As a thank you for completing the survey, you’ll be automatically entered into a prize draw with four prizes of £250 available to win. Plus, you can opt to join paid focus groups (£80 thank you payment if invited) to share more detailed feedback.

National Voices, the leading coalition of health and care charities, are running this survey to provide the chance for patients to share their views of using medical devices and products.

If you or someone you care for has experience of using medical devices and products for the following types of care, then please complete this short survey to share your experiences: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/medicaldevicesresearch

1. Wound and skin care.
2. Gastrointestinal and urological care.
3. Respiratory and airway management.
4. Lymphoedema, support and therapeutics.
5. Sexual, reproductive and pelvic health.
6. Diabetes, glucose monitoring and insulin delivery.
7. Oral, dental, ear, eye and nasal care.

Whether you use wound care products, stoma appliances, catheters, incontinence appliances, or other medical devices, your feedback is important and helps make healthcare more responsive to patient needs.

By completing this short survey, you’ll help inform how medical professionals choose and prescribe devices, ensuring better outcomes for patients.

Currently, doctors, pharmacists, community nurses or dentists can prescribe from a list of over 60,000 medical devices, but many patients aren’t aware they can have a say in which devices work best for them.

The survey should only take approximately 15 minutes to complete, and you have until Friday January 10 to submit your response.

By completing this survey, you can let DHSC know:

• What is important to you as a patient when medical professionals are deciding which medical devices and products to prescribe.
• Information you want in order to make an informed choice about the medical device or product you want to use.

National Voices will analyse the survey responses to explore whether there are any key themes around who is using these medical devices and products, and what their experiences of using these devices and products are.

National Voices will be including these key themes in a report for DHSC which will be published. This report will summarise which features patients find most valuable in the medical devices and products they use.

Your survey response will remain anonymous – no one will be able to tell who said what in this report.

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust will transfer all its clinical services from Sunderland Eye Infirmary to the new site off Plater Way, with the new location part of the Riverside Sunderland regeneration project.

Once complete in 2026, the new Eye Hospital will continue Sunderland’s proud legacy of providing specialist eye care for people across the North East and beyond.

It will house the region’s nationally renowned Cataract Treatment Centre (CTC), a 24/7 Eye Emergency Department and, for the first time, have a Day of Surgery Admissions (DOSA) unit. This is where patients coming in for surgery will have their procedure before being discharged home later that day.

There will also be dedicated facilities for children who will have their own waiting and recovery area. The new Eye Hospital will continue to support world-leading research and provide much improved education and training facilities for its own staff, as well as those training in the region and starting out in their NHS careers.

The new building will be completely paper free at the point of care as the Trust continues its work as one of the most digitally advanced Trusts in the whole NHS.

South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust is working in partnership with Sunderland City Council and construction partner Kier to deliver the project.

To mark a year since work began on the former Vaux Brewery site, all three partners gathered for a topping out ceremony on the top of the new build.

Trust Chief Executive Ken Bremner MBE, Council Leader Cllr Michael Mordey and Regional Director Dan Doherty from Kier Construction each helped fill in the final gap in a block of concrete to complete that section.

Construction will now press on to add the roof to the building, while work has already started to add the panels to the side of the structure. Construction is also ongoing on the energy centre linked to the main hospital.

Trust Chief Executive Ken Bremner said: “This is a milestone day in our project to create a fantastic new eye hospital in Sunderland. It will see our outstanding eye services get the fit for purpose surroundings which reflect the hospital’s position as one of the country’s top specialist centres for eye care.

“It is a delight to stand side by side with our partners to mark this day and see the progress already made on the site. Thousands of people pass it every day and it’s been fascinating to see the build rise up from the ground.

“We can’t wait for that moment when we open its doors and welcome our staff, patients and their loved ones to facilities which will be modern, bright and fit for the future.”

Cllr Michael Mordey, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “It is fantastic to see work progressing apace on this world-class facility, which once complete, will see Sunderland house the region’s only dedicated specialist standalone Eye Hospital.

“Caring for patients from across the North East and beyond, it is yet another fantastic development rising from the ground at Riverside Sunderland, which is fast becoming one of the UK’s largest and most ambitious urban regeneration projects of its kind.”

Dan Doherty, regional director for Kier Construction North and Scotland said: “We are incredibly proud to be part of this transformative project that will significantly enhance healthcare services in the region.

