Hospital staff receive awards for 132 years of patient care

THE matron and three senior nurses of Minehead Hospital have been recognised for their combined 132 years of service to patient care.
Hospital matron, Sue Meade, staff nurses Tracey Griffin and Christine Bard, and outpatients sister Linda Arscott received commemorative certificates and specially engraved glass paperweights.
The presentations took place at an NHS long service award ceremony held at the town’s hospital just before Christmas by Somerset Primary Care Trust chairman Jane Barrie.
Mrs Barrie commended all of the staff in the hospital for their hard work during year and their commitment to delivering high quality care to patients.
She said: “The board of the primary care trust and I appreciate and thank all Minehead Hospital staff for their continued hard work and efforts.
“This year, Government inspectors the Healthcare Commission awarded the second highest rating of ‘good’ for the standard of our community health services and this was due to the continuing hard work of all staff.
“It is your commitment and determination to improve the quality of the care and treatment that is appreciated by local people, the primary care trust and the National Health Service.”
Sue Meade has worked in the NHS for more than 29 years and was appointed matron in Minehead in 2004.
She started working at Minehead in 1983 as a staff nurse and had previously worked at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
Sue became acting sister in 1983 and was promoted to sister in January, 1985.
She has always been at the forefront of developing local services and has been playing a leading role in the development of the new Minehead hospital which will be built off Seaward Way.
Tracey Griffin has worked in the NHS for more than 26 years, starting her career as a student nurse in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, in 1982.
She became a staff nurse on the surgical ward of Minehead Hospital in January, 1986, and was promoted to senior staff nurse in 1988.
In 1994, Tracey was promoted to sister with the surgical team, and as well as managing surgical services for the local community she has run specialist blood clinics for West Somerset.
Christine Bard has 41 years of service with the NHS, having qualified as a nurse in the 1970s.
From 1978 to 1982, she worked in Yeovil District Hospital, before being appointed to Glastonbury Health Centre in 1987.
In 1992, she transferred to Williton Hospital, and then started working at Minehead Hospital in 1995 as a staff nurse in the outpatients department.
She retired from Minehead Hospital in February, 2007, but returned a few months later to again work in the outpatients department.
Linda Arscott has 36 years’ NHS service after starting as a student nurse in Frenchay School of Nursing, Bristol.
In 1975, she started as a staff nurse with Wiltshire Health Authority and then moved to Hertfordshire Health Authority as a staff nurse.
She moved to Somerset in 1988 and joined Minehead Hospital as a staff nurse on the wards.
Linda was made acting sister on the medical ward in1990 and later went to the nearby Irnham Lodge medical centre as sister of the day hospital until it was relocated to the hospital site in 1994.
Since then, she has worked as sister responsible for the outpatient department of Minehead Hospital.

• Our photograph shows (left to right) staff nurses Christine Bard and Tracey Griffin, outpatients sister Linda Arscott, matron Sue Meade, and primary care trust chairman Jane Barrie. Photo submitted.

Real-life 'Casualty' from Musgrove returns to TV for third series

STAFF in the accident and emergency department of Musgrove Park Hospital, in Taunton, are being featured for a third time in a fly-on-the-wall television documentary for ITV.
Award-winning film maker Andrew Brown has spent three months in the department, filming the real-life action of a modern NHS A&E department.
He said: “The first two series have been seen by over 500,000 people.
“These programmes show what A&E is really like - both sadder and happier than the television dramas.
“All life is here, and the programmes show the nature of the people and amazing range of conditions treated in an A&E department.
“The staff and patients were extremely welcoming and I am grateful for their help in making these films.”
Dr Paul Baines, a consultant in emergency medicine at Musgrove, said: “This is an excellent department and the staff do an astonishing job every single day.
“Andrew works very professionally and after a while staff almost forget he is here.
“Most patients are happy to be filmed and very happy with the results.
“I hope that these films help the public understand what a modern A&E service is like.”
The accident and emergency department at Musgrove sees about 1,000 patients a week.
The third series of ‘Emergency: Medics’ will be shown on ITV on Monday nights at 10.30 pm, starting next week on November 3.
Series one and two are currently being shown on satellite television on the Discovery Channel.

