News

A new Staff Wellbeing Hub has been opened at The Walton Centre, offering a comfortable and relaxing space for staff to get away from their workspace, access resources or just simply take some time for themselves.

Officially opened by Saffron Cordery, Deputy Chief Executive of NHS Providers, it is a newly refurbished space for staff to access information related to physical, financial, workplace, social and mental wellbeing.

Saffron said making such space available for staff wellbeing was vital. “For anyone working in the NHS, things like compassion fatigue can really come to the fore. What feels very important here is that the commitment to staff wellbeing came from before COVID, like a thread that runs through The Walton Centre’s commitment to their staff. It’s a lovely space and I hope everyone will find it of great benefit.”

Following the launch of our official health and wellbeing programme ‘Walton Wellbeing’ in June 2022 we wanted to introduce a safe, comfortable space for staff. The Staff Wellbeing Hub will be a central point to access practical information, upcoming health and wellbeing events and will be available for Health MOTs and workshops, Menopause Cafés and much more.

The hub also recognises the support the late Jean Blevin, Chair of StaffSide at The Walton Centre, gave to staff health and wellbeing at the Trust.

Chief Executive Jan Ross said: “Prioritising the health and wellbeing of our workforce is a key priority at The Walton Centre. We want to ensure our staff have access to the right services and resources to support them through life’s more difficult or unexpected challenges, particularly in the current cost-of-living crisis and as we navigate the post-COVID world. We hope the new hub builds upon our health and wellbeing programme and hope staff take the opportunity to enjoy the space.”

 

Read Supporting staff at The Walton Centre…

Nearly ten years ago, Canan Randall (pron Janan) started hearing a ringing in her ears. After being referred to The Walton Centre, it was quickly confirmed that they were dealing with the possibility of a brain tumour. An initial surgery in 2015 removed 80% of the tumour, subsequent annual check-ups found it was slowly growing. Canan had a second surgery in 2016 and is currently being monitored.

Canan said: “It’s been an extraordinary decade since my diagnosis and I’ve been cared for so well by The Walton Centre. I have a great consultant, and the nursing team are on hand if I have any questions or if I experience something unusual. The whole experience has prompted me to think more about my body and how I look after it. I’m continuing to remain active, and I’ve also changed my diet and lifestyle to adapt to my condition. I don’t think people realise how traumatic having a brain tumour can be, so having support from the hospital, and from my husband Steve has been invaluable.”

Steve Randall underwent radical changes to his life too, when he left his role as a Risk Director in financial services to pursue art shortly after Canan’s first surgery in 2014. So inspired by her care, he went on to dedicate portions of the sales of his artwork to The Walton Centre Charity, which recently cleared £20,000 in donations. Overall the project has raised over £38,000 for a number of local charities.

Steve said: “Canan was very clear right at the beginning when she was diagnosed – paint and raise money for good causes. She saw a talent in me that I didn’t even know existed myself! Canan is an endless source of inspiration for me, how positive she has been throughout has been amazing. I’ve always enjoyed the process of painting and creating works of art; I’m self-taught and never imagined this life for ourselves. I hoped to raise £20,000 when I set out to support the hospital’s charity, but to now actually achieve the milestone is incredible. I love being able to help in this way and hope to continue doing so.”

Canan added: “I really appreciate Steve’s creativity and love that he’s put this energy into supporting The Walton Centre Charity. I’m proud of him and he makes me very happy. The sheer amount of support inspires me to keep fighting.”

You can see more of Steve’s art at www.steverandall.art.com

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Pictured L-R: Fundraisers Canan Randall & Steve Randall and The Walton Centre’s Head of Fundraising Madeleine Fletcher.

 

Notes to editors

Further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact the Communications Team at The Walton Centre on 0151 556 3397 or wcft.communications@nhs.net

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust was rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016.

For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 7LJ
0151 525 3611

 

Read Kirkby artist hits £20,000 fundraising target after being inspired by wife’s treatment here at The Walton Centre…

In 2017 Ian Perry, 65, from Formby, started experiencing the first symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. While working here at The Walton Centre, he was fixing the heating in the Outpatients department when one of the hospital’s clinicians recommended they seek a referral from their GP. Weeks later a diagnosis was confirmed.

