West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust on the pulse Newsletter issue 23 - October 2007 News and views from St Albans, Hemel Hempstead and Watford Hospitals £1bn Watford Health Campus unveiled A day of celebration Claire Ward, MP for Watford and In May this year we hosted our members of the unique Watford fourth annual Nursing and Health Campus partnership met on Midwifery Conference to celebrate 14 May at Portcullis House, International Nurses Day. The Westminster to unveil the exciting conference was designed specifically plans for the £1bn west Watford to highlight the outstanding work regeneration project. Patients, local carried out by our nurses and community groups, MPs and the midwives and how they have media were invited to see the plans improved patients’ experience. Digital imagery and a 3-D model of come to life using digital imagery how the Campus could look are Gary Etheridge, chief nurse/director and a 3D model. helpful in bringing the Campus to of patient services said: “We were life delighted that our guest speakers Dorothy Thornhill, Elected Mayor of have taken time out of their busy Watford said: ‘The Campus is a opportunities for new businesses to schedules to join us to celebrate fantastic project for Watford that develop. All delivered in a highly National Nurses Day. will bring around £1bn worth of sustainable way.’ investment to our town delivering a Our staff work extremely hard new state-of-the-art hospital, new The planning application for the and provide excellent standards of homes, a redeveloped stadium for Health Campus Masterplan was nursing and midwifery care for Watford Football Club and submitted in July to Watford our patients, mothers and their Borough Council and a decision is babies and I am really pleased this conference allows us the expected in December 2007. opportunity to celebrate these The proposals can be viewed on achievements.” the Campus website: www.watfordhealthcampus.org To commemorate International Nurses Day (May 12th) some of our “Fantastic project for Watford that Nurses dressed in will bring around £1bn worth of historical uniforms, investment”. depicting nursing Claire Ward and members Dorothy Thornhill, through the ages. of the Partnership elected Mayor of Watford October 2007 1 A behind the scenes look at Clinical Coding Stroke Services among the best in the Country When you come into hospital, the last thing on your mind is “how are It is official; our stroke services are my treatments going to be coded?” among the best in the country. The You are probably thinking about the service received an excellent report doctors, nurses and how their clinical in the recent ‘National Sentinel skills will make you feel better. Audit for Stroke 2006 funded by the Healthcare Commission. The report, But in any hospital there are many which covers 203 Trusts, gives a very departments that provide a very detailed insight into stroke services important role which assist in the around the country. smooth running of the organisation. There are about 20,000 diagnostic Clinical coding is one such codes which the clinical coding team Dr Collas, a consultant physician, department. refer to as ‘the coder’s font of Watford General Hospital said: all knowledge’. These codes are “The Watford Stroke Unit scored 88 Our clinical coders are based on all used internationally to provide out of 100 in the audit, coming three-hospital sites and are information on health trends and eighth in the country, compared with responsible for coding all in-patients’ used locally for billing and audit fifteenth in 2004. This independent diagnoses and treatments. To be a purposes. They cover a wide audit has given us the chance to clinical coder you need to be very spectrum of diagnoses and compare our performance with disciplined, focused, methodical and treatments. There is even a code every other organisation caring for enjoy challenging situations. You for patients who are eaten or bitten people who have had a stroke, and also need to undergo lengthy and by an alligator! Thankfully we have review how far we have come in rigorous training. The job consists of never had to use this yet at our comparison with our own previous extracting clinical information from hospital, but if anyone comes into performance.” casenotes and other sources and A&E with that condition, our clinical using your knowledge and skills to coders will be ready and waiting He added: “I see it as a tribute to the match the condition/treatments with with the right code. huge amount of work by everyone the correct code. involved. This will motivate us all to Clinical coders tend to become very stay on top, and help attract new involved with their job; so much so members to the team.” that whilst watching medical TV dramas they are not only thinking Dr Farag, consultant physician, about the storyline but also coding (stroke/medicine) at Hemel all the diagnoses and treatments Hempstead General Hospital said: portrayed in the programme! That “I am absolutely delighted with surely is true dedication to the these results. The sentinel audit is