Connections - NHS Lothian

THE AWARD-WINNING NEWSPAPER FOR NHS LOTHIAN STAFF MARCH/APRIL 2010 ISSUE 37 

Connections 

WWW.NHSLOTHIAN.SCOT.NHS.UK 

STAFF ARE MAKING 

AN IMPACT OVERSEAS 

PAGE 22 

THE Royal Hospital for Sick 

Children (RHSC) in Edinburgh has 

just launched a year of celebrations 

to mark its 150th anniversary. 

The internationally renowned 

hospital began life in 1860 as a 20-bed 

unit in Lauriston Lane and provided 

treatment to the most vulnerable 

children from the city’s poorest 

backgrounds. 

Today, the RHSC is a centre of 

excellence offering a level of care and 

treatment the founders would never 

have thought possible. 

A year of celebration began with a 

party, as magicians, clowns and face 

painters toured the wards to entertain 

the young patients, who, with their 

families and staff, also shared in the 

official birthday cake. 

And there were congratulations from 

far and wide as the hospital celebrated. 

Prime minister Gordon Brown said: 

“The hospital’s birthday provides an 

opportunity to look back at how 

paediatric care and medicine – and the 

skills and knowledge of our doctors and 

nurses – have developed and improved 

over the last 150 years; from the 

treatment in the 1860s of diseases such 

as smallpox and tuberculosis to the 

specialist surgery and intensive care 

undertaken today. 

“And it is a chance to look to the 

future and the completion in 2013 of 

NHS Lothian’s new children’s hospital, 

WIN A FOUR-POSTER 

BREAK IN EDINBURGH 

PAGE 21 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Clown Doctors Dr Sprout and Dr Moose celebrate with Kyle Gray aged 13 and Charlie Hunter aged nine at the hospital’s 150th birthday party. 

The Sick Kids launches a year of celebrations to mark this special anniversary 

The hospital’s birthday provides an opportunity to look back 

at how paediatric care and medicine – and the skills and 

knowledge of our doctors and nurses – have developed and 

improved over the last 150 years 

Prime minister Gordon Brown 

150 YEARS OF 

LOVING CARE 

which will provide the modern 

facilities and environment for the RHSC 

to continue its life-saving work and 

exceptional standards of care for 

society’s most vulnerable patients.” 

Scottish Government cabinet 

secretary for health and wellbeing, 

Nicola Sturgeon, added: “The RHSC 

has always had strong ambitions and 

even before it opened for the first time 

it was planned as a teaching hospital, 

with the aim of promoting the 

advancement of medical science in 

relation to childhood diseases. 

“Today, the hospital provides 

a wide range of specialist services with 

increased investment in gastroenterology, 

general surgery, rheumatology, cystic 

fibrosis and children’s cancer.” 

The RHSC has a special place in the 

hearts of many Lothian families. 

Dr Charles Winstanley, chair of 

NHS Lothian, said: “It’s wonderful to 

be celebrating the hospital’s 

150th birthday – it has achieved so 

much for so many patients and is 

recognised for its pioneering work to 

advance paediatric medicine. 

See our special feature on the history 

of the RHSC on the centre pages.

2 NEWS March/April 2010 Connections 

Comment Jenifer Stirton 

A celebration 

of outstanding 

healthcare 

Awarm welcome to this issue 

of Connections, which, as 

always, is packed with the 

latest news and events from across 

NHS Lothian. 

It’s always a delight to share good 

news – and what better celebration 

than the Sick Kids’ 150th anniversary 

of providing care and support to 

poorly children across the Lothians? 

Our special feature on the centre 

pages marks this momentous 

occasion and we’ll be reporting 

regularly over the coming months on 

the events that are being held for the 

anniversary. 

BETTER SERVICE FOR PATIENTS 

As we all know, healthcare never 

stands still – innovations in 

treatments, new facilities and medical 

breakthroughs all create a better 

service for patients. In this issue, we 

report on some of the latest 

developments, including updates on 

the new community hospital in 

Midlothian and the Royal Victoria 

Hospital, as well as the state-of-theart 

birthing centre at the RIE and the 

revamped delivery suite at St John’s. 

On page 3, NHS Lothian’s 

transplant team is once again 

making headlines after performing 

one of the UK’s first triple transplant 

operations – an incredible logistical 

feat involving six patients and 

dozens of medical experts across 

the country. 

A WINNING READ! 

I am absolutely delighted that 

Connections was named best 

employee newspaper at the 

Communicators in Business awards 

in February. It was one of four awards 

picked up by NHS Lothian on the 

Connections 

night, including the young 

communicator of the year award for 

Aislinn McGrane, so well done to 

everyone involved. 

Congratulations, too, to our 

midwives who were recognised for 

their achievements by the Royal 

College of Midwives – read more on 

page 23. 

From Peru to South Africa, our staff 

are a well-travelled bunch! In this 

issue, we report on how NHS 

Lothian people are sharing their 

knowledge – and giving up their free 

time – to help those less fortunate 

than us. 

In a new feature on page 19, we 

turn the spotlight on a service in NHS 

Lothian. In this issue, we look at the 

vital work of the bacteriology 

department. If you would like to see 

your department’s work featured in 

Connections, do get in touch – our 

contact details are below. 

Jenifer Stirton, editor 

Editorial board: 

Jenifer Stirton, Robert Aitken, Morag Barrow, Duncan Blyth, 

Alexis Burnett, Noreen Clancy, Grahame Cumming, Eddie Egan, 

Wendy Fenemore, Anne Gilchrist, Linda Haggarty, Shirley Johnston, 

Anne Laing, Sue Lloyd, Aislinn McGrane, Dave Proudfoot, Lesley Reid, 

Judy Scopes, Kathryn Sinclair, Louise Taylor, Tom Waterson. 

Contact the editor: 

� lothian.communications@nhs.net 

� 0131 536 9432/9355 

� 0131 536 9013 

� Staff Newspaper, Communications Dept, Deaconess House, 

148 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9RS 

EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION: 

Connections is written, designed and produced by: 

Connect Communications, Studio 2001, Mile End, Paisley PA1 1JS 

� 0141 561 0300 � 0141 561 0400 � www.connectcommunications.co.uk 

Printing: 

Scottish County Press 

Turning up the HEAT in 2010/11 

STAFF across NHS Lothian have 

been busy over recent months 

developing NHS Lothian’s local 

delivery plan for 2010/2011, which 

will be submitted at the end of 

March to the Scottish Government 

health department for approval. 

Local delivery plans (LDP) set out 

a delivery agreement between NHS 

Lothian and the government in 

order to meet the key ministerial 

HEAT targets, which stand for: 

Health improvement, Efficiency and 

governance improvements, Access 

to services, and Treatment 

appropriate to individuals. 

PEOPLE in the most deprived areas of 

West Lothian are to be offered health 

checks and advice on a range of health 

issues, from smoking cessation to healthy 

eating and alcohol misuse. 

NHS Lothian and West Lothian 

Community Health and Care Partnership 

(CHCP) has expanded the Keep well 

scheme, which offers comprehensive 

health checks to patients in five 

communities in West Lothian. 

The Keep well scheme aims to reduce 

health inequalities and focuses on 

reducing heart disease, stroke and 

their main risk factors for adults 

aged 45 – 64 years. 

Jim Forrest, director of West Lothian 

CHCP said: “We play an important role 

in delivering accessible local health 

services. The Keep well project is one 

of the ways in which we can make it 

easy for people to access assessment and 

treatment early, helping to prevent years 

of ill health.” 

Dr Katie Browne, GP at Ashgrove 

Medical Practice in Blackburn said: “We 

recognise that many people in our local 

area could benefit from a Keep well 

health check, which provides earlier 

assessment and treatment for conditions 

such as heart disease. 

“We are delighted to be able to offer 

Staff on the move 

AS part of the efforts to improve 

efficiency and make the best use of 

NHS Lothian’s clinical space, 

plans are progressing to move 

corporate departments into new 

more suitable and energy efficient 

accommodation. 

A lease has now been signed for two 

floors in the former GPO building at 

Waverleygate. 

It is anticipated that about 280 

staff from departments such as 

finance, strategic planning, HR and 

public health, most of which are 

currently based at Deaconess House, 

will move into this accommodation 

in early summer. 

Strategic programme manager 

Grahame Cumming said 2010/11 is 

going to be a busy year for NHS 

Lothian. 

“Next year will see the 

requirement to deliver in full 

77 per cent of the targets that make 

up the LDP, presenting a significant 

challenge for us in order to meet our 

commitments.” 

The key themes for HEAT targets 

in 2010/11 include: 

• health improvement: actions to 

address Scotland’s major public 

health challenges of alcohol, 

obesity, smoking and to ensure that 

our patients a service that wasn’t 

previously available.” 

Elaine Leslie, Keep well nurse case 

manager for West Lothian said: “It is 

well recognised that people living in less 

affluent areas have a much higher risk 

of developing serious medical conditions 

such as heart disease. By detecting and 

treating these problems early we can 

prevent years of ill health and also 

premature death.” 

The scheme also provides access to 

a Keep well outreach worker, who will 

focus on the wider social aspects that 

affect people’s health by offering one 

to one support and information for 

We have also negotiated with the 

Scottish Government to increase the 

space we have in Pentland House. We 

expect about 170 staff, mostly from 

HR, finance and procurement, to 

move into this building in the 

summer. 

These moves will free up clinical 

accommodation at the Royal Infirmary 

of Edinburgh, the Royal Edinburgh 

Hospital and Astley Ainslie Hospital, 

which will be used to create capacity 

for clinical services. 

Staff directly involved in the 

moves will be receiving more 

information from their departmental 

directors in the coming weeks. 

children get the best start in life 

• efficiency: implementation of 

Scotland’s best value principles and 

the efficiency and productivity 

framework through financial 

balance and delivery of 2 per cent 

efficiency savings by removing 

unnecessary variation in healthcare 

• access: new national maximum 

waiting times for access to drugs 

misuse and mental health services, 

and developing an access target for 

alcohol misuse treatment services 

• treatment: improving patient 

safety through reducing healthcare 

associated infections. 

KEEP WELL IN 

WEST LOTHIAN 

KEEP WELL: Elaine Leslie, nurse case manager, Lynne Simpson, 

outreach nurse, Anita Muir, project nurse and Ciara Byrne, project manager 

people at participating practices. 

The Keep well health check involves 

a few simple tests carried out by a nurse 

that could help identify physical and 

mental health issues. 

The participating practices, which are 

from four targeted areas across West 

Lothian, are Ashgrove Medical Practice 

in Blackburn, Craigshill Health Centre 

in Livingston, Blackridge Health 

Centre, Stoneyburn Medical Centre and 

Whitburn Group Medical Practice. 

E Contact your surgery for 

an appointment with a Keep 

well nurse. 

Dementia care 

IN an article in the last issue of 

Connections about a support 

group for people who have been 

diagnosed with dementia, the 

phrase “dementia sufferers” was 

used in the heading. 

We have been asked by the 

group to point out that they 

consider the use of the word 

“sufferer” to have negative 

connotations, which adds to the 

negative attitude which is all too 

often associated with people with 

dementia. We apologise for any 

offence the heading may have 

caused and have amended the 

heading in the online version of 

the newspaper.

Connections March/April 2010 NEWS 3 

Helping people 

back to work 

WORKING Health Services held an open day 

recently for patients, employers and health 

professionals to learn more about vocational 

rehabilitation. 

Working Health Services has been designated 

as Lothian’s “Fit for Work” provider, the government 

initiative to provide early intervention and 

personalised support to get sick employees back 

to work. As a result, it has secured new funding to 

allow it to continue its pilot programme for another 

18 months from the Scottish Government. 

Working Health Services pilot project has 

been successful in helping some 200 people working 

in small to medium businesses to stay in work or 

return to work after illness or injury since it started 

in July 2009 and aims to reach more people who 

could benefit from its service. 

Occupational therapist Lisa Paterson explained: 

“Vocational rehabilitation is well developed in the 

US and Australia as a successful way to get people 

back to work who have had a health problem. 

“Fit for Work status will allow us to work more 

closely with GPs on the new proposed ‘fit note’ that 

is due to replace the ‘sick note’. We can help GPs 

and, for that matter, employees who have no access 

to occupational health. 

“This free service is available to all of the Lothian’s 

working population and can include assessment 

and treatment from physiotherapy, counselling, 

occupational therapy and, more recently, debt and 

benefit advice. 

“We use an individual case management 

approach to help more people who are sick stay 

in work or get back to work quickly. 

“We can work with both employers and 

employees to help avoid lost time and productivity 

in the work place as well as provide advice and 

guidance on rights and liabilities. 

“Lots of people we help are either self-employed 

or receive no sick pay so the service is well received. 

That’s why we want to publicise Working Health 

Services further throughout Lothian,” she added. 

E If you require more information on the 

service, please phone 0131 537 9579 or 

e-mail voc.rehab@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk 

TRIPLE TRANSPLANT SUCCESS 

NEW LEASE 

OF LIFE: Andrea 

and Andrew 

Mullen after 

the life-saving 

transplant op 

Connections among the winners for NHS Lothian at CiB awards 

A golden result 

for comms team 

NHS Lothian is celebrating after the 

communications team scooped a clutch of 

top awards. 

The team scored four gold trophies in the 

prestigious Communicators in Business (CiB) 

Scotland awards, which mark the 

achievements of the country’s private and 

public sector experts. 

NHS Lothian lifted the top award for 

Connections for the second year in a row. 

Health link made its debut entry in the awards 

this year and was named best stakeholder 

newspaper. 

There were also individual honours for 

Jenifer Stirton, director of communications, 

SURGEONS at the Royal Infirmary 

of Edinburgh have taken part in 

one of the first ground-breaking 

three-way kidney transplants in 

the UK. 

Husband and wife Andrea and Andrew 

Mullen were among six people in 

Scotland and England who took part in 

the pioneering triple operation. 

It involved three anonymous pairs – 

a donor and a recipient – who agreed 

to put themselves in a pool to find a 

match because their blood and tissue 

types were not compatible with 

their loved ones. 

The RIE team, along with surgeons 

at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation 

NHS Trust and Imperial College 

Healthcare NHS Trust, performed 

the operation, the second of its kind 

in the UK. 

Andrea, 54, from Aberdeen, was 

waiting for a life-saving donor when 

husband Andrew was tested to see 

if he could donate his kidney. 

Although he wasn’t a match for 

Andrea, the couple decided to join 

the pooled transplant list in the 

hope of finding a donor. 

Each of the three donors was 

compatible with one of the 

recipients and now they are 

who collected an award for Outstanding 

Contribution to the Communications 

Industry, and for Aislinn McGrane, 

communications officer, who was named 

Young Communicator of the Year. 

