Best Places To Work 2015

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Carrying on from last year’s Best Places To Work  both RNOH and The Marsden appear in the Health Service Journal’s 2015 list of top 120 places.
Full story at HSJ reveals the best places to work in 2015

The Royal Marsden Foundation Trust
8 July, 2015

Best Places to Work 2015 – Acute Specialist Trusts

  • Full time equivalent staff: 3,528
  • Sickness absence rates: 2.85 per cent
  • Staff recommending care: 89 per cent
  • Staff recommending as place to work: 71 per cent

Loans are on offer to staff at the Royal Marsden Foundation Trust for season ticket travel costs and bicycles. Childcare vouchers are also part of the standard benefits package. Gym membership is subsidised. In the most recent NHS staff survey, 92 per cent of staff questioned at the trust said their role made a difference.

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust
8 July, 2015

Best Places to Work 2015 – Acute Specialist Trusts

  • Full time equivalent staff: 1,310
  • Sickness absence rates: 2.88 per cent
  • Staff recommending care: 87 per cent
  • Staff recommending as place to work: 71 per cent

The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital Trust has invested in software that supports staff with dyslexia. It actively seeks to recruit and retain staff with disabilities. Gym and swimming pool facilities exist on site. The trust scored 3.9 out of 5 for engagement in the most recent NHS staff survey.

NICE guidelines allow GPs to order tests and scans

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NICE has announced a new set of guidelines to let GPS directly order tests and scans for 37 suspected cancers without having to refer to a specialist first. This is in a bid to save lives and get an earlier diagnosis.

NICE’s new symptom–based approach will help to save thousands of lives from cancer

New cancer strategy ‘could save thousands’ of lives

The guidelines include suspected sarcoma.

1.11 Sarcomas

Bone sarcoma in adults

1.11.1 Consider a suspected cancer pathway referral (for an appointment within 2 weeks) for adults[4] if an X‑ray suggests the possibility of bone sarcoma. [new 2015]

Bone sarcoma in children and young people

1.11.2 Consider a very urgent referral (for an appointment within 48 hours) for specialist assessment for children and young people[4] if an X‑ray suggests the possibility of bone sarcoma. [new 2015]

1.11.3 Consider a very urgent direct access X‑ray (to be performed within 48 hours) to assess for bone sarcoma in children and young people with unexplained bone swelling or pain. [new 2015]

Soft tissue sarcoma in adults

1.11.4 Consider an urgent direct access ultrasound scan (to be performed within 2 weeks) to assess for soft tissue sarcoma in adults[4] with an unexplained lump that is increasing in size. [new 2015]

1.11.5 Consider a suspected cancer pathway referral (for an appointment within 2 weeks) for adults[4] if they have ultrasound scan findings that are suggestive of soft tissue sarcoma or if ultrasound findings are uncertain and clinical concern persists. [new 2015]

Soft tissue sarcoma in children and young people

1.11.6 Consider a very urgent direct access ultrasound scan (to be performed within 48 hours) to assess for soft tissue sarcoma in children and young people[4] with an unexplained lump that is increasing in size. [new 2015]

1.11.7 Consider a very urgent referral (for an appointment within 48 hours) for children and young people[4] if they have ultrasound scan findings that are suggestive of soft tissue sarcoma or if ultrasound findings are uncertain and clinical concern persists. [new 2015]

Source: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG12/chapter/1-recommendations#sarcomas

Afterglow radiation support group

Blog

Last week I met Mandy Sydenham a radiographer from Poole Hospital
Radiotherapy department and they are starting up a support group for patients
who have had radiotherapy. They recognise that many patients are having long
term toxicities  and they want to offer support and help, but it’s also for
patients who have finished radiotherapy recently and may be having short term
side effects.

The group will be on the second Monday of every month from 2 – 4
pm at The Grove hotel, 2 Grove Rd, Bournemouth BH1 3AU (01202 552233)

They haven’t got any leaflets about the group yet as it is so new – their first meeting is on 8th June 2015.

Tricia

The Healing Power of Your Own Medical Records

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This article The Healing Power of Your Own Medical Records in the New York Times is about a student at MIT who discovered his own brain cancer, has a video of the 10 hour operation to remove it, has copies of all his scans, 300 clinical reports, genetic data etc. He even has a 3-D printed copy of the tumour.

His case points to what medical experts say could be gained if patients had full and easier access to their medical information. Better-informed patients, they say, are more likely to take better care of themselves, comply with prescription drug regimens and even detect early-warning signals of illness, as Mr. Keating did.

Sarcoma UK’s Annual Review for 2013/14

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Sarcoma UK’s Annual Review for 2013/14 has some interesting statistics:

  • About 3,800 new cases of sarcoma are diagnosed each year in the UK. These represent approximately 1% of all cancer diagnoses
    • 3,330 people are diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma (including GIST)
    • 500 people are diagnosed with a bone sarcoma
  • In general, patients with a bone or soft tissue sarcoma diagnosis tend to be younger than the majority of cancer patients (* is data for England)
    • 16% of bone or soft tissue sarcomas are diagnosed in patients less than thirty years of age, compared to around 2% of all cancers*
    • 37% of bone or soft tissue sarcoma patients are aged less than 50 years*
    • Sarcomas make up 15% of all childhood cancers (0-14 years)
    • Sarcomas make up 11% of all cancer diagnoses in teenagers and young people (15-24 years)

Sarcoma UK’s goals are:

  1. More people will survive sarcoma.
  2. More will be known about the causes of sarcoma.
  3. Everyone affected by sarcoma will have access to the best treatment and care.

They also proudly say that

For every £1 spent on Fundraising £6.22 was raised.

78% of income was spent on Charitable Activities
(Awareness; Research; Support & Information)