all-consuming role of clinical coding. made up of two phases, phase 1 organisational audit and phase 2 clinical audit. Hemel Hempstead This is not an easy task; each The hospital trust’s coding has gone Stroke Unit has improved condition and treatment has a from strength to strength and dramatically from being in the number of elements, all with played a huge part in not only lower 25% of the country in 2004 to different codes. The coders also rely securing income but also improving the top 25% performing stroke heavily on other Trust staff to ensure the data quality within the Trust. unit in the country in 2006. This they have timely access to casenotes is a remarkable achievement for and other sources of information. everyone involved in caring for Last year alone we coded around stroke patients.” 72,000 inpatient episodes. Not everyone is suited to the art of At Watford General Hospital we also clinical coding; you must enjoy provide a hyperactive service, which concentrating for long periods and includes the use of thrombolysis be prepared to undertake further treatment for patients as well as training whilst in the job. running a Stroke Prevention Clinic. 2 October 2007 In brief... in brief... In brief... in brief... In brief... in brief... in brief... In brief... Congratulations to Mr Hesham Al- for urgent inpatients admitted with spores and infection within the Khateed who won a medical acute heart conditions. This group of hospital. The project has received technology award in the 2007 patients would normally have been funding from the Department of Innovation Competition organised referred to a tertiary centre for Health and is being led By Prof by Health Enterprise East (HEE). The treatment and would wait as an in- Graham Ramsay, Medical Director Smith & Nephew Innovation Award patient for, on average, 14 days. and supported by Pat Reid and for Medical Technology was given Dr Adrian Wilson. for a novel technique which Acute Services Review Consultation prevents bone debris damaging the The Acute Services Review Facilities have joined forces with surrounding soft tissue during hip consultation was launched on June Infection Control in the battle re-surfacing procedures. 12th. against hospital-acquired infections by introducing Chlor- Mr Al-Khateeb was presented with For more information visit the ASR Clean. This was introduced to high- his award and a cheque for £1,500 website: http://wghintra01/acute_ risk areas at the beginning of by Mark Wickham from Smith & services_review/default.htm September 2006 and continues to Nephew at a special Awards Dinner held on Thursday 7th June, hosted Suggestion Box roll out to further areas. by BBC Look East presenter Stewart The ‘Suggestion Box’ has restarted - Historically isolation cleaning has White. so all Trust employees can give their required two cleans, one with suggestions for how the detergent followed by chlorine Cardiac Catheter Laboratory organisation can work more disinfection, however this has not Expands Service efficiently. It can be found in the ‘hot always worked adequately in the From 1 June 2007 heart attack topics’ section on the intranet home past as chlorine and detergent victims have been receiving modern page. cannot be mixed. Chlor-clean has emergency specialist treatment been developed to solve this called ‘primary angioplasty’ locally We’ll respond to each suggestion problem. This not only reduces the in west Herts. This is a modern and let you know what action takes time taken to perform the cleaning keyhole approach to opening place as a result of your ideas. process but also improves the blocked arteries in the heart which efficiency of the disinfection at the have suddenly blocked, a more Questions, comments and complaints same time. effective treatment than will help us to work better and make conventional action using injection more progress en route to becoming Patient focus and involvement of clot-busting drugs. a Foundation Trust. Staff can also To ensure that patients continue to email: [email protected] with be involved and receive an Commenting on this new service, any queries you’d like clarified, or experience that not only meets, but Dr David Hackett, lead cardiologist call the communications office on also exceeds, their physical and for the cardiac catheter laboratory 01442 287620. emotional needs and expectations, said: “I am very excited by this tremendous local development for The discussion board on the intranet the Trust has developed a Patient patients in west Herts. This is also provides a forum for discussion Involvement & Experience Strategy. modern, effective treatment for on issues affecting all employees. This has been developed in heart attacks, and I hope it will help consultation with patients, carers, to save many lives.” Helping to reduce the Trust staff, PCT colleagues, and spread of C.difficile external bodies and seeks to Waiting times have been reduced The Trust has established a research support ongoing, meaningful for all planned angiograms in line project using a Bowel Management involvement and engagement in with national and Trust targets.