Jenifer said: “I was delighted and honoured 

to win the award for Outstanding Contribution 

to the Communications Industry and I 

was particularly pleased that the work and 

talent of Aislinn McGrane was recognised 

by the CiB.” 

She added: “It’s great to see Connections 

going from strength to strength by winning 

the category for the second time in a row. I’m 

also very pleased that Health link won best 

enjoying a new lease of life. 

Grandmother Andrea said: “I feel better 

than I have done in years – I feel as though 

I have been given my life back. My illness 

didn’t just affect my life, but my husband’s 

and my family’s. I am so grateful to 

everyone for giving me this second 

chance.” 

Andrew added: “I couldn’t donate to 

“Andrea and Andrew 

have made a great 

recovery and we are so 

pleased for them both” 

Lorna Mason, Consultant 

transplant surgeon 

Andrea directly because we were 

incompatible, but this way I could still help 

her. I feel absolutely fantastic 

after the operation. It took me two 

weeks to recover and I’m now back jogging 

again.” 

Donor pooling became legal 

across the UK in 2006 and since then twoway 

swaps have become more common 

place, with 20 having taken place so far. 

But a three-way transplant has only been 

performed once before in the UK by 

medical teams in Oxford and Portsmouth. 

LEFT: The 

Connections team – 

Alexis Burnett (left), 

Jenifer Stirton and 

Aislinn McGrane 

with CiB Chairman 

Roy Carter and 

awards show host 

Shereen Nanjiani 

BELOW: Jenifer 

(centre) with Roy 

Carter and Shereen 

Nanjiani 

stakeholder newspaper in its first outing.” 

Aislinn, 24, from Edinburgh, said: “It was 

great to be nominated in the first place, but 

to win means that all of my hard work has 

been recognised by professionals outwith my 

own team.” 

NHS Lothian also received a Highly 

Commended for Best Multi-Lingual 

Publication – Right Care, Right Time, 

Right Place leaflet 

The awards took place at a glittering 

ceremony in the Radisson SAS Hotel 

in Glasgow. 

The operation is complicated, not just 

because of logistics, but because it relies 

on each of the six people being well on 

the exact same day to prevent the 

procedure being postponed. 

The transplants went ahead on 

4 December 2009 and saw surgery 

commence simultaneously at 9am. Once 

retrieved, the three kidneys were packaged 

in ice, put into custom-made cool bags and 

transported across the UK – from 

Edinburgh to London by plane and 

between the London hospitals by blue light 

ambulance. 

Lorna Marson, the consultant transplant 

surgeon who carried out the operation in 

the RIE in Edinburgh, said: “Andrea and 

Andrew have made a great recovery and 

we are so pleased for them both. 

“Andrea had to undergo a lot of 

preparation before the transplant so without 

this three-way operation, which was 

planned in advance, she would never have 

been able to undergo a transplant.” 

The transplants were approved by the 

Human Tissue Authority (HTA), which 

regulates living organ donation. The 

organisation has created a more flexible 

approach to donation to help the 7000 

patients currently on the waiting list 

for a kidney transplant in the UK to find 

a match.


21st-CENTURY DENTAL CARE 

New unit will give 

patients access to 

the best treatment 

and facilities 

PUBLIC health minister Shona 

Robison officially opened the £500,000 

state-of-the-art dental unit at St John’s 

Hospital in February. 

The five-chair unit, which is run 

by the salaried primary care dental 

service and hosted by West Lothian 

Community Health and Care 

Partnership (CHCP), will help to 

provide a better service for hospital 

inpatients and local people with 

complex medical needs and will also 

be able to offer specialist orthodontist 

services. 

Postgraduate dentists and dental 

care professional students will also be 

able to train at the unit to help 

create a new generation of dental 

professionals including dentists, 

hygienists/therapists, orthodontic 

therapists and dental nurses. 

Shona Robison said: “This is a 

fantastic new facility, which will 

enable dental services provided 

within St John’s to operate to their 

maximum potential. 

“The outreach training element will 

help to increase the dental workforce 

in Scotland.” 

Robert Naysmith, clinical director 

of community dental services, said: 

“This latest expansion will allow us 

to train more dental care professionals 

to service the whole of Lothian in 

the future.” 

Advice on 

keeping 

patient 

details safe 

THE growth of electronic patient 

records has brought new challenges to 

ensuring that patient information is 

protected. 

Recent high-profile cases in Scotland 

suggest that not all staff know their 

responsibilities. NHS Lothian will be 

running an information governance staff 

awareness roadshow during the week 

26-30 April, when staff are invited to go 

along to make sure that they understand 

their responsibilities. 

Data protection staff and IT security 

staff will be running stands in the 

morning with advice on a number of 

information governance issues. In 

the afternoon, there will be short 

presentations on responsibilities of staff 

handling/managing patient information, 

IT systems in place to ensure these 

responsibilities are met and a final short 

presentation around adequate and 

appropriate record keeping, both 

electronically and manually. 

The day will end with questionand- 

answer sessions with data 

protection and IT security staff in 

attendance. 

OPEN WIDE: Trish Serles undergoes treatment at the new dental unit, watched by staff and public health minister Shona Robison 

DATES AND LOCATIONS 

Monday 26 April – Western General 

Hospital 

Stand: 9.30am-12.30pm, Anne Ferguson 

building reception 

Talks/Q&A: 1pm-2pm, WGH, 4th floor 

lecture theatre, OPD building 

Tuesday 27 April – St John’s Hospital 

Stand: 10.30am-1.30pm, main foyer 

Talks/Q&A: 2.30pm-3.30pm, Paul 

Taylor lecture theatre, St John’s 

education centre 

Wednesday 28 April – Royal Hospital 

for Sick Children 

Stand: 10.30am-1.30pm, entrance to 

RHSC lecture theatre 

Talks/Q&A: 2.45pm-3.45pm, RHSC 

lecture theatre, main building 

Thursday 29 April – Royal Infirmary 

of Edinburgh 

Stand: 9.30am-12.30pm, ground floor, 

main hallway 

Talks/Q&A: 1pm-2pm, GU108, RIE 

Auditorium A, Chancellors Building 

Friday 30 April – Royal Edinburgh 

Hospital 

Stand: 9.30am-12.30pm, outside 

library/ward 8 

Talks/Q&A: 1pm-2pm, lecture theatre, 

Kennedy Tower. 

EFor further information on the 

information governance 

roadshow, call the NHS Lothian 

information governance team 

on 0131 537 6090/1 

Delivering value for 

money for patients 

A NEW government-backed 

initiative will encourage health 

and social care workers to create 

better, more cost-effective services 

across Lothian. 

The integrated resource 

framework will assist the various 

partners from NHS Lothian and 

“The emphasis is 

on the partners 

working better 

together and 

maximising 

the money” 

Professor Alex McMahon 

the area’s four local authorities to 

deliver the ambitions set out in 

the Scottish Government strategy 

“Shifting the Balance of Care”. 

Simply, it will allow the partners 

from NHS Lothian, City of 

Edinburgh Council and East, 

West and Midlothian Councils 

to put people at the forefront of 

change, and deliver value for 

money in the services provided. 

Professor Alex McMahon, 

deputy director for strategic 

planning and modernisation at 

NHS Lothian, said: “The emphasis 

is on the partners working better 

together and maximising the 

money that’s available in the 

public sector during these very 

difficult economic times. 

“We will do that by sharing 

information between the 

organisations, to make sure we all 

better understand the services we 

deliver, and what the outcomes 

are that people want to see and 

the associated costs.” 

The pilot project in NHS 

Lothian has been given funding 

of £200,000 in this financial year 

and the same amount in the 

2011/12 fiscal year. 

The partnership’s project board 

plans to organise a series of 

events and meetings across the 

region with help from health and 

social care staff and service user 

groups. 

Watch out for more details in 

future issues of Connections.


REMOTE ACCESS: patients will soon be able to monitor their heart 

condition via their television, helping them set goals and track progress 

Introducing ‘remote’ healthcare 

IN the near future, the TV remote 

control could have another use for 

patients diagnosed with coronary 

heart disease. 

Thanks to NHS Lothian’s heart 

manual department’s collaboration 

with Dutch electronics giant 

Philips, patients may be able to 

monitor their condition via their TV 

at home. 

The heart manual – a clinically 

effective, evidence-based selfmanagement 

cardiac rehabilitation 

programme developed by NHS 

Lothian – has been used to 

support patients set goals and track 

their progress since 1992. 

Following a face-to-face 

assessment with a clinician, patients 

who have been treated in hospital 

for a cardiac event move on to a 

self-management programme which 

includes recording their goals, 

activities and exercise in a workbook. 

First used in 1992, the heart 

manual has now been adopted in 

Holland, Canada and Italy. Now 

the heart manual workbook is 

going digital. 

Last year, the heart manual 

department was invited by Philips 

to become a partner in a £60 million, 

Europe-wide, telehealth project. 

The project aims to create a 

“patient loop” that gives coronary 

heart disease patients regular 

feedback on their health and 

progress towards goals, as well as 

a “professional loop” in which 

data on a patient’s state and 

how they are following treatment 

is automatically communicated 

to clinicians. 

The project is due to have 

finished its pilot and testing 

across a few European cities by 

Health secretary tours medical centre 

HEALTH secretary Nicola Sturgeon was 

given a tour of one of NHS Lothian’s 

newest facilities recently when she 

visited Boroughloch Medical Centre in The 

Meadows. 

The centre provides a range of NHS 

primary care services and clinics including 

the Lothians’ first dental practice to be 

based within a GP-led medical centre. 

Developed with more than £600,000 of 

funding from NHS Lothian – £500,000 of 

which is through the primary and 

community care modernisation programme 

of the Scottish Government – the new 

centre replaces the former Lauriston 

Medical Practice. 

Pictured are Nicola Sturgeon, centre, with 

receptionist Cathie Armstrong, GP Dr Linda 

MacCallum, practice manager Frea 

Webster and reception manager Gillian 

McHenry. 

Recognising the value of 

administration services 

FROM December 2011, 18 Weeks will 

become the maximum wait from 

referral to treatment. The 18 Weeks 

clock will start on the day that a 

referral is received, and will stop on 

the day that treatment begins. 

In the case of the 12 weeks 

treatment time guarantee announced 

within the Patient Rights Bill on 17 

March, the 12 weeks clock starts on 

the day that a course of treatment is 

agreed between a clinician and a 

patient, and stops on the day that 

treatment begins. 

The 12 weeks treatment time 

guarantee will be an integral part of 

the 18 Weeks Referral to Treatment 

patient journey. 

Administrative services will play a 

crucial role in helping NHS Lothian 

meet the 18 weeks Referral to 

Treatment (RTT) standard. 

Optimising administrative 

processes is one of six key themes 

recommended by the Scottish 

Government’s Improvement and 

Support team. 

Rebecca Willshee, service 

improvement manager for NHS 

Lothian’s 18 Weeks team, said: 

“Admin services underpin all of the 

work of the NHS. Without admin 

support we would be unable to invite 

patients to attend appointments, 

communicate with patients prior to 

“Admin services 

underpin all the 

work of the NHS” 

Rebecca Wilshee 

and after their hospital visit, welcome 

patients, and obtain and maintain 

notes and records about patients and 

their treatment history. 

“We would be unable to type up 

notes and letters following 

consultations and inpatient stays, 

manage waiting lists and record 

coded clinical procedures.” 

Under the 18 weeks project plan, NHS 

Lothian’s 18 Weeks team has 

suggested activities that can help 

services to optimise the admin 

process including mapping current 

admin processes in detail and 

reducing the number of queues 

within each specialty. 

Elaine Heron, modernisation 

manager for the 18 weeks team, has 

been working with a representative 

group of staff from Gynaecology to 

progress their action plan. She said: 

“A lot of work has already been done 

to improve the management of 

referrals, and centralise bookings. But 

everyone realises that improvements 

can still be made, and bottlenecks 

removed to ease the patient’s way 

through treatment.” 

Gynaecology admin staff, like the 

clinicians, are concerned with the 

patient’s welfare, and are often the 

first contact the patient will have in 

a clinic, whether as a receptionist, or 

medical secretary. 

Elaine added: “The admin staff are 

also aware of, and using, some Lean 

tools to improve the quality of the 

service we offer patients, and they 

appreciate that they have a part to play 

in making improvements to such 

processes.” 

2012, but for now it is still in its 

developmental phase. 

“None of our team is an IT 

specialist and none of the team at 

Philips is a cardiac specialist, so 

it’s been a complete learning 

curve for all of us,” said Louise 

Taylor, heart manual lead for 

NHS Lothian. 

And while this kind of patient 

platform may appear futuristic, it 

offers a practical solution to the 

increased health needs of an 

ageing population. The over-65 age 

group is set to double by the year 

2050, and 30 per cent of these 

people will be over 80. Philips 

estimates this particular global 

market at £100 billion. 

ETo find out more on the 

heart manual, visit 

www.theheartmanual.com 

David does 

things by 

the book! 

A NEW book has been 

published recognising the 

work of healthcare scientists, 

including NHS Lothian’s own 

bionic hand creator David Gow. 

“Extraordinary You – Science 

in Healthcare” profiles the 

pioneering work of healthcare 

scientists in the NHS across the 

UK and details their reasons for 

choosing a career in science. 

The aim of the publication is 

to encourage more people to 

join the profession. 

David Gow, head of south 

east mobility and rehabilitation 

technology services, was 

responsible for the NHS Lothian 

research team that developed a 

revolutionary prosthetic hand. 

The company Touch Bionics 

spun out of NHS Lothian to 

market the iLimb hand all over 

the world. 

David said: “It is flattering to 

be in the book and be 

recognised for my work. My 

career has exceeded my wildest 

dreams, and hopefully my 

experiences will inspire others 

to join the NHS as scientists 

doing interesting and vital work. 

“That my work and career is 

recognised in the book is 

actually a tribute to NHS 

Lothian’s management and 

board, which have had the 

vision to support the research 

which led to the iLimb.” 

EFor more information 

on the iLimb, visit 

www.touchbionics.com 

PIONEER: 

David Gow


Health Foundation 

funds kidney and 

heart research 

ENHANCING the care and treatment of 

patients with chronic kidney and heart 

disease are two of the prestigious new 

research schemes awarded by the Health 

Foundation to NHS Lothian. 

The Health Foundation has 11 research 

projects throughout the UK under its 

Closing the Gap through Clinical 

Communities initiative, which aims to look 

at ways of improving the quality of health 

services. 

The first project is managed by Kidney 

Research UK. It aims to ensure kidney 

disease is caught earlier within primary care, 

and to improve the consistency and quality 

of care people receive. 

Simon Watson, consultant in kidney 

medicine, said: “People in Lothian already 

get very good care for kidney disease from 

hospital and GP services. We want to achieve 

even more through this innovative quality 

improvement programme. 

