Paul Aberdein - leukaemia treatment at Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital

Date of publication: 11th Jan 2021

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have worked together to provide inpatient care for people living with cancer.

In December 2019, Paul Aberdein was diagnosed with leukaemia and was then referred to NHS Addenbrooke’s hospital where he was transferred to the haematology Ward D6, received chemotherapy treatment, and bone marrow biopsies. Later in March, amid the pandemic, Paul was told that the leukaemia had returned and that his next treatment and continuation of care would be at the independent Nuffield Health Hospital in Cambridge.

Paul said: “The NHS Addenbrooke’s and Nuffield Health hospital teams were all working together under one roof – it was amazing to see consultants, clinicians, specialist nurses and surgical ward teams supporting each other, sharing their knowledge and experience as they worked side-by-side to keep us patients staying strong. To be honest, I’ve been so humbled by the whole experience – it was a total team effort for which I am truly thankful

 “My stay at the Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital lasted 64 days, it kept me secure, helped me progress and made me fit enough for surgery – I really don’t know what would have happened otherwise.”

Pamela Austin - cancer treatment at Spire Hartswood

Date of publication: 11th Jan 2021

Around 7,500 NHS patients have received cancer and other urgent treatment at Spire Hartswood Hospital in Brentwood, under a historic agreement between Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) and the Spire hospital.

During the peak of the pandemic, the hospital transformed itself into a dedicated cancer centre. Since then, NHS patients requiring surgery for urological, breast, neurological and gynaecological cancer have come to Spire to receive their treatment, and for many months, Spire took over the whole of BHRUT’s skin cancer service.

Pamela Austin, an NHS patient who had treatment at Spire Hartswood, said, “Being diagnosed with cancer by the Gynae Team at Queen’s Hospital, Romford during the height of the covid19 pandemic came as a complete shock.  I was so grateful to have surgery at Spire Hartswood, under the care of Miss Mukhopadhyay, where the expertise of the whole team was exemplary at every stage of my treatment.  My lasting memories of Spire Hartswood are of the many smiling, friendly and caring eyes peeping over the inevitable, but essential, face masks.  Thank you all so much for supporting the NHS and especially for my own care.”

Georgina Hunt - interventional cardiology treatment at KIMS Hospital

Date of publication: 11th Jan 2021

KIMS Hospital contains the only private Interventional Cardiology facility in Kent, where patients can undergo both diagnostic and Interventional treatments such as Angiograms, Pacemaker Implants, Electrophysiology, Stent Insertions and Vascular access. Prior to the start of the pandemic, KIMS Hospital’s Interventional Suite Team already had a partnership in place working collaboratively with Medway NHS Foundation Trust (MFT). As covi19 began to close NHS hospitals’ operating theatres, KIMS Hospital was able to support the NHS further by working closely with other local NHS Trusts such as Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells (MTW), offering access to patients requiring urgent or complex cardiology treatment.

Georgina Hunt, 22, has suffered with undiagnosed supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) since the age of 11 when she fainted at school due to an exceptionally fast heartbeat. At the time, she was diagnosed as having anxiety and over the next 11 years was treated for panic attacks which were believed to be the cause of the rapid heart rate. However, in October 2019, Georgina suffered her worst episode whilst attending a family event. She was rushed to Maidstone Hospital where the team were able to take an ECG which showed her heart was beating at a rate of 288 beats per minute, nearly three times the rate of a normal heartbeat. In November 2019, Georgina was fitted with a seven-day heart monitor which captured two episodes of SVT and she was eventually diagnosed with an unusual third electrical pathway in the heart which was causing the abnormal heartbeat.

The cardiology team at Maidstone Hospital scheduled Georgina’s operation shortly after. However, due to COVID-19 her operation was delayed.

In July, Georgina received news that her care was being transferred to KIMS Hospital under the NHS England contract and two weeks later she was admitted to the Interventional Suite to undergo Electrophysiology (EP).  Six months on and Georgina is recovering well. She has not had a single SVT episode since her operation.

Georgina comments, “I’m so grateful that MTW were able to work with KIMS Hospital during these uncertain times. To be so close to having my operation and then not knowing if it would ever happen due to COVID-19 was devasting. Being treated at KIMS Hospital was the best thing I’ve ever done. Although it is going to take me many months to fully recover, as the operation on my heart was so complex, at least I have had it done thanks to the collaboration that was put in place by the NHS and the independent health sector earlier this year.”

Nigel Pooley - Stroke rehab at KIMS Hospital

Date of publication: 8th Jan 2021

KIMS Hospital has worked closely with local NHS Trusts; Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells (MTW), Dartford & Gravesham, and Medway (MFT) by providing care to those patients that still needed urgent treatment for other health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a result of this partnership, MTW relocated their stroke rehabilitation ward to KIMS Hospital who managed the service from the end of March until the end of August. They worked in close collaboration with the occupational therapists and physio therapy teams from MTW who based themselves at KIMS Hospital during that time.

