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Read the full story“Dying matters and the way we talk about dying matters”: Meet Christine Dorsett
Here, Christine Dorsett, our mortuary manager, explains the vital role mortuaries play in hospitals, and why it is important to talk about and plan for death.
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Read the full story"Our local communities are key to successful research”: Meet Maria Piggin
Maria Piggin is partnerships and training manager at the NIHR BRC Imperial Patient Experience Research Centre. In our latest blog, she discusses the importance of involving patients and members of…
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Read the full storyCompassionate Communities funding to support patients who are waiting for treatment
The Trust and Imperial Health Charity are working to improve the experience of those waiting for treatment. Dr Liz Bennett explains the Compassionate Communities programme and how organisations can…
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Read the full storyChanging the order of breast cancer treatments may lead to better care: Q&A with Mr Paul Thiruchelvam and Mr Daniel Leff
A new study by Imperial College Healthcare has suggested that changing the order in which treatments are given to breast cancer patients could reduce side effects and improve outcomes. Currently,…
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Read the full storyDischarge before noon takes persistence and planning
Each week, Lady Skinner ward at Charing Cross Hospital consistently manages to complete 80 per cent of their discharges before noon. This frees up space earlier in the day for new patients who need…
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Read the full storyReducing unnecessary cannulation at Charing Cross Hospital
A project to address unnecessary cannulation in A&E at Charing Cross Hospital has managed to improve patient comfort, create cost savings and reduce carbon emissions.
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Read the full storyImproving antenatal care with genetic testing
Dr Dagmar Tapon is a genetic counsellor at Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital’s Centre for Fetal Care. As a successful scientist, Dr Tapon became interested in psychology and decided to combine…
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Read the full storyRead my lips: the downside of PPE for people with hearing loss, and what we can all do to help
Having to wear a mask is a sometimes uncomfortable necessity during the pandemic. But, for the significant number of patients and staff with hearing loss, who often rely either partly or wholly on…
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Read the full storyListening and learning from our patients and local communities during Covid-19
Hannah Fontana, strategy, research and innovation programme manager, explains how we’re approached learning from the experiences of our patients and communities during the first wave of Covid-19, so…
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Read the full storyHow is Covid-19 affecting BAME communities?
Covid-19 raises important questions on health inequalities and the disproportionate impact it may have had on Black Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people.
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Read the full storyOutstanding maternity care: Giving birth at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital
Trust maternity risk management support midwife Suzy Ridley shares her natural birth experience at Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea Hospital and explains why she believes our maternity services offer the…
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Read the full storyHow you can help a loved one with dementia feel more at ease
Jo James, specialist dementia nurse at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, shares some practical tips to help people with dementia feel more at ease
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Read the full story“My breastfeeding advice for new mothers”
One of the many ways that midwives support women postnatally is by supporting them to start breastfeeding their baby, as this carries a huge number of benefits for babies and mothers. New mums can…
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Read the full story“Midwives are advocates for women during their pregnancy and labour”
Sunday 5 May is the International Day of the Midwife, a day to celebrate midwives all over the world and the vital work they do. Louise Frost, screening lead and matron for fetal medicine and the…
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Read the full story“Why I became a live kidney donor”
Although many living donors know their recipients, some people donate a kidney altruistically. Last year Eric McFarland, 41, became an altruistic donor and gave his left kidney away to a stranger.
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Read the full story“It’s so rewarding to support nurses to become more confident in what they do.”
Jenny Erisman is a clinical practice educator. She trains and assesses nurses on surgical wards, working with them on a one-to-one basis to help them provide the best care they can. She also plays a…
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Read the full storyLiving and working with sickle cell disease
Annabel Ashalley-Anthony is an administrator in the education centre at Hammersmith Hospital. She is also a sickle cell disease (SCD) sufferer receiving treatment from the haematology team on the…
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Read the full story“A stem cell transplant let me walk again”
Roy Palmer has multiple sclerosis. After a decade in a wheelchair a stem cell transplant at Hammersmith Hospital gave him the ability to walk again. Here Roy talks about his experience.
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Read the full storyHelping young people with sickle cell to have a sense of normality
Rachael Brown, clinical nurse specialist at St Mary’s Hospital, has set up support groups for adolescents and their parents living with sickle cell disease.
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Read the full storyHow volunteers “Make a Difference” at our hospitals
Sam Morris is head of volunteering at Imperial Health Charity, which manages a growing community of dedicated volunteers across Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. To celebrate Volunteers’ Week…
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Read the full storyEnsuring safety under pressure
Professor Tim Orchard, Trust medical director, reflects on the issues raised from the tragic death from sepsis of six-year old Jack Adcock at Leicester Royal Infirmary in 2011
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Read the full story“The charity helped us stay with our son”
Emma Garlick explains how a grant from Imperial Health Charity's Hardship Fund supported her family while her son was in hospital.
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Read the full storyHow the Care Information Exchange helped me manage my daughter’s care
The Care Information Exchange provides patients with online access to their health records so they can view them anywhere, including when out and about from their mobile phone. Patients can also…
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Read the full storyHarnessing the healing power of art and creativity to improve patient care
Artist Fay Ballard volunteers at Hammersmith Hospital as part of Imperial Health Charity's arts engagement programme. Here, she blogs about her experience.