“We are going to ask GPs and practice 

nurses to try out a ‘care bundle’ of highimpact 

interventions to improve the medical 

treatment of people with kidney disease. This 

will be done alongside a complimentary 

intervention to help people to understand 

and manage their condition. We hope that 

this two-pronged strategy will lead to even 

better clinical outcomes and an improved 

patients’ experience of care.” 

The second project involves 80 GP 

practices across NHS Lothian, Tayside, Fife 

and Forth Valley working to improve the 

quality and safety of patients in primary care, 

specifically in the area of heart failure and 

implementing systems for the prescribing, 

management and monitoring of patients with 

high risk drugs including warfarin and 

prescribing of cytotoxic drugs such as 

methotrexate. 

Each health board will concentrate on a 

different work stream, with Lothian piloting 

work around warfarin management. 

The first year will involve 20 practices (five 

from each health board) that will be trained 

to implement new systems to improve patient 

safety. Multi-disciplinary staff will be 

involved to identify areas where quality 

and safety could be improved at the 

interface between primary and secondary 

care. 

The second year will build on this work 

by implementing and spreading the 

improvement measures and bundles 

developed in year one to a total of 80 practices 

in each of the four health boards. 

For more information on the warfarin 

project, contact the clinical governance 

support team on 0131 537 8562. 

E For more information, visit 

www.health.org.uk 

New partnership scheme 

helps first-time parents 

HEALTH secretary Nicola Sturgeon 

has launched a test programme 

that will support first-time 

parents or single mums under 

the age of 19 in the NHS 

Lothian area. 

Through the Family Nurse 

Partnership, six family nurses will 

visit expectant mums every one or 

two weeks during pregnancy and 

throughout the first two years of 

Jenny makes 

sure beds 

are available 

DELAYED discharge/bed manager Jenny Mackenzie 

is responsible for making sure there’s a bed available 

at Astley Ainslie Hospital if it’s needed. 

Jenny and her team look after around 150 

rehabilitation beds, and within Edinburgh CHP, 

approximately 400 frail elderly and psychiatry beds 

for those who need respite, boarding or continuing 

care. 

With her team of three, Jenny facilitates the 

transfer of patients when beds are available. And 

that means making sure that patients are 

discharged from hospital with minimal delay. 

Jenny told Connections: “I’ve been a bed manager 

for around 10 years, and delayed discharge 

manager for the past six years. 

“I manage about 550 beds in NHS Lothian’s 

primary care service and I work with colleagues 

at other hospitals to ensure beds are available 

when they’re needed.” 

Every morning, Jenny’s team holds a 

teleconference with colleagues in university 

hospital division, including Edinburgh’s Royal 

Infirmary and the Western General, to make sure 

that everyone has the information they need when 

planning the rest of their day. 

“If the RIE or Western General is under pressure, 

patients who can be moved are transferred to 

downstream rehabilitation or boarding units to free 

up beds.” 

Jenny, who qualified as a medical secretary, has 

experience in pharmacy and also held practical 

nursing posts in both acute and primary hospitals 

and nursing homes, is unique in her role in NHS 

Lothian. She is currently completing further studies 

their baby’s life. They will offer 

guidance on child development, 

preventative health measures, 

parenting skills, breastfeeding, 

better diet information and advice 

for mothers on education and 

employment. 

Ms Sturgeon met with some of 

the expectant parents and the 

nurses at the programme’s base in 

Craigmillar, Edinburgh. 

The minister, pictured with 

mum-to-be Danielle Potter, 

said: “Intervening at the earliest 

possible opportunity to support 

those in our society who are most 

in need is the key to improving 

Scotland’s health. 

“In time I want to see the kind of 

support that the Family Nurse 

Partnership provides across the 

whole of Scotland.” 

CHECKING BEDS: Jenny 

(left) with assistant Sarah Nixon 

in management and other projects are in the pipeline. 

“In addition to this, I am working with the Scottish 

Government and ISD in re-drafting the Delayed 

Discharge Recording Manual.” 

Her delayed discharge manager role within 

Primary Care covers approximately 15 hospital sites, 

including 66 wards from Corstorphine Hospital 

to Edington in North Berwick. This involves liaising 

with the multi-disciplinary health and local authority 

teams when someone is delayed in hospital. 

“Sometimes people need a lot of support to leave 

hospital – although they are medically well and ready 

to go. The Moving On Policy was developed by 

NHS Lothian and the local authorities to assist 

with making sure people are able to move to the 

most appropriate place to meet their needs as 

soon as possible. 

“No one should stay in a hospital bed after they 

are ready for discharge and this policy aims to assist 

us with the discharge of patients to the best place 

to meet their needs. 

“At times, I work with social work colleagues, 

the patient and their family to negotiate the patient’s 

journey out of hospital. They may be going home 

and need a package of care, or going into a care 

home because they can no longer look after 

themselves.”

Connections March/April 2010 FACILITIES 7 

ON TARGET: work on the new Midlothian 

community hospital is well under way 

NHS Lothian gets extra money to continue to provide vital front-line services 

Funding is announced for 2010/11 

NHS Lothian is one of six health 

boards in Scotland to be awarded 

extra government funding to provide 

frontline services for patients in next 

year’s financial settlement. 

Health Secretary Nicola 

Sturgeon announced that revenue 

funding for NHS Boards for 

2010-11 will rise by 2.7 per cent to 

a record £8.464 billion. 

Each territorial board will receive, 

as a minimum, an above inflation 

uplift of 2.55 per cent. NHS 

Lothian will receive a 3.14 per cent 

increase to take account of the 

population’s changing health needs 

PLANS for the state-ofthe-art 

Musselburgh 

Primary Care Centre have 

taken a step forward after 

full planning permission 

was granted by East 

Lothian Council. 

The primary care 

centre will provide new 

accommodation for three 

GP practices – Eskbridge 

Medical Centre, Esk 

Medical Centre (West) 

and Riverside Practice, 

Esk Medical Centre (East) 

– and related healthcare 

services and clinics. 

These will include 

some currently provided 

as set out in the National Resource 

Allocation Committee (NRAC) 

guidelines. 

NHS Special Boards, like the 

Scottish Ambulance Service and 

NHS 24, will receive an increase of 

2.15 per cent. 

Ms Sturgeon said: “This above 

inflation increase in revenue 

funding to NHS Boards across 

Scotland in these difficult economic 

times underlines the Scottish 

Government’s unshakeable 

commitment to our publicly funded 

mutual health service. 

“It means health boards will 

*NRAC explained 

NRAC was established in 2008 to improve the Arbuthnott formula 

used to divide the budget among the NHS Boards. It distributes 

money based on a formula that takes into account the number of 

residents and then makes adjustments for the age/sex, their needs 

based on morbidity and life circumstances including deprivation 

and the additional costs of providing services in remote and 

rural areas. 

NRAC evaluates new sources of evidence to determine healthcare 

needs in different groups of people and use new information to 

identify items that influence the costs of healthcare provision. 

It has been estimated that NHS Lothian will be £60 million 

short of its required funding position as identified by NRAC as at 

31 March 2010. 

at Edenhall Hospital such 

as podiatry, physiotherapy, 

community paediatric 

services, community 

dental services, speech 

and language therapy, 

clinical psychology 

school nurse teams 

and outpatient clinics. 

Gerry Power, general 

manager of Midlothian 

Community Health 

Partnership, said: “This is 

welcome news which will 

bring wide-ranging 

healthcare benefits for 

the local community. 

“A great deal of work 

has been undertaken to 

reach this point, 

including appointing the 

design team and 

engaging with the local 

community on what the 

new Musselburgh 

Primary Care Centre 

will look like.” 

Following the recent 

find of roman remains 

on the site we are now 

continuing to work with 

Dundas Estates, the 

current owner of the 

land, to progress the 

excavation work required 

so that work can start 

on the site as early 

as possible. 

have the resources they need to 

progress their plans and ensure that 

patients continue to be put at the 

heart of the NHS.” 

Director of finance for NHS 

Lothian, Susan Goldsmith, said: “We 

Midlothian’s new 

community hospital 

set to open this year 

MIDLOTHIAN’S new community 

hospital is on target – and on budget 

– to be completed by September 

this year. 

The external building work is 

complete, and internal walls have been 

erected, with services being installed 

ahead of schedule. The majority of 

external landscaping and planting has 

already been completed. 

The hospital will offer a range of 

inpatient and outpatient services when 

welcome the revenue funding 

allocation from the Scottish 

Government and acknowledge 

the contribution towards the 

implementation of the National 

Resource Allocation Committee 

RESIDENTS in Midlothian were given an opportunity 

to hear at first hand the work being carried out by 

NHS Lothian when the latest board meeting was held 

in Dalkeith. 

It meant members of the local community could find 

out the most up-to-date position on their healthcare 

services. 

Before the start of the board meeting in January, an 

open session on developments and health services was 

given by Midlothian community health partnership (CHP) 

where the public had the opportunity to put questions 

to the CHP’s general manager Gerry Power, Morag 

Barrow, CHP allied health services manager, and Liz 

Creggan, chief nurse. 

Gerry said: “We are delighted that the board meeting 

took place in Midlothian. It meant members of the local 

community could find out the most up to date position 

on their healthcare services. 

it comes into use later in 2010. It 

will have 88 beds (40 frail elderly 

continuing care, and 48 frail elderly 

mental health beds), a day hospital 

for the care of elderly people, and 

a physiotherapy and occupational 

therapy service. 

Outpatient services will include 

diagnostic and imaging services; 

community child health services, and 

an unscheduled care service (out-ofhours) 

for the Midlothian area. 

(NRAC*) guidelines. 

“This money will be used to 

continually improve services as part 

of NHS Lothian’s commitment 

to remain at the forefront of 

patient care.” 

REVENUE ALLOCATIONS FOR EACH NHS BOARD FOR 2010-11 ARE AS FOLLOWS: 

NHS Board Initial allocation Uplift 2010-11 

2010-11 (mill) percentage 

NHS Ayrshire and Arran 570.2 2.55 

NHS Borders 166.0 2.55 

NHS Dumfries and Galloway 238.3 2.55 

NHS Fife 502.9 2.80 

NHS Forth Valley 398.8 2.85 

NHS Grampian 678.5 2.82 

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde 1,871.4 2.55 

NHS Highland 480.6 2.55 

NHS Lanarkshire 798.4 2.94 

NHS Lothian 1,018.2 3.14 

NHS Orkney 31.3 2.63 

NHS Shetland 36.8 2.55 

NHS Tayside 592.9 2.55 

NHS Western Isles 58.1 2.55 

TOTAL 7,437.4 2.73 

PRIMARY CARE IN MUSSELBURGH Dalkeith hosts health board meeting 

“We gave a presentation providing details on some 

of our major forthcoming developments such as 

Midlothian Community Hospital and Dalkeith Medical 

Centre, which was followed by a question-andanswer 

session.” 

While board meetings are open to the public, there 

is no question and answer session. Board papers 

are available at each board meeting and on NHS 

Lothian’s website from the day of the meeting at 

www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk 

The meeting meant members 

of the local community 

could find out the most 

up-to-date position on 

their healthcare services


ADVANCE PLANNING 

FOR EMERGENCIES 

IF there was a fire that closed your 

hospital, where would you work? Or 

a goods train loaded with dangerous 

chemicals was derailed next to your 

health centre and you weren’t allowed 

in for your patient records. What 

would you do? 

Thankfully, for many of us, neither 

is a scenario we need to worry about. 

NHS Lothian and its community 

health partnerships (CHPs), like 

all major organisations, however, do 

need to have plans in place to make 

sure that “business” can continue 

as normal in the event of a fire or 

other emergency situation. 

Edinburgh CHP recently 

READY FOR ACTION: 

the business continuity 

team discuss their plans 

Telling the story 

of community care 

THE Patients’ Council at the 

Royal Edinburgh Hospital has 

launched a book of stories from 

patients, carers and staff about 

moving from hospital-based 

care into community care. 

The book, “Stories of 

Changing Lives”, gives a voice 

to people to share their personal 

experiences of moving on to 

community-based care during 

the mid/late 1990s. 

“This book tells 

the extraordinary 

stories of 

remarkable 

people who made 

huge changes 

in their lives” 

Linda Irvine 

The book highlights the 

reality that peoples’ lives do 

change as they become 

established in their 

communities. It shows that 

supporting people to live 

in their own home rather 

than in a hospital setting can 

exceed both their own and 

others expectations. The 

publication was funded by NHS 

Ensuring we have business continuity plans in place is 

essential for the vital services NHS Lothian provides 

set up a business continuity planning 

(BCP) group to develop and test 

operational plans for a range of 

possible scenarios in the city. 

Assistant general manager Robert 

Aitken told Connections: “We’ve 

drawn up about 20 plans covering the 

various disciplines and services in the 

different parts of the capital 

and we’ve carried out a number of 

exercises to test how they would work 

in a real crisis. 

“We’ve brought staff 

together from different 

localities and involved social 

work, GPs and practice 

managers who have a close 

relationship with our own 

employees.” 

He added: “Our business 

continuity manager Julie 

Drysdale develops various 

scenarios to test how the 

staff will respond and the 

Lothian Endowments. 

Linda Irvine, strategic 

programme manager, NHS 

Lothian, said: “This book tells 

the extraordinary stories of 

remarkable people who made 

huge changes in their lives. It 

echoes our message that 

recovery can be a reality for 

people with a mental health 

illness. I would encourage 

everyone to read it and be 

inspired by what is possible.” 

Lesley Smith, a member of 

the Patient’s Council and lead 

for this work, added: “These 

stories prove that community 

based care that is focused, wellplanned 

and resourced in a 

person-centred and holistic way 

enables people to be in control 

of their lives showing that it can 

and does work” 

In the mid/late 1990s, there 

was shift toward community 

care due to policy changes and 

a recognition that hospitalbased 

care was not necessarily 

the best option for people with a 

long-term mental health illness. 

At this time, the Royal 

Edinburgh Hospital set about 

moving its continuing care 

service into the community. In 

all, more than 100 people were 

moved into the community. 

feedback from the exercises has been 

very good. People realise how vital it 

is that we are able to continue to 

operate services for our patients even 

in the event of a crisis.” 

Steven Ross-Bell is clinical sourcing 

manager (contracts lead) at NHS 

Lothian and business continuity 

lead for the health authority’s 

procurement department. 

He said: “We are taking a careful 

look at the risks we face, and how we 

can plan to mitigate them to allow the 

board, or one of its units, to function 

in the event of a crisis. 

“We have asked our suppliers what 

business continuity plans they have 

in place, to ensure we can continue 

to receive drugs or equipment.” 

Steven added: “We have utilised 

the BCP eLearning module on 

NHS Learnpro which all 15 

of NHS Lothian’s procurement 

managers and supervisors have 

ON THE RUN: Edinburgh to 

Paris supporter Scott Hastings 

with Gina Easton, age 14 

completed and passed. 

