested in being our future staff and volunteers can find out more about the opportunities available. You can book in advance to attend talks by some of our specialist staff groups using our app.

We have also teamed up with our two local universities – the University of Plymouth will be joining us on the day with interactive stands around podiatry and dietetics. They will also be bringing their training ambulance along to the event so visitors can explore how Paramedic Practitioners are trained.

Plymouth Marjon University, just across the road from Derriford Hospital will be opening up their sports centre and health areas to demonstrate activities such as rehabilitation.

Being a military hospital benefiting from the Defence Medical Group South West, our military colleagues will be with us on the day with Casualty Sim to interact with and a display of RNH Stonehouse amongst other things.

For those interested, we’ll once again be running our popular behind the scenes tours too.

Over the next few weeks we will bring you more information about some of the many activities which will be on show on the #NHS70 Open Day using this blog. So please keep visiting and we hope to see you on the day. There will be free car parking for the Open Day in Car Parks C and D – site map here.

Come along for a day of interactive fun and education for all the family. For more information and to book on to events or talks, please download our app: http://bit.ly/NHS70PlymouthApp

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Hope to see you there

Amanda

Head of Communications

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“I enjoy spending time with every one of my patients, seeing how their motivation and confidence grows with each contact”

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So around seven months ago, I decided to change my job role.

I went ahead and I applied for this ‘Occupational Therapist Assistant’ role and, in total shock, I got the job. I won’t lie, I was truly and utterly in the dark about exactly what my job role was but excited and enthusiastic to get started.

However questions crossed my mind ‘could I change someone’s life?’, and ‘would I improve someone’s life’? This was me; the newbie, the little young assistant who was slightly clueless.

After my first day I answered my very own questions “YES!” I could change and improve lives, I proved myself wrong and I actually knew what I was doing. I felt very comfortable and happy; this was the job I had waited for!

Now after seven months in the role, I can explain what I do every day. I work within the general medicine team, and we cover wards, with patients with various chronic conditions, and every patient we meet faces different challenges.

As an Occupational Therapist Assistant my role is to empower patients to participate in full daily activities, working under close supervision and collaboration with the senior OT, and also alongside other health professionals.

I enjoy spending time with every one of my patients, seeing how their motivation and confidence grows with each contact.

Each assessments enables me to highlight equipment needs, what support they might need at home, mobility improvements and offer guidance to family members that feel their loved one is at a loss and struggling at home.

As much as I love being an assistant, I decided to enrol on an access course to start my exciting journey to becoming a qualified OT. So now this previously clueless assistant is now going into the big world with the skills and motivation to always improve someone’s life.

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Jodie is writing as part of the #WeCare2 campaign that will be running across our Trust communications. Look out for more from Occupational Therapy, and their AHP and HCS colleagues, on our social media pages, Trust screensavers, Daily Email, Vital Signs and much more.

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“Orthoptics is a relatively small profession; there are approximately only 1,450 Orthoptists currently in practice”

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Why did I train to be an Orthoptist? From an early age my sights were set on being an Optometrist. Whilst studying for my A-Levels I took a Saturday job, working for a large chain of Opticians. This work provided me with invaluable experience of working with the general public but it also gave me insight into the world of ‘high street’ Optometry. I decided that maybe Optometry wasn’t for me, so whilst still being very interested in eye health care, I looked to see if there were any alternatives; that’s when I came across Orthoptics!

 

Orthoptics is a relatively small profession; there are approximately only 1,450 Orthoptists currently in practice. The Orthoptic degree is offered at only three universities in the country, The University of Liverpool, the University of Sheffield and Glasgow Caledonian University.

 

Working as an Orthoptist is always interesting; no two patients are ever the same. Each patient is unique, both in their eye condition and also their individual needs and requirements. We deal with a lot of paediatric patients in Orthoptics, so we also see some highly amusing characters in clinic!

 

Orthoptists are often the first clinician’s paediatric patients and adults with diplopia (double vision) see when they attend an appointment at the Royal Eye Infirmary. Orthoptists investigate, diagnose and treat defects of binocular vision and abnormalities of eye movements; such as misalignment of the eyes (strabismus or squint), double vision (diplopia) and reduced vision (amblyopia).

 

Some eye conditions we diagnose may be indicators of other health problems, such as multiple sclerosis or tumour. Orthoptists therefore play an important role in helping to spot these serious conditions.

 

I enjoy running my own clinics and also that I work closely with other eye specialists such as Ophthalmologists, Optometrists, Nurses and HCA’s at the Royal Eye Infirmary.

 

Training students

We are a clinical placement site for all three universities, taking students on placement for around 23 weeks of the year. One of the aspects about my job I really enjoy is supervising Orthoptic students. It’s great to work with enthusiastic students who are keen to learn and enjoy seeing patients in clinic. Often the students may be assessing patient eye conditions first hand for the first time, which they have previously only read about; this can be a very enlightening experience to share with the student. Working as a clinical tutor can be time consuming and requires effort, but the pay back seeing students developing into reflective practitioners is extremely rewarding!

 

Where do I see the profession going?

The revised National Clinical Guideline for Stroke (RCP, 5th edition, 2016) lists Orthoptists as key members of the single multi-disciplinary team on stroke rehabilitation units. We are working with the stroke MDT’s at Derriford and Mount Gould to provide high quality Orthoptic care for patients who have had a stroke.

 

Orthoptists are increasingly working in extended roles within Ophthalmology in areas such as glaucoma and macular. Skills for working in extended role are being taught on the orthoptic degree and we currently have an Orthoptist about to start work in the field of macular.

 

We are one of only three centres of excellence for nystagmus. Whilst this extended role work is very exciting, it is perhaps a blog for another day!

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Lizzie is writing as part of the #WeCare2 campaign that will be running across our Trust communications. Look out for more from Orthoptics, and their AHP and HCS colleagues, on our social media pages, Trust screensavers, Daily Email, Vital Signs and much more.