Ian said: “I felt lucky that someone noticed and recommended a referral, but also the shock of getting the diagnosis was hard to experience. Dr Steiger, neurologist, encouraged me to keep being physically active, as this can help with symptoms. I was going to the gym and took up golf, but some of the effects of the condition, like slurred speech and the tremors, can really knock your confidence. It wasn’t until 2021 that I considered walking football.”

Ian’s friends had seen the Parkinson’s England football team was having a training session and encouraged him to go along. Ian continued: “It was the first time in four years I had met other people with Parkinson’s Disease. It was such a relief to see others there to play football. My wife said I came back a different person. After that I knew I had to get more involved.”

Ian joined the Northern Lights football team, which consists of people with Parkinson’s Disease, and takes part in walking football matches across the country. He said: “While I was playing for the team, I took part in trials to play for the England team and I got in! It feels like I’m living the dream, the camaraderie is great, and at the end of last year I played in my first international match in Belfast. We played against able-bodied people and they didn’t even know we had the condition, that’s how liberating the sport is.

“You can achieve so much, even if you have Parkinson’s Disease. You forget you have it when you’re on the pitch, you just play the game.”  

For more information on The Walton Centre, go to www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk

And for the latest news and events on the Northern Lights group, go to their twitter page www.twitter.com/NLPDfootball

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Notes to editors

Further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact the Communications Team at The Walton Centre on 0151 556 3397 or wcft.communications@nhs.net

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust was rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016.

For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

 

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 7LJ
0151 525 3611

 

Read “You forget you have Parkinson’s when you’re on the pitch, you just play the game” How patients with Parkinson’s Disease use walking football as a release…

One of The Walton Centre’s Pain Medicine consultants’ Dr Andreas Goebel has recently attained a professorship with the University of Liverpool, after demonstrating substantial progress in research into causes and new treatments for chronic primary pain.

Professor Goebel’s research includes developing an understanding the role of the adaptive immune system in causing severe, seemingly unexplained, chronic pain, focusing on Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS).

He said: “I’m delighted I have been awarded this position. I am passionate about furthering our knowledge of chronic pain, how it’s caused, and how it can be treated. I am confident that we are getting closer to finding answers which will enable us to care for patients with severe chronic pain more effectively.

“I hypothesised that patients with CRPS and FMS had a special dysfunction (called ‘autoimmunity’) of their immune systems that was interfering with the nervous system. By confirming this hypothesis, our results have opened doors to new, potentially groundbreaking diagnostic and treatment technologies. We may also be able to catch some of these conditions earlier, and potentially even prevent them from developing.”

Professor Goebel has been a Senior Lecturer and Reader at the University of Liverpool since 2008. He also sees patients as part of The Walton Centre’s pain service, one of the largest in the UK.

Dr Andy Nicolson, The Walton Centre’s Medical Director and Deputy Chief Executive, said: “It’s always a proud moment to see one of our consultants attain a professorship – an incredible academic achievement. The work that Andreas is doing in pain research is exciting. If his research leads clinicians to better treatments and be involved more in diagnostic work, then it will be an advancement for not just The Walton Centre, but clinicians from across the country, and the world!”   

 

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Notes to editors

Further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact the Communications Team at The Walton Centre on 0151 556 3397 or wcft.communications@nhs.net

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust was rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016.

For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 7LJ
0151 525 3611

 

Read Dr Goebel becomes Professor of Pain Medicine at the Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences…

Alun and Clare Evans were doing some last-minute Christmas shopping and visiting friends, when they got a phone call telling them their 18-year-old son Tudur had been in a bad car accident. Rushing to the scene near their home in Corwen North Wales, they got there in time to see Tudur briefly before he was lifted into the air ambulance. He was taken to The Walton Centre, which is part of the Major Trauma Centre in Liverpool, for emergency care.

Alun said: “When we got there, it was clear Tudur’s car had hit a tree. He was being looked after by the medics and had been sedated, and he had had a big knock to the head. This happened the day before Christmas Eve, so it was quite a shock, and a very different Christmas to what we imagined.”