“We are spearheading 

the use of 

this module on 

behalf of the 

facilities 

directorate. Other 

managers and 

supervisors would 

find the module 

useful to raise their 

awareness of business 

continuity for their own 

service.” 

Steven recently took part in the 

Scottish Government’s National 

Procurement pandemic BCP exercise 

involving health boards across the 

country. 

He said: “We all learned a great deal 

– especially the importance of testing 

plans regularly and knowing where 

to find and implement them in the 

event of a crisis.” 

DID 

YOU KNOW 

The business continuity 

process makes sure we have 

the capability to function 

during disruptive events such 

as loss of power, water, 

telephones, severe 

weather and flu 

outbreaks


FIRE! By their nature, 

emergencies are unexpected, 

but NHS Lothian has plans 

in place to cope with 

events such as a major fire 

Fraud – don’t risk it 

RECENT court cases involving former 

employees show just how seriously 

NHS Lothian takes the issue of fraud. 

Fraudsters not only lose their jobs, 

but end up with a criminal record and 

could even go to jail for their crime. 

One ex-member of staff narrowly 

escaped prison for falsifying 

timesheets while working as a 

member of the staff bank. Another 

has been given a jail sentence for 

altering his medical certificates to 

claim longer off work than had been 

authorised by his doctor. 

Meanwhile, the procurator fiscal 

is considering another case against an 

employee who was working privately 

while claiming sick leave. 

Cases like these are investigated 

by NHSScotland’s counter fraud 

services (CFS), and evidence is passed 

to the procurator fiscal for action. 

Several others are at an early stage of 

investigation – including some cases 

where the suspects are not yet aware 

they are under suspicion. 

David Woods, chief internal auditor, 

said: “Counter fraud services holds 

investigative powers similar to the 

police, including the power to carry 

out directed surveillance, interview 

suspects under caution and report 

cases directly to the fiscal.” 

He said that line managers identify 

70 per cent of all suspected frauds that 

are investigated by CFS, while others 

are reported by members of staff. 

Staff can also report suspicions 

anonymously through CFS’s 

hotline 08000 151628 or via 

www.cfs.scot.nhs.uk 

TRACKING DOWN FRAUDSTERS 

NHS Lothian is investigating 

some anomalies identified as 

part of the national fraud 

initiative (NFI). 

Every two years, the NFI 

exercise compares employee 

and other data from various 

public sector organisations, 

and matches it to highlight 

possible fraudulent activity, 

Fancy a gentle jog 

to Paris for charity? 

WOULD you like a trip to France with 

a difference? Radio Lollipop has 

launched the Run to France 

fundraising initiative that invites 

people to run or walk a total of 

1120km (696 miles) – the distance 

from Edinburgh to Paris. 

The challenge, backed by 

former Scotland rugby international 

star Scott Hastings, officially kicked 

off on 7 February, the same day as the 

Scotland vs France 6 Nations Rugby 

match at Murrayfield. 

Participants have to clock up a 

total distance of 1120km in short 

runs across the year, culminating 

concurrently with the 2011 France 

v Scotland 6 Nations game 

in Paris. 

The idea for the fundraising 

initiative came from two fathers 

with young families who like to keep 

fit by setting running challenges 

throughout the year while raising 

money for charity. 

For this year’s challenge, 

e.g. employees on two payrolls, 

claiming social security 

benefits or anomalies with 

employees’ UK visas. 

A large number of matches 

highlighted by NFI have 

already been examined, 

leaving some matches of 

particular interest to be 

investigated further. 

David Lewis and William 

Fairhurst will help raise funds for 

Radio Lollipop, which exists to 

provide care, comfort, play and 

entertainment to children and young 

people in hospital, including the 

Royal Hospital for Sick Children 

in Edinburgh. 

A dedicated website for the Run 

to France campaign is available 

(www.runtofrance.com) where people 

will be able to learn more about the 

challenge. 

Anybody wishing to join the Run 

to France challenge can find out how 

through the website and will be 

re-directed to the Run to France 

dedicated web page on Nike Plus. 

“I am happy to support the Run to France for 

Radio Lollipop challenge. I am a regular runner 

and will now be monitoring my weekly 

mileage in support of this great initiative” 

Scott Hastings, former Scotland rugby international 

Hep C screening 

available for 

those at risk 

PEOPLE at risk of having the 

hepatitis C virus are being 

encouraged to come forward for 

testing as part of a new Scottish 

Government campaign. 

Hilda Stiven, senior health 

policy officer, NHS Lothian, 

said: “Hepatitis C is a serious 

illness, but it can be treated. 

We are looking for former 

injecting drug users, people 

who had NHS blood 

transfusions before 1991 and 

anyone who may have shared 

items, such as razors, with 

someone who has the virus to 

come forward and get tested.” 

Testing for hepatitis C is 

available at: 

GP surgeries; genito-urinary 

medicine – Edinburgh: 0131 536 

2103 (men) 0131 536 2104 

(women), West Lothian: 01506 

464668; HIV counselling clinic, 

Western General Hospital, 

Edinburgh: 0131 537 2864; harm 

reduction team offers testing at 

various sites across Lothian. For 

details and appointments, call 

the blood borne virus prevention 

nurse on 0131 537 8300. 

EContact C Plus, 17 Academy 

Street, Edinburgh EH6 7EE 

0131 478 7929 or Waverley 

Care, 3 Mansfield Place, 

Edinburgh EH3 6NB, 

0131 556 9710 

Staff are encouraged to support 

Radio Lollipop’s challenge to run 

the equivalent of Edinburgh-Paris 

You can also keep up to date with 

the challenge through the Run to 

France Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/ 

runtofrance) and Twitter (www.twitter. 

com/runtofrance) pages. 

The Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor 

hotel is backing the challenge and will 

be supporting Radio Lollipop 

throughout 2010 through their 

Hilton in the Community Foundation 

fundraising. 

Scott Hastings thinks Run to 

France will be a tremendous activity 

for people to take part in: “I am happy 

to support the Run to France for Radio 

Lollipop challenge. 

“I am a regular runner and will 

now be monitoring my weekly 

mileage in support of this great 

initiative. 

“While I would love to visit Paris 

in the next year, the beauty of this 

particular challenge is that you just 

have to log your equivalent miles from 

Edinburgh to Paris without setting foot 

in the French capital!”


National award for 

eHealth TRAK team 

OUR eHealth TRAK team has 

won a major national award for 

the TRAK health electronic 

patient record system that’s in use 

across NHS Lothian. 

At a glittering award ceremony in 

London’s Guildhall, which prime 

minister Gordon Brown addressed 

by video link, the Lothian team 

scooped the eGovernment award 

for “proven team working which 

has delivered more than the sum 

of the parts”. 

eHealth programme manager 

Bill Alexander said: “We were 

delighted to win this prestigious 

award as recognition for our work. 

MODERN CARE: Telehealth is 

one recent healthcare innovation 

Technology 

goes on show 

OUR eHealth department is planning 

to showcase some of the new 

developments in technology in use 

right now at NHS Lothian – or being 

evaluated for the future. 

The show will be held at the Royal 

Infirmary of Edinburgh in April for 

senior executives and consultants. 

Pete Waugh, eHealth programme 

manager for system development and 

training, said: “Several of the recent 

innovations we are using will be on 

show, including our mobile clinical 

assistants that give users access at the 

bedside to vital patient information; 

the NHSScotland-wide electronic 

library, and the national emergency 

care summary.” 

The show will also feature 

Telehealth, which allows medical staff 

to monitor patients at home, and may 

include teleconferencing, which could 

allow healthcare staff to discuss 

concerns with patients over a secure 

computer link instead of face to face. 

“TRAK is one of the biggest 

electronic patient record projects in 

the UK. 

“It’s a single database containing 

all the patient records, events 

and outcomes for accident 

and emergency, patient 

administration, radiology 

management, ordering/reporting 

of investigations and maternity. 

“eHealth has now started to 

implement the project in the 

community setting, giving 

district nurses, health visitors 

and AHP staff real-time access 

to comprehensive patient 

information.” 

Walking programme’s 

success acknowledged 

SPECIALIST physiotherapist 

Amanda Stears was recently 

nominated for an award for her 

ground-breaking work with adults 

with learning disabilities in Lothian. 

Amanda was nominated for an 

NHS Health Scotland Physical 

Activity and Health Alliance Active 

(PAHA) Factor Award by Paths For 

All development officer Zoe Smolka. 

Sadly for Amanda, the Midlothian 

community adult 

learning disability team 

and the day centre 

staff, they missed 

out on the top 

prize. But as far 

as Amanda is 

concerned, just 

being nominated 

was reward 

enough. 

The nomination 

came after Amanda 

organised a walking 

group in the Midlothian 

area for adults with 

learning disabilities. 

CELBRATING SUCCESS: Marion Lynch, admin manager, Sylvia 

Baikie, c:card manager and Mark Bailie, c:card service manager 

She said: “I was keen to see how 

it could be adapted and focused on 

our work with clients within the day 

centres we visit, primarily Cherry 

Road in Bonnyrigg and John Chant 

in Penicuik. 

“I noticed that some of our clients 

spent a lot of their activity time 

sitting down at things like art classes 

and other centre-based activities, so 

we thought it would be a good idea 

to encourage some 

regular exercise. 

“And it has 

proved to be very 

popular – so 

popular in fact 

we recently 

celebrated our 

first birthday 

and have grown 

from one to 

three walks per 

week. 

“It has also spread 

to East Lothian with 

the help of council 

staff there. We have 

21 years of promoting safer sex 

THE very first NHS free condom 

service in the UK is about to celebrate 

its 21st birthday – in the Lothians. 

The c:card team will host a thank you 

event for its partners – public agencies 

and individuals – at the Point Hotel in 

April to say thanks for their support. 

When the service opened in 1989, 

condoms had a poor public image and 

getting them for free was almost 

impossible. 

Mark Baillie, c:card service manager 

in NHS Lothian’s harm reduction 

also recently started walking with 

adults who suffer from COPD.” 

Amanda added: “Apart from the 

obvious benefits of improved 

fitness in participants, support staff 

have reported that walking 

outdoors in pleasant surroundings 

team, said: “At that time, an effective 

and efficient service was needed in the 

Lothians to combat HIV transmission 

and unplanned pregnancies. 

“In the first year, c:card operated out 

of two locations; since then, more than 

70 points have been opened in 

Edinburgh and the Lothians. 

“From fewer than 300 visits in the first 

year, we now have more than 34,000 

visits and c:card has grown into 

NHS Lothian’s largest sexual health 

service. Its success has led to similar 

SUCCESS: the 

eHealth TRAK Team 

WALK THIS WAY: Amin Mohammed, Lynne Sutherland, Jenny 

Morgan, day services officer at Cherry Road Resource Centre, 

and Thomas Drysdale. Left: Amanda Stears with Paul Scollan 

has had a positive effect on mood 

and behaviour.” 

E For more information about 

the walking groups, contact 

amanda.stears@nhslothian. 

scot.nhs.uk 

services being set up by other health 

boards across the country.” 

Mark added: “c:card would not 

have been possible without the 

dedicated support of all the agencies 

and individuals who work in 

partnership with us to facilitate the 

service for free.” 

E For more information on 

c:card and to find out where 

the service is available, go to: 

www.ccard.org.uk

12 SICK KIDS’ ANNIVERSARY March/April 201 

We look back 

over the last 

150 years of 

the Royal 

Hospital for 

Sick Children 

THROUGH the 1850s, fever raged 

in the stinking closes of Edinburgh’s 

city centre. Many people lived in 

poverty without sanitation or 

piped water and with practically no 

access to medical attention for their 

infants when they fell ill. 

Across the city, the average death rate 

of children under five years of age was 

one in 13. 

Medical staff in the capital were 

appalled and began a campaign to erect 

a hospital that would look after the 

health needs of young people. 

The rest, as they say, is history. In this 

special anniversary feature, we look at 

some of the key participants in the 

campaign and the timeline that led to 

the Royal Hospital for Sick Children 

celebrating 150 years of service and 

innovation in paediatric treatment. 

14 FEBRUARY 1859 

THE CAMPAIGN IS LAUNCHED 

Dr John Smith, a surgeon at the 

Royal Infirmary, passionately raised 

the importance of a hospital for sick 

children in Edinburgh and persuaded 

The Scotsman to publish a 

letter opening the debate. It read: “No 

colours are too strong to paint the 

sufferings of young children among 

the lowest and poorest classes 

of the population, when afflicted 

with disease.” 

A BUSY WARD: Memories 

of the RHSC, 1909 

HAPPY BIRTHDA 

Designed by architect George Washington, the current RHSC building 

opened in 1895. 

5 MAY 1859 

FIRST PUBLIC MEETING TO 

ESTABLISH THE HOSPITAL BOARD 

A public meeting chaired by the Rev 

Dr James Hudson, rector of The 

Edinburgh Academy, agreed that a 

hospital for the relief of sick children 

be established forthwith. It was also 

agreed that the hospital would become 

a training school for medical students 

and nurses – an innovative and 

controversial decision at a time when 

paediatric medicine was still regarded 

as an extension of the obstetric and 

gynaecology specialities. 

15 FEBRUARY 1860 

EDINBURGH HOSPITAL FOR SICK 

CHILDREN OPENS 

A large building at 7 Lauriston Lane was 

selected and, with a few adaptations, 

was swiftly transformed into a 

hospital comprising 12 inpatient 

beds, a dispensary, an 

outpatient consulting 

room, eight convalescent 

beds and limited 

accommodation for 

nursing and medical staff. 

Just five months after 

the lease was signed, on 

February 15 1860, with no 

special ceremony, the 

doors to the hospital 

opened. 

21 JANUARY 1861 

DIRECTORS REPORTED ON 

THEIR SUCCESS 

The directors reported –“154 children 

of ages one year to 12 years admitted 

and treated, of whom 140 have been 

cured and restored to their parents and 

friends. In the dispensary attached to 

the hospital, 985 children have 

during the same period received 

medicine and – when necessary – been 

visited at their parents’ dwellings 

and a truly great amount 

Victoria Stewart 

aged three gets 

a cuddle from 

Dr Sprout 

Kyle Gray and Charlie 

Hunter blow out the 

candles before enjoying 

a piece of cake. 

A big thank you to Andy 

McPheely, assistant 

logistics manager, and his 

team who distributed the 

birthday cake and made 

sure everyone felt part of 

the celebrations 

“No colours are 

too strong to paint 

the sufferings of 

young children 

among the lowest 

and poorest classes 

of the population, 

when afflicted 

with disease” 

Dr John Smith, 1895 

of disease and suffering has thus also 

been relieved.” 

However, they also reported: 

“The directors have been 

compelled to refuse admission 

to many poor languishing 

and dying children because 

at the time of application 

the house was full, or 

because they could 

not venture to 

admit fever 

patients in its

0 Connections 

then crowded state.” 