“This milestone marks an important step towards delivering what will be an outstanding hospital, designed to meet the needs of patients and staff alike.

“We look forward to continuing our work with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and Sunderland City Council to bring this vision to life.”

The STS Charity, which is run by the Trust to support its staff and make patient experiences even better, is running a £1 million appeal to get additional kit and extras for the new hospital.

More details about how to donate, the kit the funds will be used to buy and the page where online cash support can be pledged can be found through the Vision Appeal page of the STS Charity section of the Trust website: Vision Appeal

For more information, visit: https://www.stsft.nhs.uk/our-charity/appeals-campaigns/vision-appeal

Source: https://www.stsft.nhs.uk/news/latest-news/ceremony-marks-one-year-building-work-started-regions-new-eye-hospital

In a nationwide survey conducted by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), thousands of parents expressed their views on how their maternal journey went.

The CQC maternity survey was distributed to new parents nationwide who welcomed a baby in February this year. It assessed the experiences of 18,951 women across 120 NHS trusts, with responses gathered from 147 individuals who gave birth at the trust.

The questions looked to find out about peoples’ experiences in the lead up to the birth, labour and birth and then the postnatal care offered after they had delivered their baby.

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust and South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (STSFT) were ranked as the top two providers of maternity care across the whole of the NHS in England, with 83% and 82% of positive responses respectively.

Only eight trusts in England were listed in the high performing ‘better than expected’ category.

The CQC survey highlighted that patients who were treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital expressed high levels of satisfaction with the care they received, praising staff’s empathy, communication and support.

At Sunderland Royal Hospital, patients said they felt treated with respect, dignity and kindness and were spoken to in a way they could understand.

Jane Anderson, Director of Midwifery at STSFT, said: “Our community midwives and hospital teams work incredibly hard to make sure people have a good experience with us during such an important time in their lives.

“We know we still have further work to do to achieve excellence in all aspects of our maternity care and this feedback is an important part of helping us to keep learning and improving.”

All eight acute hospital trusts in the region were also consistently highlighted amongst the top five performing maternity services in over 30 trusts across the whole of the North East and Yorkshire area. None of the region’s hospitals featured in the ‘worse than expected’ category.

Ken Bremner MBE, Chair of the North East and North Cumbria Provider Collaborative and Chief Executive at STSFT, said: “All our trusts have scored highly in the feedback received about maternity care, and to have two trusts recognised as the best performing nationally, really is great news.

“On behalf of all NHS providers in the region I would like to thank the thousands of highly committed NHS staff who work across our maternity services. These results are down to you.

“As a region we are committed to providing the very highest quality of safe maternity care and will continue to learn, improve and share best practice across the North East and North Cumbria.”

The full survey results can be seen at www.cqc.org.uk.

Source: https://www.stsft.nhs.uk/news/latest-news/south-tyneside-and-sunderland-maternity-care-among-best-nhs

Now community pharmacies can offer treatment and, when appropriate, some prescription medicine, for seven common conditions without patients needing to see a GP. This is part of the major transformation in the way the NHS delivers care.

Highly trained pharmacists at more than nine in ten pharmacies can now assess, treat, and when appropriate, provide some prescription medicine for earache (for those aged between 1 and 17), impetigo (for those aged 1 year and over), infected insect bites (for those aged 1 year and over), shingles (for those aged over 18 years old), sinusitis (for those aged 12 years and over), sore throat (for those aged 5 years and over) and urinary tract infections (UTIs) (for women aged 16-64 years) without the need for a GP appointment.​

Community pharmacy teams are highly-skilled, qualified health professionals who have the right clinical training to give people the health advice they need.

Patients don’t need an appointment and private consultation rooms are available, pharmacy teams can also signpost to other relevant local services where necessary.

Pharmacists have always helped patients, families and carers in their communities stay healthy and are well placed to offer treatment for health conditions.

By expanding the services community pharmacies offer, the NHS is aiming to free up GP appointments and give people more choice in how and where they access care.

Don’t wait for minor health concerns to get worse – think pharmacy first and get seen by your local pharmacy team.

For more information, visit nhs.uk/thinkpharmacyfirst

Endoscopy Units at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust are celebrating after their inspection by the Royal College of Physicians has led to them hailed as being exemplar in their field.

The inspectors said: “The service operates to an exceptional standard and easily some of the highest standards we have seen in the UK.”

The results are also the best ever seen by the Trust following an inspection.