When Tudur arrived at The Walton Centre, clinicians immediately put him in an induced coma, to give his body a chance to settle while they reviewed and monitored his brain injuries, which included bleeds and swelling, causing pressure on his brain. Tudur was very closely monitored in case an emergency operation was needed, especially in the first 24 hours.

Alun continued: “He was ventilated and the doctors on ITU told us that he had experienced a subarachnoid haemorrhage, three intracerebral bleeds and bruising to the brain where his head had hit the car on impact with the tree. After a few days they tried reducing sedation, but this increased the pressure on his brain, which they measured with a pressure monitoring device that was fitted in his head.

“On day eight, as the ITU team weaned him off sedation, Tudur’s mum Clare was holding his hand, trying to stop him pulling his cannulas out. He got hold of her wedding ring with finger and thumb and started spinning it anti-clockwise up her finger until it spun no more and then pulled it off her finger as you would removing a nut off a bolt. He did this twice. This was the most hope we’d had since the accident as this was very relevant to him as a mechanic and made us realise that he was still with us.”

New Year’s Day, Tudur was taken off the ventilator and breathing unaided. Even though he looked groggy and not fully awake, Alun could tell that he recognised his mum and dad.

Tudur was moved to Sherrington Ward to recover further and went from strength to strength until, remarkably, being well enough to go home just a few weeks after staying in ITU.

Tudur said: “I was getting restless in the last week of being at The Walton Centre, but I understand now that they wanted to make absolutely sure I was ok before letting me go home. The week before I had been confusing dreams and reality, thinking I was in a petrol station waiting to get picked up, getting really frustrated that I wasn’t able to leave yet. But I appreciate now that I felt like this because of the head injury.”

Once home and around his friends and family, Tudur continued getting stronger and was back to work full time by mid-February, extraordinarily less than two months after the initial accident.

Tudur said: “I feel incredibly lucky because I know this isn’t the outcome for everyone who has injuries like this. All I have is a black spot in my memory for the time of the accident and the days afterwards, and for that I am truly grateful for all the care provided to me by all of the emergency services, The Walton Centre and its’ hardworking teams.”

 

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Photo, L-R: Brother Gwyndaf Evans and his fiancé Gwenno, Mum Clare and Dad Alun Evans, and Tudur Evans before the accident. 

Notes to editors

Further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact the Communications Team at The Walton Centre on 0151 556 3397 or wcft.communications@nhs.net

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust was rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016.

For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

 

The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 7LJ
0151 525 3611

 

Read 18-year-old Tudur makes extraordinary recovery from traumatic brain injury after car accident…

Congratulations to Dr Antonella Macerollo who has been appointed to the North West CRN Advanced Research Scholars Programme. This programme is aimed at equipping tomorrow's clinical research leaders with the skills, knowledge and experience needed to become the Principal and Chief Investigators of the future.

The Walton Centre has a proud tradition of delivering high-quality clinical neuroscience research, in collaboration with our local universities and commercial partners, to improve patient outcomes and experiences. As one of our five strategic ambitions in our three-year Trust strategy, it is a key area of focus for us, particularly attracting and developing highly skilled and motivated people, who want to support our research and innovation ambitions.

Well done Dr Macerollo for this achievement!

 

Read Neurologist appointed to leading research programme…

This International Women’s Day, I’ve been able to reflect on a number of things, particularly being a woman in the NHS. I started my career as a student nurse in July 1992 I qualified in 1995, I was strong and driven and wanted to influence to improve patient care. I have never strayed far from my clinical nursing roots and recently worked a shift on Cairns Ward. This ward specialises in neuro-oncology and hydrocephalus, where patients can often have complex needs and require high levels of support. It was familiar and new all at the same time. Familiar in the sense of working with patients and delivering care as per their individual needs, but new with regards to the larger digital element of the job. It’s amazing to see innovative systems being utilised to manage patient care, staffing requirements and even patients making food choices through tablet computers. This change only enhances the ever-present outstanding care that I saw while I was there. I hope to be invited to shadow more shifts where possible in other areas of the hospital, to see more of the high-quality services being delivered to patients first-hand.

Closer to home and my role as CEO, I’m pleased that our Trust Board is well represented by leading women, lending their respective skillsets to the hospital. Half of our Executive Team is female, which is unusual in comparison to other organisations. It is incredibly important to be represented on all levels of the Trust, and I believe we are a modern organisation, making headway and enhancing opportunities for women.   

