The bravery of our patients never ceases to amaze me. At our recent Service of Remembrance I met again a couple that I have had some interaction with over recent months. Lee and Andrea recently lost their little boy. He was cared for on our Neonatal Unit. Lee and Andrea asked if Gail Naylor our Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Operations and I would attend baby Lee’s funeral. It was a truly beautiful service but incredibly sad to see the devastating impact of the loss of a child. A true sign of the dedication and caring of our staff was to see 4 Neonatal Unit staff at the funeral who had cared for Lee during his short life. They were there in their own time, continuing to offer their support to the family. We have amazing and caring people at Liverpool Women's.
I get to meet many people in my career, I will never forget Lee, Andrea and baby Lee.
I have met with a number of our consultants in the past week. Dr. Bill Yoxall, Clinical Director of Neonates and I had a discussion on our aspirations for our Neonatal services. I had a very interesting discussion with Andrew Weeks, Professor of International Maternal Health at University of Liverpool, who is also a practicing Consultant Obstetrician at Liverpool Women's. One of our Midwives came to my coffee morning to talk to me about her experiences as a midwife at Liverpool Women's. I really enjoy the honest discussions with our staff.
I have also met with two more of our Neonatal Consultants, Dr Ben Shaw and Dr Chris Dewhurst. Chris is also our lead doctor for safeguarding issues and was outlining to me the fantastic work of our small but very busy safeguarding team. They do a fantastic job supporting some of our most vulnerable patients.
Dr George Botros, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, was telling me about the clinics that he has established on the Wirral, which brings the expertise of Liverpool Women's Hospital closer to home for Wirral residents. George has done some tremendous work in respect of laparasccopic surgery at Liverpool Women’s and has plans in place to better support women with endometriosis.
Dr Devender Roberts, Consultant Obstetrician who specialises in Fetal Medicine, was informing me about her work. As well as her very busy clinical practice Devender is our lead for Medical Education and has done a great job in ensuring that our teaching and training for junior doctors is outstanding.
Dr. Rob MacDonald, Consultant Gynae Oncologist, is one of our very hard working cancer surgeons. We were discussing how we can improve further outcomes and survival rates for cancer patients. There is more to be done to raise awareness with women and General Practitioners about the signs and symptoms of gynaecological cancers.
Liverpool Women’s Hospital is one of the founding members of Liverpool Health Partners and our strategic aims are to work together to create a world class academic health science centre, combining excellence, in research, education, healthcare and innovation. We had a launch event at Liverpool Town Hall on Thursday evening. For more information visit the Liverpool Health Partners website.
My life is never dull.. Helen Hunt a reporter with the Liverpool Echo and Daily Post spent a couple of hours with me interviewing me for 'The Big Interview'. Following my interview with Helen, Dr Jo Topping, Clinical Director, and I took the opportunity to show Helen our newly opened Maternity services.
Friday morning was spent with an old friend of mine, Tony Chambers, who is the recently appointed Chief Executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital. It is always good to catch up with colleagues that you have not seen for a while.
Have a great weekend