They asked: “Shall not these 

suffering little ones be turned away 

from the door, to be taken back to 

darkness, cold, hunger, pain and death 

in their wretched dwellings where so 

many are to be found?” 

So, barely two years after Dr 

Smith’s letter to The Scotsman, and less 

than a year since the first hospital 

opened, an appeal for a £5000 building 

fund was launched so that the now 

essential children’s hospital could be 

housed in suitable premises. 

18 MAY 1863 

HOSPITAL ACHIEVES ROYAL STATUS 

Three years after the first hospital 

opened, services moved to a new 

custom-built hospital, Meadowside 

House. The new hospital was described 

as “commodious and well ventilated”, 

providing five wards and space for 

48 inpatients. 

The hard work of directors and staff 

was recognised when Queen Victoria 

bestowed her 

patronage – the 

first children’s 

hospital in the 

UK to receive the 

honour. 

1 NOVEMBER 

1887 

FIRST SURGICAL 

WARD OPENS 

UNDER DR 

JOSEPH BELL 

Dr Joseph Bell, president of the Royal 

College of Surgeons and part of a 

dynasty of surgeons, was appointed as 

the first Ordinary Surgeon at the Royal 

Hospital for Sick Children in May 1887. 

The dedicated children’s surgical ward 

opened its doors six months later. 

2 DECEMBER 1890 

TRANSFER TO PLEWLANDS HOUSE 

During 1890, a major outbreak of 

typhoid occurred through Edinburgh 

and many children were admitted 

to the hospital with advanced 

SICK KIDS’ ANNIVERSARY 13 

Y TO THE SICK KIDS! 

New teenage 

cancer trust 

unit opens, 

December 2009 

symptoms. After the sad death of 

a nurse, there were concerns that 

the hospital was infected and no 

longer clean. 

The temporary closure was agreed 

and all patients, staff and equipment 

were moved to Plewlands House – the 

former Morningside College. 

Meadowside House was thoroughly 

inspected and cleaned, but the report 

concluded that the building was 

inadequate for the needs of the patients 

and staff, so once again the directors 

sought to find a new, larger hospital. 

“The building which Her Royal Highness is 

about to declare open is one of the most 

perfect hospitals in the United Kingdom” 

Hall Blyth, chairman of the directors, 1895 

Meadowside House was sold to The 

Royal Infirmary and the site of a former 

school at Rillbank, Sciennes, was 

selected for the new building. 

31 OCTOBER 1895 

RHSC OPENS AT SCIENNES 

Eminent Edinburgh architect 

George Washington Browne designed 

a new building. Lady Jane Dundas 

made the generous donation of £6500 

to build and furnish one 

wing of the new hospital, 

naming it the Lady 

Caroline Charteris 

Memorial Wing after 

her sister. Colonel W. 

Lorimer Bathgate, one 

of the directors who 

had benevolently 

ensured that all the 

little inmates of the 

hospital were provided 

with Christmas treats 

every year, endowed 

enough to fund the 

“Bathgate Ward” in 

memory of his sister 

Thomasine, and another 

director left enough to 

fund a ward, named the 

“Mackay Smith Ward” 

after him. 

On 31 October 1895, 

Princess Beatrice graciously performed 

the opening ceremony on behalf 

of her mother, Queen Victoria, the 

Hospital’s Patron. 

At the short ceremony, Hall Blyth, 

the chairman of the directors, spoke 

about the history of the Royal Hospital 

for Sick Children services 

in Edinburgh, explaining that up to 

this date, more than 180,000 sick 

children had received treatment. 

He proudly stated: “The building 

which Her Royal Highness is about 

to declare open is one of 

the most perfect hospitals in the 

United Kingdom.” 

THE THEATRE 

TEAM: Memories 

of the RHSC, 1909 

1895 TO 2010 

The hospital continued to expand and 

to lead the way in many aspects of 

paediatric medicine. During the war 

years, women were welcomed on to the 

medical team and the staff coped with 

reduced supplies and evacuation. 

The various additions, although 

essential to the continued development 

of services, made the hospital a 

patchwork of add-on buildings as the 

directors purchased houses in Rillbank 

Terrace and Millerfield Place. 

By the mid-1980s, the hospital was 

again in need of more space and a 

successful appeal raised the funds to build 

a new wing. The three-floor extension 

was formally opened in June 1995 and 

the vacated wards created a new 

paediatric intensive care unit. 

Today, the hospital cares for more than 

100,000 children and young people a 

year from across Lothian and beyond. 

It provides a comprehensive range of 

dedicated children’s services, including 

accident and emergency, acute medical 

and surgical care, specialist surgical 

and medical care, haematology and 

oncology, day care and critical care. 

THE FUTURE 

The decision to pursue the construction 

of a new children’s hospital was made 

by the NHS Lothian board in 2005. 

This was based on the recognition that 

the present hospital requires significant 

modernisation in order to continue 

to be a first-class environment for the 

delivery of high-quality care for children 

and young people. 

The new hospital, due to open in 2013, 

will be truly fit for the 21st century. 

The site at Little France will follow the 

“gold standard” for children’s hospitals, 

ensuring that children and young 

people benefit from closer collaboration 

between paediatric specialists and their 

adult service counterparts working 

in the Royal Infirmary. 

Children, young people, families 

and staff have all been involved in the 

design process.


Self-referral to 

physio service 

THE launch of a self-referral physiotherapy 

service is set to make a big difference to 

patients across East Lothian and Midlothian. 

The service, which went live on 22 February in 

East Lothian and will be launched on 1 April in 

Midlothian, will allow adults to get quicker access 

to a physiotherapist for musculoskeletal problems 

without needing to first see a GP or another 

health professional. 

At present, the service is not available to 

people under 16 years of age or those who need 

a home visit. 

This is another step in the redesign of the 

musculoskeletal physiotherapy service in East 

Lothian and Midlothian. The redesign aims 

to improve the quality of physiotherapy from referral 

to discharge and is working hard to achieve a 

patient-centred service. 

To refer themselves, a patient can pick up a form 

from a GP surgery, or download one from a website 

(www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/community/physio/do 

_you_need_physiotherapy.pdf). Once the form has 

“This new service will 

improve access for patients, 

as well as free up time 

in GP surgeries” 

Morag Barrow, allied health professional manager 

New system will give 

patients quicker and 

easier access to treatment 

been received, the service will send a letter to the 

patient acknowledging that the referral has been 

received. When an appointment becomes available 

the person will be contacted again to arrange an 

appropriate time and date for an appointment. 

Morag Barrow, allied health professional 

manager for East Lothian and Midlothian, said: 

“Patients can still go to their GP, but this method 

of referral will add to our menu of options to access 

the physiotherapy service. 

“This new service will improve access for patients, 

as well as free up time in GP surgeries. People 

will be seen more quickly, which means they will 

get better support. The longer the time between 

a musculoskeletal injury and receiving specialist 

advice, then the more likely that a problem 

will turn into a chronic one.” 

Libby Dale, physiotherapy team lead who 

has been leading the self-referral development, 

said: “Physiotherapy staff are very positive 

about self referral. There were initial concerns 

that it would lead to the service being overwhelmed 

with referrals, but the evidence shows that this 

should not happen.” 

IMPROVING 

HEALTH: Libby 

Dale, right, 

puts Debbie 

Wood through 

her paces


AIMING FOR EXCELLENCE 

MEET the Balfour Beatty 

WorkPlace (BBW) management 

team based at the Royal Infirmary 

of Edinburgh. 

Gillian Grieve 

Office manager 

Duncan Colville 

Customer service manager 

Pam McKenzie 

Night shift manager 

BBW delivers all of the hospital’s 

domestic services. 

The team comprises a combination 

of operational and support function 

Mark Barnett 

General manager 

Mark Barnett joined 

Balfour Beatty WorkPlace 

(BBW) as the general 

manager at the Royal 

Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) 

in August 2008. 

Mark has overall 

responsibility for the delivery 

of facilities management 

services for patients, staff 

and visitors. 

The services BBW 

provides form an integral part of the patients’ stay in hospital 

and Mark and his team are committed to ensuring high standards 

of service are consistently delivered to enhance the overall 

healthcare experience for all concerned at RIE. 

He said: “Before joining BBW, I spent eight years in the private 

sector within contract management, working on The Glasgow 

and Edinburgh Schools PFI projects and prior to this had 

12 very enjoyable years in the NHS with approximately 

half of them spent at the Western General, Royal Victoria 

and Royal Hospital for Sick Children Hospitals within 

NHS Lothian.” 

Mark has three children and enjoys five-a-side football. 

Edward Costello 

Fabric services manager 

Gordon Chalmers 

Security manager 

John Wilson 

Mechanical manager 

managers who provide a wide range 

of ancillary and facilities services to 

the site, including domestics, catering, 

portering, security and technical 

Ann Bradford 


Seton Steele 


Carol Stirrat 

Business systems co-ordinator 

Charles Neilson 

Soft Services manager 

Soft services manager 

Charles Neilson has worked 

for Balfour Beatty WorkPlace 

(BBW) since January 2009. 

Charles has overall 

responsibility for service 

delivery within soft services 

that includes: domestic 

services, portering 

services, security services, 

commercial catering, patient 

feeding and helpdesk. 

He said: “My main aim to is improve the overall experience 

for patients, visitors and NHS employees whilst they are at 

the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. 

“My career to date has been varied in facilities management, 

which I have been in for some 20 years, ranging from contract 

management on North Sea oil rigs to site management 

within healthcare and business development in the private sector. 

“Throughout my career I have been a great advocate of 

customer service measurement, and I have continued this at 

the RIE where we are currently carrying out surveys in all areas 

for all services that BBW delivers.” 

Charles has three children, is a keen golfer and enjoys coaching 

shinty for his local club. 

Iain Cripps 

Electrical manager 

Colin Herd 

Portering manager 

Andy Cummings 

Health and safety adviser 

services such as mechanical, electrical, 

hard and soft landscaping. 

BBW’s main aims are to strengthen 

the commitment to the working 

Leigh McAllister 

Training and quality manager 

Craig Bones 


Rachel Barron 

HR adviser 

partnership with NHS Lothian and 

the University Medical School and to 

strive to achieve excellence in all 

that it delivers. 

Andy Diamond 

Technical Services 

manager 

Andy Dimond is technical 

services manager at Balfour 

Beatty WorkPlace (BBW), 

and has worked for the 

company since March 2009, 

when he first arrived at The 

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. 

Andy has overall 

responsibility for service 

delivery within technical 

services that includes: 

mechanical and electrical services, internal and external 

fabric maintenance, asset management of the infrastructure, 

projects and additional customer requests. 

Andy said: “My career to date has been varied, with 14 years’ 

service in the Royal Navy, ranging from operating the facilities 

at the Trident Submarine Base to being the engineering officer 

of a minesweeper. 

“This was followed by roles in facilities management, ranging 

from contract management of an RAF base to running the 

maintenance operation of the RBS Group headquarters at 

Gogarburn, Edinburgh.” 

Andy has two children and he is a keen rugby supporter, 

following leading London club Harlequins. 

Corrie McKenzie 

Senior customer 

services manager 

Paul Dobosz 

Senior customer 

services manager


Midwife-led 

birthing unit at 

the RIE will give 

expectant mums 

first-class care 

in a ‘homely’ 

environment 

THE designs for NHS Lothian’s 

new birthing centre have been 

unveiled. Pictures and plans give 

an idea how the midwife-led 

facility will look when it is built at 

Simpson’s Centre for Reproductive 

Health at the Royal Infirmary of 

Edinburgh (RIE). 

It is part of the multi-million 

pound strategy that will welcome in 

a new era in maternity services in 

Lothian and give thousands of 

women more choice about the birth 

of their babies. 

Maria Wilson, chief midwife at 

NHS Lothian, said: “The plans 

look fantastic and we are thrilled 

with them. We wanted to make 

sure the birthing centre had 

everything that women would 

expect and we are confident we 

have achieved that. 

“The feedback from the groups 

who have helped shape the new service 

has been really positive. It is very 

exciting to see all of the plans fast 

becoming a reality.” 

NHS Lothian gave the maternity 

strategy the green light after women 

and families took part in a public 

consultation to help shape the future 

of the service to meet the changing 

needs of the community and the 

unprecedented rise in the birth rate. 

WANT to find out more about 

NHS Lothian’s latest news? 

We’ve gone online, which 

means you don’t need to wait 

for the next edition of Connections 

to keep updated on our latest 

news and developments. 

You can now follow us on Twitter, 

or become a fan on Facebook. Be 

among the first to receive news 

updates and much more. 

Let us know what 

you’d like to see in the next 

edition of your staff newspaper by 

logging onto Facebook. 

The number of babies born in 

Lothian soared by 11 per cent, from 

8538 in 2004 to 9456 in 2007 – a total 

of 6508 at the RIE and 2948 at St 

John’s in 2007. 

The creation of the birthing centre, 

Get yourself 

connected… 

BIRTH OF A NEW ERA IN 

MATERNITY SERVICES 

To start receiving our tweets, 

log on to www.twitter.com/ 

NHS_Lothian 

To become a Facebook friend, 

log onto www.facebook.com and 

search for NHS_Lothian. 

led by midwives, will mean that about 

1500 women a year, who are assessed 

as being likely not to require any hightech 

medical interventions, can have 

their babies in a more “homely” 

environment, but still have nearby 

TWO NHS Lothian initiatives are 

helping staff win the war against 

Clostridium difficile (C.diff): the 

new Clostridium difficile toolkit 

and the university hospital division 

adult antimicrobial prescribing 

guidelines (2009). 

The C.diff toolkit, which is being 

implemented in NHS Lothian, 

gives a set of standards to help 

prevent and manage the outbreak 

of the bug. 

The antimicrobial guidelines give 

useful advice to clinicians to 

prescribe antibiotics appropriately, 

reduce the use of unnecessary 

long course lengths of antibiotics 

and to minimise use of those that 

increase the risk of C.diff 

developing. 

Lead antimicrobial pharmacist 

Alison Cockburn said: “Adherence 

to the recommendations in the 

guidelines is currently being 

audited within the acute hospitals 

to facilitate the reduction in 

C.difficile infection rates.” 

The number of C.diff infections 

across NHS Lothian hospitals 

has continued to fall. 

medical expertise close if required. 

The stand-alone unit will have a total 

of six delivery rooms, each with its own 

birthing pool. 

The current service in St John’s 

Hospital will also be upgraded with 

NHS Lothian’s rate is now below 

the national average and the 47 

cases among people of all ages 

recorded in December 2009 was 

the lowest for Lothian since C.diff 

surveillance began. 

Levels of MRSA infections have 

also continued to fall. For the 

second half of last year (July to 

December 2009) there were 30 

cases of MRSA recorded. This 

compares to 76 cases recorded 

during the same period in 2004. 

