Celebrating success: Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust 2023 – the year in review
This year, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust has supported the births of more than 10,000 babies; seen over 375,000 attendances at its Emergency Departments; made nearly 300,000 admissions to its hospitals; and have held more than 1.5million outpatient appointments.
These figures are huge but behind them all are the stories of people and families that dedicated staff have assessed, treated, cared for, and supported. In the year that the NHS celebrated its 75th birthday, we look back at some of the story highlights and achievements of 2023
January
First in-house Respiratory team help reduce hospital stay and readmissions
Patients needing to see a respiratory specialist at Broomfield Hospital are now being seen more quickly, thanks to the introduction of an in-house Respiratory Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) team.
This is the first time the service has been brought in-house, it helping patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma to be seen faster and on any of the hospital’s adult in-patient wards.
Anna Biddulph, Respiratory CNS said: “As part of our in-house service we’ll be giving education to patients and support the wards to help with early discharge of patients to the community. They will then be referred to the community team, Provide, for continued care and support and this will help reduce readmission to the hospital.”
February
Life-changing £600,000 appeal to improve cancer patient treatment launched
A new major fundraising campaign to buy state-of-the-art radiotherapy equipment for treating cancer patients across mid and south Essex was launched on Thursday 23 February.
If successful, the Spotlight Radiotherapy Appeal will mean that Southend Hospital would be among one of the first NHS cancer centres to have this cutting-edge technology; providing superior, ground-breaking radiation oncology treatment to over 2,500 patients a year by 2025.
Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation, which has funded big building projects and vital medical equipment over the last 25 years, is behind the campaign and needs to raise £600,000 to buy three surface guided radiation therapy (SGRT) systems.
March
Time capsule helped celebrate 50 years of Basildon Hospital caring for patients
Five decades of patient care at Basildon Hospital was celebrated by staff during a special day of events, which included the burying of a time capsule.
Part of the team burying the celebratory capsule was 8-year-old Rosie Kirkman and her mum Pamela. Rosie has been coming to Basildon Hospital since she was 6 weeks old. She has a genetic condition called KGB syndrome, which means she needs frequent stays in hospital.
Speaking about the opportunity to be part of this historic day, Rosie’s mum, Pamela said: “It was a real privilege to be asked to be part of this special day and to see the time-capsule buried. We are so grateful to the nurses and doctors here, who are absolutely fantastic, they make our stays as pleasant as possible.”
UK’s first remotely supported heart valve procedure carried out in Essex with patients set to benefit
Essex heart patients were the first in the country to benefit from new wearable technology used by hospital staff in a revolutionary procedure.
Nurses at the world-renowned Essex Cardiothoracic Centre (CTC) at Basildon Hospital are wearing Smart Glasses, where they are guided remotely through a complex multi-step procedure by experts seeing exactly what they see.
Dr Rohan Jagathesan, Medical Director at the Essex CTC, said: “This new innovative equipment allows us to be more independent and to carry out more procedures, and means we can treat patients more quickly as we don’t need a specialist to come to the hospital. We can also use the Smart Glasses to train our staff during a simulated procedure and further develop their skills, helping to improve the service we give to our patients.”
April
Robotic surgery equipment helps cancer patients to recover more quickly
Patients with cancer can recover much more quickly after local surgeons used pioneering robotic equipment to treat certain conditions for the first time.
A surgeon based at Southend Hospital, run by Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, was the first in the east of England to carry out a complex operation to remove lymph nodes in the abdomen (around the tummy area) using a robotic device, shaped like an arm.
Consultant Urologist and Robotic Surgeon Matteo Massanova said: “Traditionally we would have performed open surgery to remove these lymph nodes, where an incision is made from the top of your tummy to below the belly button. The robotic platform is a fantastic tool because we can now carry out a minimally invasive procedure, with only a few incisions that are much smaller.”
May
Abseilers set to raise a tower-rific £35,000 for hospital charity
Over 80 brave fundraisers abseiled 154 feet down the tower block at Southend Hospital, raising £35,000 for hospital wards and units of their choice across Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
A mixture of 84 staff, former patients and friends and relatives of patients took part in the annual; Tackle the Tower event, raising money for everything from Basildon Hospital's maternity bereavement suite, to Broomfield Hospital’s Childrens’ outpatient department and Southend Hospital’s Urology unit.
Michelle Warner from Southend raised £320, abseiling for Southend Critical care and Oncology.
She said: “I recently lost a friend and colleague, Dave Toplis, and wanted to take on this abseil in thanks for the care he received on Southend’s critical care ward. This is also a massive thank you to the Oncology team, they were there for my mum throughout her cancer treatment in 2021 – they were all amazing.”
June
Works start for Southend Hospital Emergency Department revamp
An £8 million scheme that will help increase the size of the Emergency Department (ED) at Southend Hospital and improve patient waiting times has had its first image unveiled.
The phased expansion will see extra capacity, to support more rapid assessment, treatment cubicles and extra resuscitation space. This will support faster ambulance handovers.
