The Hillingdon Hospitals' Podcast

Hillingdon Hospitals' latest podcast episode spotlights the Trust's innovative approach to admission avoidance, featuring insights from Duncan Alston, geriatrician, and Usman Ahmed, consultant in acute and general medicine. The discussion centered on recent efforts to reduce unnecessary hospital stays by optimising outpatient and rapid access care. Duncan shared findings from a recent audit, which revealed that nearly half of admitted patients could have been managed as outpatients. This has driven a strategic shift toward providing more care outside the traditional inpatient setting. There are three main criteria for hospital admission: physiological instability, specific treatment needs such as oxygen therapy, and significant social or mobility challenges. Patients who do not meet these criteria are now being offered safer and faster outpatient alternatives, reflecting a commitment to both patient well-being and hospital efficiency. Usman highlighted the success of the Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) clinic, which now sees up to 70 patients daily. This service has significantly reduced pressure on the emergency department (ED), contributing to Hillingdon’s recognition as one of London’s best-performing EDs. The conversation also covered the hospital’s rollout of virtual wards, which use remote monitoring technology to track patients’ health at home across a range of specialties, including general medicine, diabetes, cardiology, respiratory, and paediatrics. To support these initiatives, staff can now access detailed referral pathways and criteria through the Eolas app (available on the trust website in the applications page, or available to download from the app store and sign in using your NHS login), streamlining the process for admission avoidance and ensuring patients receive the most appropriate care in the right setting. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

New Stop Smoking Clinic Elaine Hotson, health and wellbeing lead, talk to Sue, our tobacco dependence lead. They discuss our service for staff to give up smoking, and the new Staff Stop Smoking Clinic. The clinic is running from September 17th on Wednesdays 2-4pm, Location : 1st floor FFP3 hub room - by Theatres entrance ( first floor off the tower block stairs and past the lifts ), Hillingdon hospital For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Listen to the next podcast episode of Radio Hillingdon's In Conversation series - Molly Arbuthnott, the volunteer storyteller on the Bumblebee Ward at Hillingdon Hospital. Molly volunteers her time to meet the children staying on the ward, and to share her love of books by reading them stories. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

We have started using digital consent for procedures in our hospitals, using a system called Concentric. Concentric is a clinically-led application, with a proven track record, that seamlessly integrates with other digital systems to provide the patient and the Trust with an online record of consent. In this podcast we hear from Paula Galea, Consultant Obstetrician and Trust Digital Lead for Consent, about the new process for patient consent. Patients can be confident that they have been given all the necessary information they need, in advance of their treatment. The consent can then be shared to their NHS app and on the NHS patient care systems for complete clarity. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

In this podcast, Heraldas Gaspariunas, Co-founder and COO at Reneural, is joined by Dr Gabriella Spinelli, Reader in Healthcare Design and Innovation at the Brunel Design School, part of the College of Engineering, Design and Physical Sciences at Brunel University of London and Director of RADIANT CERSI, a centre for regulatory science and innovation in digital health and healthcare AI. The conversation focuses on a new collaboration between Reneural, The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Brunel University London, supported by NHS England through the New Hospital Programme. Together, the partners are developing a clinician dashboard that works alongside Reneural’s virtual reality rehabilitation platform. The goal is to support occupational therapists and physiotherapists in delivering more effective remote care for stroke survivors. Gabriella shares her insights on the importance of academic research in shaping digital health solutions and the value of collaboration between universities, the NHS, and industry. The discussion also touches on how projects like this can support faster adoption of innovation within the NHS and improve patient outcomes through thoughtful, research-driven design. This episode highlights the potential of partnerships to bring meaningful change to stroke care and digital health across the system. Speakers: Heraldas Gaspariunas, Co-founder and COO at Reneural Dr Gabriella Spinelli, Reader in Healthcare Design and Innovation, Brunel University of London For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

We will be hosting Learning at Work Week from Monday 12-Friday 16 May, in this podcast we talk about what the week means and the events we are holding. This national campaign champions lifelong learning and is an ideal opportunity for you to find out more about the various learning and development opportunities available in the Trust for you and your team. This year's national theme, "Get Connected," underscores the importance of fostering connections to enhance our learning experiences.​ For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