The Joint Advisory Group (JAG) on GI Endoscopy visited the units at South Tyneside District Hospital and Sunderland Royal Hospital. Between them, they carry out more than 10,000 procedures each year.

It is the first JAG assessment as ‘one Trust two sites’ following on from the merger of South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust and City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust in 2019.

It is an independent check and looks at the standards set down by the NHS, as well as the British Society of Gastroenterology. In addition to looking at how good care is and how it runs, the visit also involved talking to staff and patients, looked at waiting times, performance, how highly trained the team is and the equipment and technology used.

Among areas of praise for the department was that it is led “exceptionally well by a dynamic clinical and management team”.

The inspectors added: “The whole team demonstrated pride and passion in their work and all team members interviewed cared about providing the highest standards of patient care.”

The report goes on to note how the policies and processes as patients are at the top level possible, while a safety culture is embedded in team huddles, the World Health Organisation checks they carry out and nursing staff are empowered.

It said it offers high-quality training and trainees had said it had been their best experience to date and all those in the units understand the JAG standards and safe processes, with a commendation for its approach.

It added: “Rarely do we see such a well-led and organised team like this. It’s a service leadership and teamwork model for others to learn from.

“We congratulate the team on providing such patient-centred and safe care.”

Zoe Clapham is Clinical and Operational Lead for the department.

She said: “This has been our first joint visit and we are overjoyed to be told we are exemplar in many areas.

“As a whole, we have really high standards when it comes to our work and that’s really shone through.

“We were very emotional when we read the report, it has been a lot of hard work, and this shows everything we do is valued and recognised.”

Diane Fernandez is the Deputy Unit Manager at South Tyneside District Hospital.

She added: “The team are very happy and that came across to them – we really do put the patients at the centre of all the care we offer.

“They remarked on how well gelled the team is and how we work together, and I think that’s part of why we’re a good service.”

Ken Bremner MBE is the Trust’s Chief Executive and he said: “In all my years of working in the NHS, I have never seen such a positive report from an external regulatory body.

“I am immensely proud to have received this official confirmation of the department’s excellence, and I have no doubt they will continue to keep up this very high standard for current and future patients.”

“Can I take this opportunity to offer my congratulations to every single member of the team for such a fantastic outcome.”

Sunderland’s unit was revamped six years ago, while South Tyneside’s underwent a refit in 2021.

Information about the procedures they carry out can be found through the Trust’s Endoscopy Services page: https://www.stsft.nhs.uk/services/endoscopy-services

Source: https://www.stsft.nhs.uk/news/latest-news/service-praised-putting-patients-centre-care-inspectors-hail-its-leaders-and-teamwork-among-best-uk

A new British Sign Language (BSL) Video Relay Service for Deaf and BSL (British Sign Language) users across the region has been launched. The new initiative enhances accessibility and communication between frontline staff and patients.

All ambulances now have access to an iPad with the SignVideo app, which will allow staff to access BSL video relay services to communicate with Deaf and BSL users. This will help paramedics to undertake a triage and ensure Deaf/BSL user understand the next steps in their treatment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.

It is estimated that there are 151,000 people in the UK who use British Sign Language and, of these, 87,000 are Deaf. It is important this on-demand accessibility allows BSL users to communicate and respond in emergency situations when paramedics ask questions about their health needs and medical history.

Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Mark Johns said: “As an emergency service, we are committed to delivering high quality patient care and ensuring all patients receive prompt and effective communication during emergency situations.

“Recently, our crews have attended emergencies and upon arrival, we have faced challenges communicating with the people with hearing loss as the current provision stops after the call is made and staff arrive at the scene. This communication barrier is something that we wanted to resolve and therefore have partnered with SignVideo to address this service gap.”

Rachel Austin, Coordinator from Hartlepool Deaf Centre said: “Deaf BSL users struggle to access the Ambulance service and many other services because of the communication barriers and the lack of support and assistance that is available.

“It’s great to see this new service being introduced by NEAS as it will hopefully remove a barrier that people experience and provide a useful tool to support Deaf BSL users and paramedics to communicate with each other in challenging and difficult circumstances. It will help to save more lives, ensure people get the best outcome and help achieve equality between Deaf and hearing people.”

98% of staff have received training as we roll out this BSL video relay service. Effective and timely communication is hugely important to ensure people receive the best care and can access the full range of services at North East Ambulance Service.

Source: NEAS.