After suffering a stroke, Mr Nigel Pooley was receiving treatment under the care of the team at MTW and was transferred to KIMS Hospital at the beginning of May, to continue his rehabilitation. He was treated and cared for by the team at KIMS Hospital as well as a number of physiotherapists from MTW until his discharge at the end of May.

Mr Pooley comments, “I have had many injuries and a few ailments in my life and therefore visited numerous hospitals both in the UK and abroad. KIMS Hospital has stood out above all others in my estimation, not just the facilities but far more importantly the level of care. The KIMS Hospital and MTW team were exemplary. Not just the Doctors, Nurses, Physios, Occupational Therapists and Psychologists but also the; Administrators, Cleaners, Porters and Caterers. The collaboration between MTW and KIMS Hospital meant my care and rehabilitation was uninterrupted despite the pandemic.”

InHealth - repurposing community facilities to support the NHS

Date of publication: 1st May 2020

Very early on in the pandemic, InHealth took the decision to re-orientate their entire organisation to support the NHS to respond to the substantial challenge that is COVID-19, including:

NHS 111 service: At the request of the London Ambulance Service (LAS) InHealth has repurposed their 120-seat Patient Referral Centre in Rochdale to support them in handling COVID-19 calls to NHS111. The service we are providing to the LAS went live on 2nd April and now operates 16 hours a day, seven days per week. In the first few weeks we handled over 50,000 calls

Breast screening: InHealth’s Breast Screening service in Surrey is currently suspended however, working with local stakeholders, InHealth has repurposed their screening centre to now provide a diagnostic service for women in that region with breast cancer symptoms to allow the clinical pathway for those women to continue.

Hot-hub for COVID-19 patients: InHealth’s MSK service in Manchester is delivered from a Mobile Clinical Unit (MCU) which unit moves from site-to-site within Greater Manchester providing great accessibility for local MSK patients. At the request of Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale CCG, the unit has been repurposed to be a “hot-hub” for COVID-19 patients.

HCA - supporting the NHS deliver cancer and other urgent care

Date of publication: 1st May 2020

As part of responding to the coronavirus pandemic HCA have partnered with the NHS to support patient care. This includes treating existing urgent medical and surgical NHS patients to relieve pressure on the NHS and allow the NHS to treat more patients.

As part of this support, HCA are working with NHS partners in North London to care for maternity and urgent gynaecology patients at The Portland Hospital. Our colleagues at The Portland Hospital have been very busy and are proud to have supported the delivery of almost 100 NHS babies born at the hospital so far.

HCA are also working closely with Guy’s & St Thomas’ and King’s College NHS Foundation Trust to undertake urgent and complex NHS time-critical cases, and are part of London’s “Cancer hub” ensuring NHS cancer patients can still access the urgent treatment they need.

Ramsay Oaklands Hospital & Salford Royal NHS FT

Date of publication: 1st May 2020

Ramsay’s Oaklands Hospital have worked with Salford Royal NHS FT and are now hosting their Intestinal Failure Service, one of only two designated centres for the treatment of complex intestinal failure patients in the country. Substantial investment was required to ensure the service could be delivered from the new site, including the establishment of complex IT systems and installation of specialist equipment. This was successfully achieved at short notice and the first cohort of patients and staff were welcomed in to the hospital by the end of March. The Oaklands Hospital and the Trust continue to work in close partnership, including the facilitation of ‘lunch and learn’ sessions to support knowledge and information sharing about the services provided.

Spire Southampton & University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Date of publication: 1st May 2020

A partnership agreement has been reached between University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) and Spire Healthcare, enabling hundreds of patients with cancer to receive urgent treatment at Spire’s Southampton hospital, allowing UHS to focus on caring for people with COVID-19.

Spire Southampton has been working with staff at UHS to transfer Oncology and Haematology services to Spire. Since mid-March, more than 1400 NHS cancer patients have been treated at the hospital, and around 2500 patients have received care  for cancers including Gynaecological, Neurological; Ear, nose and throat; Gastrointestinal / colorectal; and urology. Spire Southampton are also supporting time-critical Cardiac and Lung surgery for NHS patients. The work is highly complex and over 70% of the patients requiring surgery need to be treated in Spire Southampton’s Critical Care Unit.

Paul Grundy, Consultant Neurosurgeon and Acting Medical Director at UHS, said: “It became very apparent early on we would not be able to deliver all of the urgent procedures patients required at a time when we were building up to high volumes of patients with COVID-19 infection.

“We’ve been very fortunate in Southampton that we have excellent relationships with our independent sector partners including Spire and that has seen them work very dynamically with us to enable new surgical lists and services at different sites in different locations very quickly.

“With Spire in particular we have been very lucky in that they have been able to deliver surgery of high degrees of complexity with six theatres running at this site alone and, without that support, we would not have been able to provide really important clinical work through this challenging period.”