It is well recognised that it’s harder for women to progress in their careers, promotion is harder and if I use my own personal experience, I have also had three children, which means three periods of maternity leave and some working part time. This can be a challenge when trying to progress. However, I truly believe women can have both – a happy family and a career. I want to inspire and support women at The Walton Centre to do this. Women shouldn’t have to work or fight harder to progress. As CEO of The Walton centre, I strive every day to support staff, through flexible working, development opportunities and speaking up for fairness and equality. But I especially want to support our strong women, who have the potential to be the leaders of the future.

Looking at all the brilliant women who work here at The Walton Centre, I am inspired. They work tirelessly to ensure services are available to our patients, and that they experience the very best treatment. I want Walton Women to feel empowered when coming to work, and to know that they are strong and valued for their hard work.

 

Read International Women's Day 2023 - CEO Blog…

Lighting firm Circada kickstarts its’ campaign to change people’s relationships with their natural body clock with the launch of the inaugural pilot at The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool – the first Trust in the UK to take part.

Following the installation of the Circadian lighting system into part of the intensive therapy unit (ITU) at the hospital, a 3-month pilot will be undertaken. It is hoped that the lighting will benefit patients and staff, and potentially improve patient flow by reducing the time spent in ITU.

The pilot is part of the Trust’s innovation agenda, and if the feasibility trial is successful, the lighting could be rolled out more widely across the ITU and other patient areas.

Circada’s lighting technology works by changing the colour of the lighting throughout the day to match the daily and seasonal pattern of the sun, with superior and tailored light matched to our biological needs throughout. 

Commenting on the pilot, Circada founder Sam Lewtas said: “We hope our lighting restores some balance to patients and staff in this stressful environment. I’m excited to show the potential of our concept here, and ultimately more widely the ability to improve health and wellbeing.”

On the introduction of the lighting pilot, Oonagh Doherty, ITU Matron at The Walton Centre, said minimising delirium in patients is an important factor in their recovery: “Delirium can be a big issue for the patients, especially head injured patients. Ensuring they have adequate sleep and rest is key and resetting their body clock is important for this to happen – which this innovative lighting system may help to achieve! If this pilot is successful, it may reduce the length of patient stays on ITU, therefore improving their experience and rehabilitation journey. I’m also keen to see how it helps our staff’s health and wellbeing too.”

Misalignment of the body clock, for which daily light exposure is largely responsible, has been shown to have a negative impact across many areas of human health. By retuning the light with the sun’s rhythm, we aim to demonstrate here, and in other pilots across offices, residential and hospitality industries, how the Circada solution can bring positive health and wellbeing benefits to people across society.

If you’d like to find out more, or enquire about hosting a pilot yourself, please visit: circada.life/

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Circada

·        Circada aims to reconnect people with nature, bringing the outside in through its innovative lighting system matching the daily and seasonal patterns of the sun. It is developing lighting controls that can be used with existing tuneable white light fixtures that is straightforward to retrofit and quick to install, with no need for commissioning while being exceptionally easy to use.

·        Circada further offers an end-to-end system including luminaires optimised for the human body clock, providing illumination spectrally akin to sunlight.

·        For more information, contact Ben Morling ben@highrisecommunications.co.uk / 07871731114.

The Walton Centre 

·        The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is the only hospital trust in the UK specialising in neurology, neurosurgery and pain services. Although the majority of patients come from Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales, Lancashire and the Isle of Man, for some specialist treatments of complex disorders we see patients from all parts of the country, referred by their GPs or other neurologists, neurosurgeons and pain clinicians.

·        The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust is rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission. The independent regulator of all health and social care services in England published its initial rating on Friday 21 October 2016, following announced and unannounced inspection visits to the Trust in April 2016 and on the 19 August 2019 following inspections held in March and April 2019.

·        For more information please visit: www.thewaltoncentre.nhs.uk or follow the Trust on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

·        The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Lower Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 7LJ
0151 525 3611

 

Read Lighting innovators Circada launch first pilot at Trust to improve staff and patient wellbeing…