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Drop in to our virtual AGM for a look back over the last decade and a look forward to the next 10 years       

As you may already know, South West Blood Bikes (SWBB) is a remarkable Plymouth-based charity who utilise the motorbike skills they have for the benefit of the service that they provide, with a fleet of ten liveried blood bikes. South West Blood Bikes comprises of teams in Plymouth, Torbay, and North Devon to cover all Trusts across these areas. This impressive service is run entirely by volunteers who cover a seven day-rota, 365 days a year to provide an out of hours service to support NHS Trusts to transport essential urgent supplies such as blood, pathology samples, medication, medical equipment and notes and occasionally donor breast milk to the NHS hospitals and hospices throughout Devon and beyond, at absolutely no cost. It doesn’t stop there, they also have two four-wheel-drive cars for inclement weather, as well as a support van which can be used as an on-call vehicle if needed, or for events.

Ground-breaking work from the Trust’s headache team is providing improved patient outcomes and national leading innovations for one of the world’s most under-recognised conditions.

Nine members of staff from University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust will be taking on the Snowdon Challenge in July to raise money for the charity, Sands.

Jamie Reed, who received a kidney transplant at Derriford Hospital in December 2021 is taking on a number of challenges in order to raise money for the kidney units that treated him.

The site team at University Hospitals Plymouth have been working hard to create spaces for staff to unwind, relax and recuperate.

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust’s Learning Disability and Autism team were invited, along with DUG (Derriford Users Group) members, to a Parliamentary event in the House of Commons on the 15^th June 2022. The event served as the launch of MENCAP’s latest report: Loneliness, Mental Health and Coronavirus: research findings as well as a good opportunity for attendees from across the country to share their experiences of living with a learning disability during the last few years.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) team based at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth have been awarded the Bliss Baby Charter Silver Award. 

This month saw the launch of the new Hospital Passport (HP) app at University Hospitals Plymouth. The app has been created to support people with a learning disability to be able to tell hospital staff what their needs are, what they like and do not like and details that might affect their care. The Hospital Passport has traditionally been a paper document that patients needed to carry around but with today’s technology, it is more practical and efficient to use a phone or portable device, to keep the information safe and readily available. The Derriford User Group  (DUG) (a local group of people with  learning disabilities) has helped design the new digital version. Funding from Plymouth Hospitals Charity has built the app and will support the roll out of this new service.

A series of studies conducted by consultants at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust have revealed that not only are patients who become trapped when involved in a car accident more likely to die, but that there are also significant differences in injuries sustained according to age and sex.