Dr Alison McCallum, director 

of public health and health 

policy at NHS Lothian, said: “We 

are continuing to drive down C.diff 

and MRSA infections using a 

ELECTIVE SCREENING 

NHS Lothian is rolling out 

elective screening for the MRSA 

bug as part of the Government’s 

screening programme. 

Screening will take place 

with patients prior to elective 

surgery and on emergency 

NEW DELIVERY: mums in 

Lothian will soon benefit from a 

new state-of-the-art birthing unit 

plans to revamp the delivery suite. 

En-suite facilities will be created in 

delivery rooms to increase privacy and 

dignity during the birth experience – 

an action highlighted during the 

consultation exercise. 

C.diff infections at lowest 

level since records began 

variety of methods. 

“These include new guidelines 

on prescribing, changing some 

of the chemicals used in 

cleaning and continuing with 

education initiatives with staff 

and visitors.” 

EFor more information on the 

C.diff toolkit: http://intranet. 

lothian.scot.nhs.uk/NHSLothian/ 

Healthcare/A-Z/Infection 

Control/Pages/toolkit.aspx 

UHD adult antimicrobial 

prescribing guidelines: http:// 

intranet.lothian.scot.nhs.uk/NHS 

Lothian/Healthcare/A-Z/amt 

admission to the following four 

clinical areas: 

■ renal, 

■ vascular 

■ dermatology and 

■ specialist medical for the 

elderly.


Volunteer patients wanted 

Edinburgh Dental Institute 

offers free treatment to people 

not registered with a dentist 

WOULD you like some free dental 

treatment, and at the same time help 

with the training of dental 

professionals? 

The Edinburgh Dental Institute at 

Lauriston Place is offering people who 

are not currently registered with a 

dentist the chance of free routine 

dental treatment from student dental 

hygienist-therapists. Treatment will be 

provided in the Institute’s new 

dental education centre, which 

boasts state-of-the-art facilities that 

are second to none in Scotland. 

Therapists are trained to undertake 

routine dentistry, which includes 

fillings, scaling and polishing and 

preventive treatment. However, more 

complex treatments, such as tooth 

extractions, dentures, crowns, bridges 

or root fillings, are not provided by 

therapists. 

Professor Richard Ibbetson, Director 

of the Edinburgh Postgraduate 

Institute, said: “We greatly appreciate 

people helping us with the teaching 

and training of the next generation 

of dental care professionals. 

“I think they will be impressed with 

the quality of the facilities and the 

friendliness of the staff and students.” 

Dr Colwyn Jones, consultant in 

dental public health at NHS 

Lothian, said: “If people don’t have 

a dentist, they can go along to get 

routine dental treatment at no cost 

to them. The students are always 

supervised by other qualified dental 

personnel.” 

Colwyn continued: “By becoming 

a patient for this treatment, you are 

helping to train the next generation 

of dental therapists. There are mutual 

advantages there – you get free 

treatment, the students get the 

chance to carry out treatment, and the 

community will ultimately see the 

benefits.” 

ETo arrange an appointment, call 

0131 536 4903 and leave your 

name and number. You will be 

called back within a week to 

arrange an appointment. 

Snap to it and send us 

your photographs! 

FANCY yourself as the next David Bailey? 

The Royal Infirmary Edinburgh Arts 

Committee is looking for photographers 

to enter the first NHS Lothian digital 

photo competition. 

The competition, which will open on 

26 April, will run for 14 weeks, closing 

on 2 August 2010. 

Jane McArthur of Ginkgo Projects, who 

is co-ordinating the competition, 

explained: “Photos are welcome from 

everyone. 

“We are looking forward to seeing all 

that talent that is out there from keen 

photographers to people who have 

never picked up a camera before or who 

take great shots on their mobile phone.” 

The competition is free to enter and 

is open to all patients, staff, volunteers, 

visitors and carers. There are two 

categories with prizes: under-16s and 

over-16s. 

Entrants can either upload their 

images straight on to a specially 

designated website or send their 

images on disk by post. Keep 

an eye open for posters with 

the web address and 

further information 

throughout NHS 

Lothian buildings 

and in public 

libraries in time 

for the launch on 

26 April. 

Full entry details and ideas will also 

be in the next issue of Connections. 

As well as a chance to win a prize, 

entrants may have their images 

selected for the NHS Lothian online 

photo library. 

Staff will be able to choose favourite 

images that can be printed and framed 

for waiting and treatment areas. 

A selection of images will also 

be chosen for display in the 

radiology department at the 

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at 

the close of the competition. 

A steering group of staff 

from across NHS Lothian, 

chaired by May Roseburgh 

and Niall Lloyd, radiology 

department, RIE and supported 

by Ginkgo Projects, is 

working to put the 

competition together and 

agree a title which will inspire 

as many of you as possible to 

send in a photo or two. 

HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE: senior lecturer Margaret Ross teaches student dental therapists the skills to 

undertake routine treatment. Edinburgh Dental Institute is now looking for more willing volunteer patients! 

New child growth charts 

give valuable guidance 

for health professionals 

THE World Health Organisation 

has developed new growth 

charts for children aged 

between two weeks and 

four years to promote 

breastfeeding. 

This links into many 

aspects of work that we 

are already involved in 

such as the child 

healthy weight 

programme, 

breastfeeding 

and infant 

feeding 

strategy, 

GIRFEC and 

parenting 

programmes. 

The new charts 

were developed using data 

from breastfed children from 

around the world. The charts 

should be used for all infants 

however they are fed. 

The charts are a description 

of optimal rather than average 

growth and are suitable for 

all children. 

The core programme contained 

in the Health for All Children 

(Hall 4) guidance, issued by the 

Scottish Government in 2005, 

advises that children should be 

weighed and measured at birth, 

within the first 10 days of life, 

six-eight weeks, three months, 

four months, 13 months, between 

the ages of three and five years 

and at entry to primary school. 

The charts show length up to 

two years and height from age two 

onwards, and have been designed 

and developed by an expert group 

and tested in focus groups. 

A number of health 

professionals have been trained 

through train the trainer 

events and are currently 

delivering practical 

training for 

midwives and 

health visitors, and 

awareness sessions 

for public health 

nurses, practice 

nurses, staff nurses, 

general practitioners and 

paediatricians are currently 

being rolled out. 

The new charts are included 

in the new Personal Child 

Health Record (Red Book), 

which is now standardised 

across Scotland and aims to be 

more parent friendly. 

It has information for parents 

on what to look out for while 

their child is developing with 

easy to use checklists, details 

of organisations that can 

provide help and support, and 

information on the data kept by 

NHS Lothian and who it will be 

shared with under the Data 

Protection Act 1998.


HR AND DEVELOPMENT 

Managers urged to support 

work placement programme 

DID you know that NHS Lothian is 

committed to giving disadvantaged 

individuals the chance to develop 

themselves through work placements 

or employment? 

But the organisation needs more 

managers to get involved in providing 

opportunities or doing more to 

support identified candidates in the 

recruitment process. 

Through the work placement team, part 

of the employee services department, NHS 

Lothian has been offering people such as 

the socially disadvantaged, including 

those with mental health problems or 

learning disabilities, the chance to 

experience working in the organisation. 

The target of the current NHS Lothian 

human resources and organisational 

development strategy is to provide 

employment opportunities for 1000 people 

over three years until 2011. 

Also, as part of the plan, the team 

has been creating links with external 

organisations such as The Action 

Group, Access into Industry, the 

Cyrenians, IntoWork, JET Programme, 

RNIB, Veterans First Point, Women 

into Work and Jobcentre Plus to identify 

TO help meet the needs of patients and staff, 

NHS Lothian has launched the consultation for 

its new Equality and Human Rights Scheme 

for 2010-13. 

The aim of the scheme is to make health 

and support appropriate candidates. 

Neil Murray, recruitment development 

manager, said: “Managers can get involved 

by identifying suitable work placement 

opportunities. Also, they can further 

support applicants through the 

recruitment process – for example, to 

be sensitive to their situation and needs 

and, if required, provide more detailed 

constructive feedback at each stage of 

the recruitment process.” 

Other aims of the strategy include 

adopting practices that encourage the 

long-term unemployed or people on 

income benefit into employment and that 

encourage mature new entrants on the 

basis that experience of life is an asset. 

E To get involved in providing job or 

work placement opportunities for 

disadvantaged individuals, get in touch 

with the work placement team via 

either Melissa O’Reilly, work placement 

co-ordinator, on 01506 523442 or 

melissa.o’reilly@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk 

or Clare Halliday, work placement 

administrator, on 01506 523412 or 

clare.halliday@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk 

CASE STUDY 

AFTER raising three children, 

Leigh Anne Robb was keen to 

get back to work, but she found 

her lack of work experience 

a barrier to employment. 

After being referred by 

Jobcentre Plus to the Work 

Placement Team, an eight-week 

placement within the 

Recruitment Centre at St John’s 

Hospital was arranged. 

It was so successful that Leigh Anne 

secured a full-time position at the centre that started in October 2009. 

Leigh Anne said: “Going back to work has made a huge difference to my family 

and me. I love spending time with my children, but it’s great to have my own life at 

work as well.” 

Equality and 

diversity 

goes online 

The equality and diversity intranet 

pages have been updated with a 

greater range of helpful resources 

and documents. Access them at 

http://intranet.lothian.scot.nhs.uk/ 

NHSLothian/Corporate/AZ/ 

EqualityandDiversity/Pages/ 

EqualityandDiversity.aspx 

services better for all groups in the community, 

as well as improve NHS Lothian as an 

employer of a diverse range of people. The 

consultation is due to close on 10 May. 

The equality and human rights scheme will 

replace every existing equality and diversity plan 

and draws together work on all the equality 

“strands” – age, disability, gender, race, 

religious belief and sexual orientation. It also 

includes plans to tackle socio-economic 

deprivation and promote human rights. 

Alan Boyter, director of human resources and 

organisational development and executive lead 

for equality on the board, said: “To become a 

leading healthcare provider, we must be able 

to meet the needs of everyone in our 

communities, whether they are patients, 

carers, families or staff. 

“The new scheme is a big step forward for 

NHS Lothian in the way we take forward this 

work right across the organisation.” 

E For a copy of the consultation 

document, visit www.nhslothian.scot. 

nhs.uk under “Your Rights” and 

“Equality and Diversity”. For a paper 

copy or another format, contact James 

Glover, head of equality & diversity, 

at NHS Lothian, Deaconess House, 

148 Pleasance, Edinburgh EH8 9RS, 

telephone 0131 536 9037 or 0779 

2826954, or e-mail james.glover@ 

nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk 

Facilities’ hat-trick of 

quality accreditations 

THE appetite for quality improvement 

continues in the facilities directorate with 

three more services gaining ISO 9000:2008 

Quality Management System accreditation. 

The catering service at the Western 

General Hospital, the porter service at 

Liberton Hospital and the patient 

movement and portering service at the 

Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh have all 

won accreditation, to the delight of Myra 

Keenan, quality improvement and 

development manager. 

John Jack, director of facilities, said: 

“When the facilities directorate was set up, 

there were 10 departments that were 

accredited and have since kept their 

Pedal power is the 

answer to traffic 

trouble for Karen 

KAREN MATTHEWS has discovered that cycling 

at work is as much fun as cycling to work. 

Fed up with parking problems, city-centre 

traffic and fumbling for change at parking meters, 

Karen decided to get on her bike and do 

something about it. 

Karen, a blood-borne virus nurse based at 

the harm reduction team in Spittal Street, 

Edinburgh, said: “I started bringing my bike to 

work a few weeks ago, and instead of using a 

“I get to places in good 

time and can lock my 

bike up right next to 

where I need to be” 

Karen Matthews 

CYCLE CHAMP: Karen has 

found it easier to do her rounds 

across Edinburgh by bike 

accreditation. Last year, the porter service 

at the RHSC became our 11th department 

and we are understandably pleased that we 

now have 14 departments accredited. 

“The accreditation means that we have 

robust management systems that help us 

provide a quality service and mechanisms 

that mean we can check our performance 

and allow our people to feedback ideas that 

can help them do a better job.” 

However, Myra and her team are not ones 

to rest on their laurels, as there is more work 

to do. “Now the ISO 9000 accreditation 

is in place for these services, we will be 

looking to expand the accreditation at other 

locations,” she added. 

team car to carry out my calls, began using the 

bike instead. I do like to cycle and I’m now doing 

about 12 miles in each outreach shift.” 

Karen has a set of panniers to carry the testing 

and treatment equipment she needs and is 

encouraging her colleagues to do the same. 

She said: “It really is a much simpler way to get 

around Edinburgh. The wind can be a bit nippy 

at times, which anyone in Edinburgh on a bike will 

tell you, but it’s well worth the effort. I’m even 

thinking of getting a better bike now through 

the cycle to work scheme. 

“I get to places in good time and can lock 

my bike up right next to 

where I need to be. And 

with a mileage allowance 

for using a bike, there 

are lots of incentives to 

do it.”


WELL DONE: 

John Cormack 

presents Mary 

with her award 

FOCUS ON SERVICES: BACTERIOLOGY 

THE bacteriology department 

at the Royal Infirmary of 

Edinburgh has changed its 

working practices to ensure a 

speedy turnaround in sample 

processing. 

The unit switched to a 24/7 

working shift because of the 

demands placed on the team when 

they are analysing samples. 

The switch came in April 2009, 

and since then, the overall 

turnaround times have improved by 

16 per cent – meaning bacteria are 

being identified much faster. 

Clinical manager Mike Gray 

explained the reasons for 

making the change. 

He said: “In a normal year, we 

process about 550,000 samples. 

“Breaking that down, it’s about 

2000 samples each day, ranging from 

MRSA tests through to urine, 

swabs and stool samples. 

“The 65-strong team were finding 

it increasingly difficult to get the 

samples done in a typical day, and 

it was meaning a lot of working 

outside normal hours. 

“By moving to a 24-hour pattern, 

there is always someone available 

to process a sample and that has a 

knock-on effect with the treatment 

of patients.” 

Bacteriology has been in the news 

of late because of concerns over 

MRSA, and that is one of the 

most important tasks for Mike and 

the team. 

He said: “The new shift pattern 

means we can detect the likes of 

MRSA and septicaemia in samples 

much quicker and deal with it 

more promptly. 

“Bacterial testing sparks off a 

whole chain of events. By getting the 

results quicker, everyone else 

in the hospital can do their 

WARD staff at the Royal Edinburgh 

Hospital need help with a new project 

they plan to launch for their patients. 

Swanston is a rehabilitation ward at 

the psychiatric hospital, and staff have 

put out an appeal for donations of 

musical instruments. 

respective jobs quicker too. 

“Detecting the type of a disease 

relies on us getting samples back as 

soon as possible, and our 24/7 service 

certainly does that. 