• Our photograph shows Dr Paul Baines (left) with Andrew Brown. Photo submitted.

Receptionist with a smile is hospital employee of the month

A RECEPTIONIST in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, has won the NHS trust’s October employee of the month award.
Marcia Derrick works in the haematology and oncology day unit.
She was nominated by colleague Debbie Curtis and selected from 37 nominations made by trust staff during the month.
Debbie said: “Marcia works above and beyond the call of duty. She had to work alone for several months earlier this year and still managed to ensure an extremely high level of service to the patients, as well as supporting medical secretaries like me when we needed it.
“She is always cheerful and has a smile for all of our patients, which is so important as she is often the first face that patients see when they come into the department.
“She also knows exactly where everything is, making her a real gem of a receptionist, one of the best I have ever seen in action.”
Marcia said: “I was stunned when I heard I had won this award. I have worked at Musgrove for seven years and have always loved my work, but I was really pleased to be recognised in this way.
“I do like to try and make patients feel welcome and at ease if I can.
“Nobody wants to be in hospital, but if I can contribute to making somebody’s experience that bit better, then that is really satisfying.”

• Our photograph shows Marcia Derrick (left) receiving her award and flowers from Taunton and Somerset NHS Trust chairman Ros Wyke. Photo contributed.

Superbug infection rate at Musgrove falls dramatically

MUSGROVE Park Hospital, in Taunton, is claiming a dramatic fall in superbug infections during the past year.
The latest figures released by the hospital showed both MRSA and C. Difficile had reduced by more than 60 per cent in the last 12 months.
Between April and December, 2007, there were 13 MRSA blood stream infections at Musgrove, while in the same period the previous year there were 34 - a reduction of 62 per cent.
Between April and October, 2007, there were 78 C. Difficile isolates at Musgrove compared to 227 in the same period in 2006, a fall of 66 per cent.
Musgrove director of nursing and patient care, Martine Price, said: “These figures show that we are making great progress in our commitment to reducing healthcare-associated infections at Musgrove Park.
“Reductions of over 60 per cent in both MRSA and C. Difficile are good news for patients, visitors, and staff.
“However, we are not complacent and will continue to prioritise efforts to further reduce the incidence of infections at the hospital.”
The hospital recently announced a £230,000 deep cleaning programme as part of the Government’s efforts to tackle the superbug crisis in the NHS.

Hospital spending £230,000 on MRSA deep cleaning

AN extra £230,000 is being spent by Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, to carry out a deep clean of all its clinical areas in the next few months.
Sixteen specially-recruited and trained cleaning staff will be involved in the deep cleaning programme.
The hit team will clean patient and public areas, store rooms, kitchens, sluices, corridors, and stairwells.
They will also de-clutter wards, remove old equipment, and clean storage areas on wards.
Head of facilities Simon Rigby said: “This additional investment has been provided by NHS South West as part of a national scheme announced by Gordon Brown recently.
“Our performance on healthcare associated infections at Musgrove Park is already very good, with rates of MRSA and CDiff more than halving in the last 12 months, but this extra money will allow us to do even more.
“There will inevitably be some disruption, but we are doing all we can to minimise any inconvenience to patients by carrying out the deep clean bay by bay, and doing a lot of the work in the evenings.”

• Our photograph shows some members of the deep cleaning team (left to right) team leader Debbie Whiting, with Karl Hernan, Simon Blewett, Jamie Shirley, and Mark Farrow. Members of the team not available for the photocall were Alex Brown, Lou Walker, team leader Kevin Elliot, Anibal Da Silva, and Chris Farrand. Photo submitted.