The event will take place at the hospital’s social club from 11- 4 next Tuesday and will feature short workshops on telehealth and how to adopt breakthrough innovations in health.

More than 20 exhibitors, including many from the hospital, will be showcasing innovations across a range of health care needs including new approaches to patient care, surgical instruments, dressings, tagging devices, beds and chairs and mobile working.

Bob Kirton, head of business change at the hospital and organiser of the event said:

“Innovation isn’t just about having good ideas, but also how we implement them and get them working better for us and our patients.

“Many of the staff within the hospital will already have innovative ideas – and the challenge for us is not only how to get staff to think more innovatively, but how to pull out those existing ideas.

“We hope that the range of exhibitors attending the event from some of the leading innovative healthcare organisations will provide the experience and advice to help staff understand how their ideas can be adopted.”

The first ever winner of the hospital’s innovation competition will also be announced at the event by the hospital’s Chief Executive and Chairman.

Bob continued “The eight shortlisted entries are just a few great examples of our staff spotting a problem and coming up with a potential solution. Although there can only be one winner we will look to support taking a number of these ideas forward and adopting them in the trust.”

The event, arranged to raise funds for ward 19, will see staff from the ward split into three teams competing in traditional sports day type challenges all rolled into one race – helped by Penistone St Johns Primary school loaning the hospital their sports equipment.

The hospital’s Chairman will blow the starting whistle for the race which includes hurdles, egg and spoon, sack race, ladder, hoola hoops, bean bags, dribbling balls round cones and will culminated in a mass run to the finishing line.

Vicky Faxon – Wastnage, lead nurse for ward 19 said: “The ward staff and I are always looking for new ideas for fundraising and the Olympics provide a great platform for it. It will be a good team challenge and will also create a little healthy competition on the ward.

“It would be great to see people coming to support us on the day and maybe even putting some of their change in one of our buckets.”

The race will take place at 1.30pm on Friday 18th May outside the main reception area of the hospital.

If you would like to donate or support the event please email: victoria.faxon@nhs.net

“If there is a number of you, like the Governing Council, you can get your views across and represent others who want their voice heard too.”

Margaret Richardson

Governor for Constituency B *

Margaret, 70, was born and bred in Barnsley and speaks from experience. She joined others last summer to form a residents’ association in Pogmoor to object to plans for a travellers’ site in the area.

“Soon there were 10 of us and we were leafleting and making our voice heard,” says Margaret, who spent almost 40 years working for the former Midland Bank. “Now I’m the residents’ association treasurer and we hold lots of local events for local people.”

It was at one of the residents’ meetings that Margaret learned more about being a hospital governor – Barnsley chairman Stephen Wragg was giving a talk. “The hospital’s local, it’s our hospital, and it felt right to represent local people by being on the Governing Council,” says Margaret, who is married and has two grandchildren.

“I’m learning a lot at the moment about the hospital but I was very impressed when we had a tour round – the staff seemed a really dedicated group of people. That was my first impression and first impressions usually last.”

Margaret is particularly keen to see the current 12,000 strong membership of Barnsley Hospital increase. Members are drawn from the Barnsley population and they elect the governors. Together they ensure the hospital is accountable and that patient and staff views are properly represented.

The drive for more members is supported by Margaret’s fellow new governors, Dillon Sykes and Derek Carpenter.

Dillon Sykes

Governor for Constituency D **

Dillon, 38, is the co-founder of Productive Primary Care – a company which supports GP practices in their development, helping them to make improvements in their services to patients.

“I’ve always had an affinity with Barnsley Hospital – I was a youth trainee there back in 1990,” says Dillon, who is married with two daughters, nine-year-old Carrie and Mischa, three.

“I then went on to work in primary care and spent some time as part of a national primary care development team. I’d like to think I can bring that experience, as well as what I do now, to the role of being a governor.”

Derek Carpenter

Governor for Constituency D **

Derek, 60, brings a business background to the governing council – his career has taken him round the world and he now provides sales and marketing expertise to companies. He’s also been a vice president of Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce and is a governor at Barnsley College.

“Barnsley Hospital is at the heart of its community and I am privileged to act as a constructive friend by being a voice for patients,” says Derek.

Married with three grandchildren, Derek was a professional footballer in his younger days, and spent eight years serving as a police officer in a fast response unit.

Derek adds: “I have witnessed first-hand the difference hospitals make and the patient experience needs to be a reassuring one. The Governing Council works diligently with staff to deliver this.

“We are very accessible and encourage patient feedback – good and bad!”

* Constituency A: Dodworth, Hoyland Milton, Penistone East, Penistone West and Rockingham

** Constituency D: St Helens, North East, Cudworth, Monk Bretton and Royston

Sally, 32, is describing her role as an Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP) at Barnsley Hospital. She is one of four ANPs in the medical division, covering emergency admissions to the hospital via the accident and emergency department or GP referral.

“We are nurses but a lot of the tasks we perform are traditionally what junior doctors have always done,” explains Sally, who trained and qualified as a nurse in Barnsley.

Filling the gap

The role of the ANP has been introduced in the NHS in part to meet European rules on junior doctors’ working hours – they are only allowed to work so many. ANPs fill the gap, providing a highly skilled supporting role to senior medical and nursing teams.

At the same time, the introduction of the ANP enables nurses to take a new direction in their profession, learning new skills and advancing their careers.