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Read the full storyBehind the statistics: why we need a cultural change in our approach to dementia care
Dr Colin Mitchell, consultant physician and geriatrician at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, explains how acute trusts like ours need to take a new approach to care in the coming years to…
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Read the full storyHospital in focus: the role of private healthcare within Imperial College Healthcare
The role of private healthcare within the NHS has never been without controversy. And increasingly, as episode two of the latest series of BBC Two’s Hospital shows, the choice between NHS and…
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Read the full storyFor great hospital care, let’s focus on what patients with dementia can do, not what they can’t
Being admitted to hospital can be a confusing and stressful experience for a person who has dementia, so ward staff need to work together to provide the extra support they need. At Imperial College…
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Read the full storyEmpowering young people with severe allergies to share their stories
Paediatric allergy and immunology consultant Dr Claudia Gore worked with young patients and their families to create the video series "Terrific Teens," which stars young people with severe allergies.
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Read the full storyTaking part in clinical trials – A patient’s perspective
Michael Newton, a patient at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Here Michael and Ros, his wife and primary carer, explain how they navigated an…
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Read the full storyAfter brain injury, patients and their families can feel confident to self-manage
Professionals at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust are working to implement a package that supports patients with traumatic brain injuries and their families to manage recovery after discharge.
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Read the full storyOur local children’s services offer real evidence that integrated care models can help solve NHS challenges
To provide high quality and safe care we must work closely with our patients, their families and our partners – primary, secondary and community healthcare providers – in order to navigate and…
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Read the full storyHow specialist nurses with ‘extended’ roles are changing the way we provide care for good
The number of cancer diagnoses in the UK is increasing every year. In this blog post, Rebecca Johl, senior nurse for oncology and lead chemotherapy nurse, explains how we’ve achieved big…
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Read the full storyA practical way to join up care and focus on health for all
Integrated care programme director Anna Bokobza explains how an ‘accountable care’ approach – where health providers come together to take responsibility for the quality and cost of care for a…
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Read the full storyA beekeeper with a life-threatening bee allergy and the consultant who saved her
St Mary’s Hospital at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is home to the UK’s oldest allergy clinic. The clinic provided the first allergen immunotherapy treatment in 1911 and since then has…
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Read the full storyWhy I wanted to bring baby boxes to the UK
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is first in the UK to offer baby boxes and access to Baby Box university to new parents. Consultant obstetrician Miss Karen Joash explains why she wanted to…
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Read the full storyCreating moments and memories for people with dementia
Faith Wray is a master’s student at the Royal College of Art and co-founder of Paper Birch, an organisation which develops creative workshops to engage and stimulate people with dementia. Faith and…
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Read the full storyHow Macmillan navigators ease the journey for patients with cancer
Though we have very good cancer outcomes, many patients with cancer have reported feeling bewildered and even lost throughout their journey with our services. Patients told us they struggled to get…
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Read the full storyHow to PREPARE for surgery and speed your recovery
Major surgery is like running a marathon – that’s why the PREPARE for Surgery programme ‘trains’ patients for major surgery and recovery.
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Read the full storyKeeping memory loss research in mind
Helen Rice, memory nurse specialist at Charing Cross Hospital, explains how research is vital to help us identify new treatments for dementia and how to get involved in research at the Trust.
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Read the full storyOffering specialist child health expertise to local communities
Paediatricians at St Mary’s Hospital understand a visit to hospital can be very daunting, especially for children. That was one of the main drivers for developing Connecting Care for Children (CC4C)…
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Read the full storyGenomics is changing the way I treat my patients
What if we could customise the treatment we provide to patients to match their unique genetic make-up? Jeremy Levy, consultant nephrologist, talks about the growing reality of personalised medicine…
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Read the full storyNew breath test tackles growing rates of oesophageal cancer
Professor George Hanna and his team have devised a breath test which can diagnose oesophageal cancer quickly and effectively, without the need for an endoscopy.
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Read the full storyLiving with diabetes at 15 – a patient’s perspective
A 15-year old Trust patient, Nadir El Tahir, explains how he copes with diabetes with the help of his clinical nurse specialist, Roshni Vadher.
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Read the full storyCharity begins at hospital
Ian Lush, Chief Executive of the Imperial College Healthcare Charity, writes about why hospitals have charities supporting their work, what our charity does, and how you can get involved.
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Read the full storyReturning home: why some patients need help to adjust to life outside hospital
Anne Kamale is a British Red Cross service coordinator at the Trust. Anne works for the Trust, but is part of a service delivered by the British Red Cross which provides practical support to…
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Giving patients with dementia the NoSH they need
Plenty of fluids and a bit of what you fancy is commonly dispensed health advice to the sick – alongside a healthy dose of home-made chicken soup. But many patients with dementia who are in hospital…
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Read the full storyPressure on emergency departments
Like many NHS Trusts, we have been struggling for some time to meet the national standard for 95 per cent of people attending emergency departments to be assessed, treated and admitted, or…
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Read the full storyA day in the life of … Scott O’Brien, modern matron for children’s intensive care
With a fundraising appeal underway to raise money for an extensive refurbishment of St Mary’s Children’s Intensive Care Unit, Scott O’Brien, modern matron, tells us about what it’s like to work there.
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Closing in on integrated care
For many years, integrated care has been seen as the NHS’s holy grail – providing high quality care, tailored to the individual, seamlessly and efficiently. It’s a key element of NHS England’s Five…
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Read the full storyPatient involvement - necessity not 'nice to have'
With a growing body of evidence that effective patient and public involvement actively drives improvement in health care, chief executive Dr Tracey Batten sets out an ambitious plan to make it…
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Read the full storyLooking after the elderly at home this winter
As winter approaches, it is elderly people who are most at risk of ill health. The older we get, the less able our bodies are to fight the simple infections and minor illnesses we barely noticed in…