There will also be a separate dedicated children’s emergency entrance, which had not been the case before. This will enable parents and children to have their own dedicated entry point away from the general emergency department. This supports better safeguarding.
Andrew Pike, Chief Operating Officer at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust said: “This funding means we’ve been able to start the important work to design and improve facilities for local residents. It’s an important, much-needed modernisation project that is vital to help us develop a bigger and better department that is fit for the needs of our growing population. These phased works will see much needed improvements in our emergency department.
“These major improvements will provide more space for emergency care, improve ambulance handover times during busy periods, and help meet the growing demand at the front door of Southend Hospital.”
July
Hospital helps EastEnders legend raise skin cancer awareness with The One Show film
A glittering awards evening celebrating the great and the good of hospital staff, there couldn’t have been a more perfect date for it than on the 75th birthday of the NHS.
And what an event to remember, it all took place in a giant marquee on the site of Broomfield Hospital, one of the three main hospital sites of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, whose staff were being celebrated.
Now in its third year, the Shine Awards - the official awards ceremony of the Trust, one of the largest in the country - shone a light on the achievements of dedicated frontline and behind the scenes staff from across Basildon, Broomfield and Southend hospitals, as well as its satellite sites. Each day staff strive to improve patient care and the lives of their colleagues.
August
New Chief Executive for the Trust
Matthew Hopkins started his role as the new Chief Executive of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, and the next month was front and centre as part of a story for Organ Donation Week, as Matthew himself has received two separate donor kidneys to treat hereditary kidney disease.
Healthcare Assistant hairdos make patients happier in hospital
Stacey James, 36, from Southend, has been working as a Healthcare Assistant (HCA) for the last four years and the former hairdresser has given new meaning to caring with style.
She helps give patients a much-needed boost with a salon experience on Balmoral Ward, an elderly ward at Southend Hospital, which is part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
Stacey, who spent two years training and being a qualified hairdresser, said: “Hospital stays can sometimes cause patients to feel down, so all that’s needed is that little bit of TLC, a good chat, and that one-on-one time to make all the difference, which is exactly what I hope I help provide patients through hospital hairdressing.”
September
Walk For Wards fundraiser hoping to step through the £10,000 barrier
Over 150 fundraisers gathered along Southend seafront to raise money for a Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust ward or department of their choice.
Friends, families, work colleagues, young and old, started their day early to take part in Mid and South Essex Hospitals Charity Walk for Wards, it’s annual 7 km walk, and this year all those taking part are hoping to raise over £10,000.
Lucy Thomas-Clayton, Director of Charity and Voluntary Services, said: “It’s been fantastic to see so many of our supporters back for another year of Walk for Wards. Being such a fun and family-friendly day, it’s by far one of our most popular events.”
Refurbished Canvey Island health centre already helping patients
Patients are already seeing the benefits of the renovated Canvey Island Primary Care Centre, which was refurbished to provide additional outpatient clinics, a modern physiotherapy suite, and a new, state-of-the-art X-ray machine with two accessible changing areas.
This has already started to provide new services to our patients in Canvey Island, with more than 1,200 X-ray and over 400 physiotherapy appointments since it opened in July, which are alongside the midwifery, blood tests and other outpatient services already offered at the Centre.
October
Almost £40,000 of intensive care equipment will help improve lives of newborns
Life-saving monitoring equipment for pre-term babies has been made available, following a donation of £38,380 from a charity set up by a mum and dad who lost their son, aged just 91 days old.
The new items in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Basildon Hospital provide additional resuscitation, stabilisation and temperature management.
And they’ve all been made possible by the founders of Noah’s Big Charity, Richard and Lydia Hobden from Billericay, who have supported the unit generously for many years.
November
Live music helping improve patients’ recovery
Professional musicians playing for hospital patients could help improve their experience in critical care, which is an inspiring idea that has been trialled at Basildon Hospital, thanks to funding from Mid and South Essex Hospitals Charity.
Claire Winspear, who is a relative of a patient, said: “This had a very calming effect for me and my mother, who is staying with you at the moment. Keep the music coming.”
£110 million funding approved to improve patient care
Hospitals across mid and south Essex are receiving a welcome £110 million boost to help improve facilities.
The long-awaited funding from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) will support the Trust to increase the number of beds, improve capacity in all three emergency departments at Broomfield, Basildon and Southend hospitals, improve cancer and planned care by upgrading and expanding surgical theatres.
December
Christmas lights switch on at hospitals
There was a full-on festive atmosphere at hospitals in mid and south Essex as they switched on their Christmas tree lights.
The lights switch on helped spread a much-needed wave of festive warmth and cheer across Basildon, Broomfield and Southend hospitals – all part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
At Basildon Hospital, a four-year-old patient from Grays, Avery Brake, who is being treated for leukaemia, switched on the lights, surrounded by hospital staff from various departments. Whilst, at Southend Hospital, the lights were turned on by patient Millie Farr, a three-year-old from Foulness Island.