Sally originally embarked on a career in banking but became a nurse after stints as an auxiliary. She worked in Barnsley’s medical admissions unit (MAU) and as a night sister in medicine before going ‘back to school’ to study and train to become an ANP.

“It’s a really exciting time for nursing because the ANP is still quite a new role and it makes you think what more can nurses do – what’s the future holding and what will nursing look like in 10 years time?”

Scott Warren, 31, is one of Sally’s ANP colleagues. He too trained at Barnsley and previously worked on the MAU as a charge nurse. Both Scott and Sally are following an intensive academic and practical training programme, working towards a masters degree in advanced professional practice.

Barnsley Hospital, the Northern General in Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University are all key players in the training of ANPs.

Scott and Sally have already qualified in the core elements of being an ANP which allows them, among many other things, to:

• carry out physical examinations and diagnosis of patients
• prescribe medicines
• request and interpret xrays
• monitor the progression of a patient’s illness and amend treatments as necessary
• act as first point of contact for patients who are acutely unwell and/or medical emergencies on the wards outside of working hours
• make referrals to other specialities/community agencies
• provide support and teaching for nursing teams.

Scott and David are two of our Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP)

As ANPs, Scott, Sally and their colleagues, David Wilcock and Jan Meggitt, cover the MAU and a dozen medical wards, working both day and night shifts

Scott says: “Being an ANP means there are more people on the shop floor to treat patients, which helps improve the patient experience as well as patient safety.

“It’s a very challenging job but ultimately very satisfying – I’m now able to make decisions and provide treatments that I couldn’t in my previous role.

“And we’ve been well received – the doctors and nursing staff seem to like having us around!”

South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s End of Life team have been working in Barnsley Hospital over the last year to bring relatives a ‘comfort care pack’.

A review has found that the Comfort Care Packs given to patients and their families over a 12 month pilot has already been extremely well received.

Now, the new enhanced pack will include additional items such as mints, tissues, puzzle book, notepad, pen, toothbrush and toothpaste. The additional items were requested through feedback from relatives who have taken part in the project over the last 12 months.

Suzanne Monks, End of Life Care Facilitator, for South West Yorkshire PartnershipNHS Foundation Trust said, “The main aim of the packs was to offer items that enhance care for relatives and patients within the hospital setting by duplicating some of the comfort measures that can be found in a hospice environment.

“The act of being able to give the packs will also help staff to start conversations with patients and families at such a difficult time.

“The additional items have been requested through feedback by relatives and carers who over the last 12 months had received the Comfort Care Packs and said the additional items could improve experiences further.”

The Comfort Care Packs will continue to contain information on signs and symptoms, general hospital information and bereavement services, meal vouchers to be used in the hospital, vouchers for free car parking and a voucher for a free Chronicle newspaper.

End of life patients and families can also benefit from the use of CD players to play music or audio books and special V shaped cushions which will allow relatives to sleep more comfortably if they wish to stay with loved ones.

All of the Comfort Care Packs and CD players are now accessible from the medical equipment library for families when they are staying with a relative who is dying.

The areas where we anticipate minimal, if any, disruption are estates, pathology and pharmacy.

Introduced to the hospital in April 2002 – before being rolled out nationally in 2006, the programme identifies moderate, severe and profound deafness and hearing impairment in newborn babies.

The hospital’s four strong team of hearing screeners work seven days a week to offer all parents the opportunity to have their baby’s hearing tested shortly after birth – more than 80% of the babies are screened before they are discharged from hospital and 98.5% within 4 weeks of being born.

Linda Abbot, manager of the screening programme said: “The hearing test is quick and easy and isn’t uncomfortable to babies – in fact it is often easier to do it when the baby is asleep.

“In Barnsley the test has helped to identify a permanent hearing impairment for more than 80 babies who then go on to receive care and support from a range of services such as paediatric audiology and education services who ensure development is supported from the earliest age possible.

“All the teams involved in the programme in Barnsley work extremely hard to ensure all eligible babies are screened as soon as possible and I would like to thank midwives and health visitors as without their help and support over the years this could not have been achieved.”

Further information can be found on the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme website – http://hearing.screening.nhs.uk

The survey, carried out by the Picker Institute, asked the views of adults who experienced at least one night in the hospital in June, July and August 2011 about what they thought about different aspects of care and treatment they received at the hospital.

The hospital scored ‘about the same’ as most other trusts in the survey on nearly all 77 questions relating waiting lists, cleanliness of the ward, friendliness of staff, care and treatment and leaving the hospital.

Areas where the hospital rated worse than average were around patients not feeling involved in decisions about care, and medication not being explained in a way that patients understand when discharged – including how to take it, and any side effects it may cause.

Chief Nurse at Barnsley Hospital, Heather Mcnair, welcomed the results as a valuable source of information to help the hospital make improvements to overall patient experience.

She added: “We will use the findings of the Picker Institute alongside our own monthly surveys with patients paying particular attention to making improvements in the areas where we didn’t rate as highly as we could.

“The challenge going forward for Barnsley Hospital is for us to become one of the top 20% performing trusts in the country and if we continue to listen and respond to the feedback our patients give us there is no reason we can’t achieve that.”

Independently gathered

The detail in this report is taken from the independently assessed data gathered by the Picker Institute.

More details and the results of the inpatient survey are available on the CQC website www.cqc.org.uk/Inpatientsurvey2011