“The staff have been very positive 

In particular, they need percussion, 

string and keyboard instruments for 

their new music therapy sessions. 

They would welcome any donations 

from healthcare colleagues and are 

quite happy to collect the instruments 

if required. 

about the change as it means 

they have a more regular working 

pattern.” 

The changes have resulted in 

a raft of award nominations, 

including Innovation and 

Therapy plan is music to the ears of patients 

Mary proves she is a real 

credit to volunteering! 

CAPITAL Credit Union has named Mary 

Silence, ward clerk in the Royal Victoria 

Hospital, as its Volunteer of the 

Year 2009. 

As a representative for the 

Capital Credit Union since 

2004, Mary promotes the 

benefits of joining 

Capital, which is a notfor-profit 

financial 

services provider, to 

colleagues. 

Mary is also a 

point of contact 

should anyone 

BACTERIA BUSTERS: clinical manager Mike Gray with some of the bacteriology team at the RIE 

Senior charge nurse Terry O’Malley 

said: “Music can be used as a 

social/recreational interest, but most of 

all it should be enjoyable and fun. Who 

knows, we may unearth the next 

Chopin, Springsteen or Rod Stewart!” 

If you’ve upgraded your kit recently, 

have any questions about Capital. 

Capital Credit Union’s president John 

Cormack said: “It is people like Mary who 

are the very lifeblood of the organisation, 

letting people know about all the fantastic 

products and services that our credit union 

can deliver. 

“We are thrilled to be able to present this award 

to recognise all Mary’s dedication and 

“It is people like Mary 

who are the very lifeblood 

of the organisation” 

John Cormack, Capital Credit Union 

24hr BATTLE 

AGAINST BUGS 

Improvement at the Scottish 

Health awards; Health Team of the 

Year from The Herald Society 

awards; and the team was highly 

commended at the Healthcare 

Science awards. 

or have any instruments that need a new 

home, Swanston and its patients would 

welcome your donation. 

E If you are able to help, please 

contact Terry or any of the 

team at Swanston Ward, 

on 0131 537 6209 or 46209 

on the internal system. 

commitment to the credit union for so 

many years.” 

Capital Credit Union is a member-owned and 

controlled organisation that helps people from 

all walks of life regardless of social or 

economic circumstances who live or work in 

Edinburgh or anywhere in the Lothian and 

Scottish Borders area. 

Capital offers different savings and loan 

products for members, such as deposit 

accounts, current accounts, loans for cars and 

holidays, mortgages and insurance. 

E For more information, visit 

www.capitalcreditunion.com 

Chill out 

and raise 

some cash 

STRESSED? Why not make a time to 

see Lorraine Allan, who is holding 

complementary therapy sessions at 

the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh on 

Monday nights? 

Whether it’s reiki, reflexology, 

Indian head massage or a combination 

of all three, Lorraine is offering all NHS 

Lothian staff the chance to relax, 

unwind… and help the Simpson’s 

special care babies unit. 

Sessions cost £20-£30 and Lorraine 

is donating all proceeds to the 

neonatal clinic. 

“I’ve tried to keep the costs down 

so it’s affordable for people,” said 

Lorraine. “It’s doing good on three 

levels. It’s fantastic for the people, it’s 

helping the babies and, because 

channelling reiki benefits the 

practioner, it’s good for me too!” 

Lorraine has spent a lifetime 

looking after people – as well as 

nursing training, she has also been a 

holiday rep and is now a carer. 

“Staff in the NHS are under a lot of 

pressure,” she said, “so I wanted to do 

something to help.” 

And so far Lorraine’s holistic 

approach is proving popular, with 

several repeat bookings and plans 

to expand the service if there is 

the demand. 

“The three therapies work on the 

whole body,” said Lorraine. “And it’s 

lovely to see staff just float out the door 

after a session.” 

Therapies are available to all at 

NHS Lothian, not just RIE staff, and 

are held from 5.30pm on Mondays at 

the quiet room within the sanctuary 

at RIE. 

E To book an appointment or to 

find out more, please phone 

Lorraine on 07745 292860.

20 LIFESTYLE March/April 2010 Connections 

CONNECTIONS CROSSWORD 

Across 

6. Public health minister 

who officially opened 

the unit mentioned in 

15 Down (7) 

7. This actress’s films 

include ‘A Few Good 

Men’ and ‘GI Jane’ (5) 

9. This charity provides 

memory boxes to 

comfort bereaved 

parents (5) 

10.See 20 Down 

12.Clinically effective, 

self-management 

cardiac rehabilitation 

programme developed 

by NHS Lothian (5,6) 

14.Transparent parts of 

motor vehicles (11) 

18.‘From Heaven’, a classic 

BBC television drama 

(7) 

19.The key to a healthy 

meal is limiting fat, salt 

and ______ (5) 

21.Small piece of paper (5) 

22.NHS Lothian team 

which has won a 

national award for the 

TRAK health electronic 

patient record system 

(7) 

Down 

1. Poisonous song from 

Britney Spears? (5) 

2. Harrison Ford’s 

character in the movie 

‘The Fugitive’ (6) 

3. NHS Lothian’s bionic 

hand creator (3) 

4. He plays Smithy in 

‘Gavin & Stacey’ (6) 

5. Steel bar used as a 

lever with the working 

end shaped like a chisel 

(7) 

8. Dutch artist who 

painted ‘Girl with a 

Pearl Earring’ (7) 

11. Andrew Strauss’ 

sport (7) 

13. Ward clerk in the Royal 

Victoria Hospital who 

CONNECTIONS SUDOKU 

1 2 3 

4 5 

6 7 

9 10 

13 

12 

14 15 16 

18 19 

11 

21 22 

WIN A £20 BOOK 

VOUCHER! 

There’s now a prize for doing the 

crossword! Send your completed grid 

to Connections, NHS Lothian, 148 

Pleasance, Deaconess House, Edinburgh 

EH8 9RS by Friday 23 April. The first 

correct entry drawn out of the hat 

will win. 

Name 

Job title 

E-mail 

Work tel. no. 

Fill in all the 

squares in the grid 

so that each row, 

each column, and 

each 3x3 square 

contains all the 

digits from 1 to 9. 

Good luck! 

SOLUTION FOR 

ISSUE 36 

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Across 

8 

20 

6. Pyjamas 

7. Green 

9. Tenth 

10. Physpop 

12. Cleanliness 

14. The Pioneers 

18. Barbour 

19. Bacil 

21. Stein 

22. Medical 

17 

has been named 

Volunteer of the Year 

2009 by Capital Credit 

Union (7) 

15. St John’s Hospital now 

has a £500,000 state-ofthe-art 

______ unit (6) 

16. Confection made from 

a sugar or honey paste 

into which nuts are 

mixed (6) 

17. It is used in making 

spaghetti, macaroni 

and lasagna (5) 

20. And 10 Across. 

Boroughloch Medical 

Centre is situated here 

(3,7) 

Issue 36 solution 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

� 

Down 

1. Ryder 

2. Pastel 

3. HAI 

4. Prison 

5. Heroism 

8. Shelter 

11. Baroque 

13. eHealth 

15. Public 

16. Roadie 

17. Midas 

20. Red 

� 

� 

� 

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� 

Eating healthily doesn’t 

mean food has to be bland 

or boring – why not try one 

of these delicious recipes? 

TUCK IN, 

IT’S GOOD 

FOR YOU! 

Starter 

RED LENTIL SOUP SERVES FIVE 

Main course (for vegetarians) 

VEGETABLE CASSEROLE 

SERVES FOUR TO SIX 

INGREDIENTS 

■ 400g onions, chopped 

■ 2 cloves garlic, crushed 

■ 1 red pepper, chopped 

■ 1 green pepper, chopped 

■ 400g courgette, sliced 

■ 2 medium-sized 

aubergines, roughly 

chopped 

■ 200g mushrooms, 

quartered 

■ 400g tinned tomatoes, 

chopped 

■ 70g tomato 

puree 

■ 1 tbsp chopped 

parsley 

■ 200ml vegetable stock 

or water 

■ 2 tbsp oil 

■ salt & pepper 

■ 2 tbsp coriander, chopped. 

METHOD 

1. Heat oil in a frying pan and 

fry the onions, garlic, 

peppers, courgettes, 

INGREDIENTS 

■ 180g red lentils 

■ 75g diced onion 

■ 50g diced turnip 

■ 50g diced leek 

■ 90g grated carrot 

■ 1.1ltrs vegetable stock 

■ 10g tomato purée 

■ salt and pepper (to taste) 

■ chopped fresh parsley 

(to taste). 

METHOD 

1. Place lentils and stock in a 

pot and bring to the boil 

2. Add diced onions, turnip, 

leek, grated carrot and 

tomato puree and bring 

back to the boil 

3. Simmer until lentils are 

cooked, then season 

4. serve with chopped parsley. 

mushrooms and 

aubergines for 4-5 minutes 

2. Add chopped tomatoes, 

tomato purée and 

vegetable stock 

3. Simmer for 5-8 minutes 

and season with salt 

and pepper 

4. Add parsley and coriander 

then serve.

Connections March/April 2010 LIFESTYLE 21 

PART of leading a healthy 

lifestyle is eating well – but 

that doesn’t mean you 

have to sacrifice taste in your 

main meals. 

The key to a healthy meal is 

limiting fat, salt and sugar, but 

going large on fresh and tasty 

vegetables that are full of 

flavour and vitamins. 

One way of controlling what 

goes into your diet is cooking 

for yourself. 

Connections asked two gurus 

in the kitchen to come up with 

healthy and tasty recipes that 

are easy to make at home. 

Tony Hunter, pictured, 

INGREDIENTS 

■ 2kg/4lb 8oz chicken, or 

4 large chicken portions 

■ 3 tbsp olive oil 

■ 2 large onions, sliced 

■ 2 garlic cloves, peeled 

and crushed 

■ 425g tin tomatoes 

■ 2 tbsp fresh parsley, 

chopped or 1 tbsp 

dried parsley 

■ 2 tbsp fresh basil, 

finely chopped or 

1 tbsp dried basil 

■ 1 tbsp tomato purée 

■ 150ml/ 1 / 4 pint red wine 

■ salt (to taste) and lots of 

freshly ground black 

pepper 

■ optional – black pitted 

olives and a large handful 

of roughly chopped 

mushrooms halfway 

through the cooking. 

■ serve with basil leaves. 

One way of 

controlling what 

goes into your 

diet is cooking 

for yourself 

Main course 

CHICKEN CACCIATORE SERVES SIX 

METHOD 

1. Preheat oven to 160°C, 

Gas Mark 3 

2. Cut the chicken into 

roughly eight pieces 

and remove skin 

3. Heat oil in pan and fry 

the chicken pieces 

until browned all over 

4. Transfer to large 

casserole or roasting 

dish 

5. Add onions and garlic 

to the pan and fry until 

golden brown. Add the 

tomatoes with their 

juice, parsley, chopped 

basil, tomato purée 

and wine, then bring 

to the boil. Add salt 

and pepper 

6. Pour over the chicken, 

cover the casserole with 

lid or tinfoil and cook in a 

preheated oven for about 

FLAVOUR PACKED: 

Chicken Cacciatore 

is a simple but 

delicious dish 

assistant food production 

manager at St John’s Hospital, 

kindly supplied two recipes – a 

starter and a main meal for 

vegetarians. 

And Linda McDonald, a 

midwife at the Simpson 

Reproductive Centre, Royal 

Infirmary of Edinburgh, donated 

a classic chicken recipe. 

This is just one of many in her 

three recipe books that have 

been published to raise money 

for a Malawi maternity hospital. 

ETo buy Linda McDonald’s 

recipe books, visit 

www.mumsrecipes.org 

one hour or until tender 

7. Sprinkle with torn fresh 

basil and serve with 

chunks of crusty bread 

and salad or with new 

potatoes. 

COMPETITION 

Win a relaxing and romantic 

night at Kildonan Lodge Hotel 

■ FANCY taking a little 

time out and enjoying a 

relaxing and romantic 

evening in Edinburgh? 

Connections has teamed up 

with Kildonan Lodge Hotel 

to offer a lucky reader a 

one-night dinner, bed and 

breakfast stay at the stylish 

four-star boutique hotel 

in Newington. 

Our winner will stay in 

one of the romantic and 

luxurious four-poster rooms, 

complete with elegant 

canopied four-poster double 

bed, Jacuzzi spa bath 

en suite and flat-screen TV. 

You’ll also enjoy a delicious 

table d’hôte meal in 

Mathew’s restaurant, which 

offers a tantalising dining 

experience that infuses 

Scottish food with French, 

American and South East 

Asian influences. 

Wordsearch Healthy eating 

CAN you find which word or phrase from the list is missing from the wordsearch? 

There’s a £25 Love2Shop voucher up for grabs, courtesy of our publishers, Connect 

Communications. Send your answer to Connections, NHS Lothian, 148 Pleasance, 

Deaconess House, Edinburgh EH8 9RS by Friday 23 April. The first correct entry drawn 

out of the hat will win. 

THE MISSING WORD IS… 

Name 

Job title 

E-mail 

Work tel. no. 

For a chance to win this fantastic prize, simply answer 

the following question: 

Which famous author is 

commemorated by a 

monument in Princes Street? 

Is it: 

a) Mark Twain b) JK Rowling c) Sir Walter Scott? 

Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Job title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Work tel. no. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Send your answer to: Kildonan Lodge competition, 

Connections, NHS Lothian, 148 Pleasance, Deaconess 

House, Edinburgh EH8 9RS by Friday 23 April. 

Terms and conditions: prize is available until the end of December 2010 and is subject to 

availability. Table d’hôte meal allowance is £15 per person; a supplement will be applicable if you 

opt to eat from the à la carte menu. For more information, visit www.kildonanlodgehotel.co.uk 

R U O V A L F B A T I I M 

Z D S G E G Y U Q M K A J 

F K Q H V G E V A W Y H I 

A O I N H N E I Y T O Y R 

H I V T X N G T S P H H W 

Z G E U C P K A A Q T T Y 

X A E E B H T M E B D L F 

I O V Y B S E I R O L A C 

V V X R P M E N U V F E Y 

L S R N D P E S U R H H S 

K H B X M G S Q Q B F W W 

G U F G U J E O M J A S I 

F P X G M E F L Q L J J X 

CALORIES E FLAVOUR E FRUIT E HEALTHY E KITCHEN E 

COOKING E MENU E TASTY E VEGETABLES E VITAMINS 

Issue 36 competition winners 

E Word search – Hazel Kane, newborn hearing screener, The Simpson Centre for Reproductive 

Health, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh 

E Competition – Ruth McHaughton, administrator, Education Centre at St John’s Hospital 

E Book voucher – Jane Dalrymple, CHD MCN co-ordinator, Deaconess House 

✁

22 OVERSEAS WORK March/April 2010 Connections 

Physio’s 

African 

adventure 

IMPROVING QUALITY OF 

LIFE: Kyrsta with one of the 

South African youngsters 

IT was an ambition she had 

for 15 years – but now Kyrsta 

Macdonald-Scott can rest 

easy after an impressive stint 

making a difference as a 

volunteer in South Africa. 