We are working in collaboration with Reneural and Brunel University to develop an innovative tool for stroke rehabilitation. With funding from the New Hospital Programme, we are undertaking a pivotal initiative aiming to transform stroke rehabilitation through a clinician dashboard that enhances remote interaction, treatment, and monitoring for stroke survivors. This project directly supports occupational therapists and physiotherapists by providing a digital platform integrated with Reneural’s Virtual Reality rehabilitation system. Victor Harabari (CEO of Reneural) discusses the project and the development. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Debora Lopez, project manager, talks about our move to a new learning hub. We will soon be moving to a new Learner Management System called LearningHub. This system will be rolled out across the Acute Provider Collaborative, providing a more efficient and user-friendly training tool for staff. The LearningHub will hold all your mandatory and essential training (your training record will be moved from iDevelop). Staff can access all learning materials, book face-to-face training, and interact with guides and videos, all in one place, as well as viewing better insights into staff learning and development, enabling more targeted support for training. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Nasser Arif, our cyber security manager, shares best practices around cyber security, including key considerations for NHS organisations in their approach to cyber security. There is extensive work in our Cyber Team, which constantly assesses cyber security maturity, good cyber security practice, and how to support staff in staying safe online. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Launching on Thursday 20 March (International Day of Happiness), a new recognition scheme called 'Hillingdon Hearts' will be an easy way for staff to send a message of gratitude to a colleague. Everyone will get five hearts a month to give away, and when someone gets five hearts they will be invited to a recognition breakfast with the CEO, Lesley Watts. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Sarah Burton, chief nurse, and Toko Kadhani, head of infection, prevention and control, discuss the increase in norovirus in our hospitals and how we can all help to prevent the spread. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Kavita Goreeba (Chair for our Women's Network) and Rana Erteza (Deputy Chair for our Women’s Network) chat in this podcast about this year's International Women’s Day, what it means to our staff, and how we are celebrating it in the Trust. International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This year's theme is 'Accelerate Action' - calls for action that can unlock equal rights, power and opportunities for all and a feminist future where no one is left behind. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Cynthia Oji, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Lead in the Trust discusses our staff networks in the Trust. Our mission is to make our workplace as inclusive as possible, as well as being a place where staff can meet like-minded colleagues. Cynthia explains why we have staff networks, how people can get involved, as well as some leadership roles that we're looking for in the LGBTQ+ Network and the Multicultural Network. Want to start a new network? listen on to find out more about that too! as well as some network events coming up. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Join Loretta Achiekwelu, operations programme manager from Hillingdon Hospitals Trust, in the podcast where she chats about health inequalities. The NHS has recognised that certain groups of people experience poorer health outcomes or face barriers to accessing services compared to others. Tackling these inequalities involves addressing the root causes of these disparities and ensuring that everyone, regardless of their background, has fair and equitable access to high-quality care. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

This February, we are holding our Freedom to Speak Up Month, during which we have a number of events. Our Freedom to Speak Up service runs throughout the year, allowing staff to raise any concern in a number of ways, including anonymously should you wish. Your concerns will be listened to confidentially; investigated in line with good practice and will receive timely feedback on actions, progress and outcomes. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Natasha Rashid, corporate applications analyst, talks us through a new co-pilot trial in our Hillingdon Hospitals and London North West Hospitals Trust. With 950 users across the Trusts, the project is testing how corporate staff can use co-pilot AI to assist them in daily tasks and the possible future utilisation of this software into working life. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Noel Burkett, our director of transformation, improvement and programme management, recently attended a meeting at the House of Commons hosted by Anne Dixon MP (Lab, Shipley) on the subject of ‘Unlocking the Power of Volunteering’. At this event, our Trust received special recognition for work we have done with the Hillingdon-based care partnership, H4All, on a scheme for checking in on people waiting for ophthalmology appointments - with the aim of reducing DNA rates (the rates of patients that Do Not Attend). For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Our topic today is part of our wellbeing podcast series, where we dive into meaningful conversations and tackle topics that impact our daily lives. Elaine Hotson, our Trust Health and Wellbeing Lead, discusses Blue Monday, often considered the most depressing day of the year. Falling on the third Monday of January, Blue Monday is said to combine post-holiday blues, the cold weather, and financial stress with waning New Year's resolutions. But is it just a marketing myth? or is there some truth behind it? Let’s face it, the first few days of January never really feel like a new start. Many of us are just getting over the festive fog, counting down to our next payday. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

In the podcast edition, Toko Kadhani, head of nursing for infection prevention and control, tells us how best to stay safe from norovirus, C.diff and respiratory infections, both in hospital and in the community. With increased infection rates to previous years, it's important for both staff and the public to stay vigilant and follow the guidelines to preventing the spread of infection. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.

Christmas can be a time of joy, but it can also, for many, feel like a time of anxiety and even solitude. It's easy to feel stress at a time of financial strain, more prevalent illness and NHS winter pressures at work. Our lead for health and wellbeing, Elaine Hotson, talks us through the support that is available to everyone over the festive period. For all the latest Trust news and information check out our website - www.thh.nhs.uk.