From October to December, 

Kyrsta gave her services as 

a physiotherapist in a daycare 

centre for disabled children 

in Soweto. 

More than that, before 

travelling out, she raised a 

whopping £2000 through 

events such as car boot sales, 

a ceilidh and a day of 

relaxing treatments. 

The money was used for 

the shipment of donated 

physiotherapy equipment 

no longer used by Liberton, 

Royal Victoria and Western 

General Hospitals. 

Kyrsta, a physiotherapist at 

the Western General, said: “I 

always wanted to volunteer 

abroad since I was in high 

school. This was the perfect 

opportunity to help – the day 

centre I volunteered at hadn’t 

had access to a physiotherapist 

for more than a 18 months. 

“In the short term, I was able 

to improve the quality of life 

for children with a range of 

disabilities. Hopefully, I will 

have made a longer-term impact 

as teachers and parents who 

I trained will continue the 

support of the children.” 

EFor more information on 

Kyrsta’s adventure in South 

Africa, visit her blog at 

www.kyrsta.co.uk 

FRIENDLY FACE: Kyrsta 

helped disabled children at 

a daycare centre in Soweto 

VITAL TREATMENT: NHS Lothian nurse practitioner Sue Aitken spent three months delivering basic medical and dental care in Peru 

SUE HELPS TO MAKE 

A REAL DIFFERENCE 

Nurse practitioner joins Peru 

medical ship to bring essential 

healthcare to needy patients 

“USING my skills to make a real 

difference to someone’s life” – 

that’s how Sue Aitken describes 

her recent adventure on board the 

Amazon Hope, a ship-comemedical-centre 

operated by the 

Vine Trust in Peru. 

Sue spent two weeks in November 

2009 with the UK medical team of 

eight on board the ship, that travels 

the Marnonon tributary of the 

Amazon river to deliver basic 

medical and dental treatment to 

some of the poorest and most 

remote people on earth. 

Sue, who is an inflammatory bowel 

disease nurse practitioner at the 

Western General Hospital, heard 

about the Bo’ness-based trust 

through a colleague and was intrigued 

by the thought of taking part. 

She said: “I felt it was an 

opportunity to give something back 

to others who aren’t as fortunate 

as us, in terms of the healthcare 

that we can access.” 

As well as working on the boat, Sue 

spent time at a clinic in the village 

of Puerto Belen, which is also 

supported by the Vine Trust. 

Sue said: “We typically worked two 

sessions per day, one in the morning 

and one in the afternoon, till about 

6pm. The people we were seeing have 

absolutely nothing in terms of 

healthcare. We were providing very 

basic services such as applying 

bandages and minor dental work. 

Walking around their villages was 

a very humbling experience.” 

Sue was able to put her skills to 

good use for one little boy in 

particular and it was the moment that 

summed up the whole adventure. 

Sue said: “A boy came on board for 

treatment who had only recently been 

bitten by a piranha fish. 

“It really was a huge bite mark and 

“It was an opportunity to give something 

back to others who aren’t as fortunate 

as us. The people we were seeing have 

absolutely nothing in terms of healthcare” 

Sue Aitken, NHS Lothian nurse practitioner 

AID: Amazon Hope brings healthcare to people in remote areas 

all he had was a bloody rag 

wrapped around his leg, so I was 

able to clean the wound and 

apply a proper dressing and give 

him antibiotics. 

“Being able to bring some comfort 

to a child in a lot of pain was very 

satisfying moment. And I would 

recommend anyone to offer their 

services to the Vine Trust.” 

EFor information on volunteering, 

e-mail Sue Aitken on 

aatkn@aol.com


Bright idea will 

help sick people 

across the world 

A SIMPLE but clever idea to provide 

much-needed medical supplies to 

charities around the world is now up 

and running. 

Last year, Connections (issue 32) 

reported on an innovative project 

proposed by two NHS Lothian staff 

to “recycle” unused items such as 

bandages and donate them to 

charities working overseas. 

Marjory Thrusfield, an emergency 

nurse practitioner at Lothian 

unscheduled care services in 

Midlothian, and Ruth Aird, a practice 

nurse at Inchpark Health Centre, came 

up with the idea after visiting 

Romania to help set up a minor 

injuries clinic at a day centre run by 

Scottish missionaries. 

While they were there, they saw the 

terrible suffering of local people who 

were injured or sick but unable to 

afford medicines or bandages. They 

realised that, for a variety of reasons, 

there are a lot of unused supplies in 

Lothian that could be used to benefit 

those in need. 

Now they are appealing for staff 

across NHS Lothian, including 

practice and district nurses, to 

THEATRE staff at the Royal Infirmary 

of Edinburgh have pulled out all the 

stops – or should that be tickets! – for 

a tombola to raise money for disaster 

victims in Haiti. 

From doctors to nurses and 

administrators, theatre suite staff in 

the day surgery unit managed to 

raise £209 through raffling items, 

also donated by staff. 

The money has been passed to 

the Disaster Emergency Committee, 

which is co-ordinating efforts to 

support them in their project by 

donating supplies. 

There are many items that can be 

donated, ranging from out-of-date 

bandages and dressings, sanitary 

towels, catheters and drapes to 

equipment that is no longer used in 

NHS Lothian, such as latex gloves. 

Medicines cannot be accepted. 

Marjory and Ruth are also keen to 

hear from people who can make use 

of the donations in their aid work. 

Ruth said: “If anybody out there 

wants to take stuff out with them or 

knows a charity that can use these 

donations, just contact us with your 

‘wish list’.” 

EIf you have any items that you 

can donate, you can deliver 

them to Ruth at Inchpark 

Health Centre. 

EAlternatively, contact 

Ruth on 0131 666 2121 or 

ruth.aird@lothian.scot.nhs.uk 

or Marjory on marjory@ 

thrusfield.freeserve.co.uk 

and they will arrange to 

collect the donations. 

POVERTY STRICKEN: the people receiving treatment at 

the day centre in Romania live in rundown houses like these 

RAISING FUNDS FOR HAITI 

assist victims of the recent 

earthquake in Haiti. 

Staff nurse Rosy Carmichael 

said: “The staff felt they should 

do something to help. After all, we 

have a lot and the people in Haiti 

have very little. 

“The success of the morning 

event shows what can be done 

for a good cause with a little 

bit of effort. The support for this 

from staff in the unit has been 

fantastic.” 

DOUBLE JOY FOR NHS LOTHIAN MIDWIVES 

An outstanding success 

EXCELLENT work by a team of 

Lothian midwives and health 

visitors on infant feeding 

education has been recognised 

at the Royal College of 

Midwives annual awards. 

The team scooped the 

Philips Avent Award for 

Innovation in Midwifery for 

the development of an 

educational resource called 

Feeding Matters. 

Cathy Warwick, general 

secretary of the Royal College 

of Midwives, said: “This 

award highlights the 

important, innovative and 

pioneering work being done 

in Lothian and I congratulate 

the team involved.” 

Maria Wilson, chief midwife 

THERE was double delight at the 

Royal College of Midwives (RCM) 

annual awards after Carmondeanbased 

midwife Marion Campbell was 

named the Johnson’s ® Baby Mums’ 

Scottish Midwife of the Year. 

This new award recognises the 

impact midwives have on the people 

who really matter – mothers! 

The winning midwives were 

nominated by mums whose lives 

they have helped, or had an impact 

on, and were judged by a carefully 

selected panel of mums and 

midwives. 

Marion, a midwife since 1981, 

was nominated by mum Sarah 

Drummond for going beyond 

the call of duty and making a 

significant impact throughout both 

her pregnancy and the birth of her 

son Ryan. 

The judges considered, among 

of NHS Lothian, said: “Feeding 

Matters allows us to give 

mums the support and advice 

they need to help make 

breastfeeding work for them. 

“This innovative resource is 

already making a real 

difference to women’s lives 

and we are delighted that the 

team’s hard work has been 

recognised for this award.” 

Feeding Matters is a 

teaching manual and toolkit 

that midwives can use to work 

with mothers to help them 

make informed choices about 

how they feed their baby. 

It enables mothers to have 

more confidence around infant 

feeding and programmes 

based on it will now replace 

other things, to what extent the 

midwife demonstrated best clinical 

practice, support for mum’s 

emotional care, and support for 

strengthening the bond between 

mum and baby. 

Marion said: “I didn’t know 

a thing about it until I got an 

email from Johnson’s to say 

I had been nominated and 

when I found out I’d won, I 

was delighted.” 

Louise Silverton, deputy 

general secretary of the RCM, 

said: “While there were many 

amazing midwives nominated, 

the judges felt Marion stood 

out as someone who deserved 

to be recognised for her 

fantastic achievements.” 

Dr Charles Winstanley, 

chairman, NHS Lothian, 

said: "The award recognises 

the current breastfeeding 

workshops. 

The entry impressed the 

award judges because it 

balanced all types of infant 

feeding, was very innovative 

and could be rolled out to 

other areas. They saw it as a 

very inclusive project from 

both the parents and other 

professionals’ perspective. 

They also felt that it was 

an empowering initiative for 

women and one that will 

make a real difference to 

the community. 

The awards were presented 

by the patron of The Royal 

College of Midwives, Her Royal 

Highness, The Princess Royal, 

at a ceremony in London. 

Delight for Marion as she is 

named midwife of the year 

“The award recognises the real 

difference Marion makes to women’s 

birthing experience in West Lothian” 

Dr Charles Winstanley 

TOP TEAM: (L-R) Dorothy-Ann Timoney, infant feeding 

adviser, Aileen Banks, health visitor, Michelle Davidson, 

parent education co-ordinator, Carolyn Worlock, infant 

feeding adviser and Dorothy Bradley, infant feeding adviser 

the real difference Marion makes to 

women’s birthing experience in 

West Lothian. Being nominated for 

the award by one of her patients 

shows how much new parents 

appreciate the help and support 

that Marion gives.” 

THANK 

YOU: Marion 

with Sarah 

and baby Ryan


RAISING AWARENESS 

OF VASCULAR DISEASE 

STAFF from the Royal Infirmary 

of Edinburgh put their 

best feet forward recently to 

highlight the serious issue of 

vascular disease. 

The team, from the vascular 

surgery unit, completed a 13-mile 

sponsored walk along the Water of 

Leith as part of the UK’s first 

vascular awareness week, organised 

by the Circulation Foundation – the 

charity arm of the Vascular Society 

of Great Britain and Northern 

Ireland. 

Vascular disease is as common 

as cancer and heart disease and 

accounts for 200,000 preventable 

deaths each year. More than four 

million people in the UK suffer from 

the condition, which mainly affects 

people aged over 55. 

Treatment can range from 

medical management and exercise 

programmes to bypass surgery for 

more serious cases. 

As well as the sponsored walk – the 

proceeds of which were donated to 

the Circulation Foundation – the 

RIE team organised a display in the 

main foyer of the hospital featuring 

posters and leaflets and also held a 

‘screening’ event for the public. 

The Circulation Foundation 

also launched a patient 

information handbook during the 

THE Edinburgh MoonWalk in aid 

of cancer charities takes place on 

Saturday 19 June this year, and 

the organisers are looking for your 

help to make the event a success. 

They are expecting 12,000 

ON THE MOVE: the team 

from the vascular surgery 

unit on their fundraising walk 

awareness week, which was held 

from 8-13 March. 

E For more information about 

vascular disease, visit 

www.circulation 

foundation.org.uk 

MoonWalk needs your support 

walkers (mainly women, but lots 

of brave men also!) wearing their 

decorated bras to take to the 

streets at midnight for either a 

half-marathon, or full-marathon 

walk. If you fancy supporting this 

event without doing the walk, 

then you could volunteer your 

time. 

Stroke MCN co-ordinator Morag 

Medwin took part in the event last 

year and is planning to do so 

again this time around. 

Morag said: “It’s a great event 

and a lot of fun to take part in. 

Last year, there were a few people 

from NHS Lothian who helped 

out and this year we are looking 

for more.” 

The giant “Mooncity” base 

camp will be at Inverleith Park. 

There are three shifts available: 

6pm-11pm, 11pm-7am, and 6amnoon. 

There are a range of tasks that 

volunteers are needed for, 

including handing out drinks and 

snacks, marshalling the walkers 

around the route, drivers, cycle 

couriers and help with the big 

clean-up at the end. 

Morag added: “It’s a great night 

and you get all sorts of people 

taking part and offering their 

support. The organisers lay on 

food and drink for all the 

volunteers so if you have the time, 

please consider signing up.” 

E To register, go to 

www.walkthewalk.org/ 

Challenges/TheMoonWalk 

Edinburgh Why not get a team 

together with colleagues and 

volunteer as a group? 

Callum’s on the 

run to raise 

funds for SiMBA 

NURSING assistant Callum 

McGeever, who works at the 

Greenbank Centre at the 

Royal Edinburgh Hospital, 

ran the Dublin Half Marathon 

late last year raising £301.02 

for SiMBA, the Simpson’s 

Memory Box Appeal. 

The charity provides the 

precious memory boxes to 

comfort bereaved parents 

after the death of a baby at 

Simpson’s Centre for 

Reproductive Health and 

St John’s maternity unit in 

Livingston. It intends to 

supply every maternity 

unit across Scotland. 

Remembering a 

much-loved friend 

at the Western 

A MEMORIAL bench is to be set 

up in the grounds of the Western 

General Hospital by Sandy Butler to 

commemorate the life of his late 

partner, Claire Duncan, who worked 

in the pharmacy at the Western. 

The bench will be placed in the 

hospital’s memorial garden or 

the beechgrove garden at the end 

of March. 

Terry enjoys a 

taste of luxury 

at Glenskirlie 

SENIOR charge nurse Terry 

O’Malley and his partner Shirley 

Mitchell recently enjoyed a twonight 

stay at the luxurious 

Glenskirlie Castle Hotel in 

Stirlingshire – courtesy of 

Connections. 

Terry, who works at the Royal 

Edinburgh Hospital had a great 

time chilling out in their 

sumptuous castle room. 

Terry said: “The prize was two 

nights’ stay and breakfast in a 

stunning location. 

“We also enjoyed eating in 

the Castle Grill and in the 

House Restaurant where the 

food and the service were of a 

very high standard.” 

He laughed: “When I told 

my colleagues I’d won the 

competition, they called me 

a lucky beggar. 

“When I asked them if they’d 

taken part, none of them had! 

I always find the chances of 

winning are greatly increased 

if you enter!”

Connections - NHS Lothian

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