20 replies to this topic

[silone74]

I found this on sia site and thought i would post on here,not sure if its been mentioned already?
http://www.wakefield...pital_1_4069566

Si

[Izziwhizzi]

I'm not a Pinderfields patient but I think any spinal unit closure is one too many.

Infact I think we need more of them, there are always waiting lists and therefore some spinally injured people have to spend time in general hospitals.

Its like suggesting we close maternity units and expecting pregnant ladies to go into a general ward.

[Parachute]

I am a patient at Pinderfields. If the unit closes at Pinderfields, it will move to Dewsbury or Pontefract Hospitals. Each patient was given a questionnaire through the post. I will try to post the questionnaire on this forum in the next few days.


Parachute

[silone74]

I too am a patient there but i have not been sent any questionnaire to fill in i also have to keep phoning near the time of my annual check up to find out when it is as they seem to forget to send my appointment letter out?infact that's just reminded me its due and no letter again :-l
Although i agree there should be more spinal units pinders in my own experience has gone down hill even with the new unit being built,consultant wise i find it terrible.

Si

[Izziwhizzi]

The need for good strong alpha consultants leading a unit seems to be an issue through out many of the units.

One has to put yourselves in their position. If you are a high flyer as you come out of medical training would you aim to be a SI consultant for the rest of your working life??

The answer is a big firm NO.

There are many more interesting and gung ho medicine disciplines where advances in medicine, variety of conditions, writing of papers, things that give you the excitement to go to work (and the piles of extra cash too in private practice to give you and your family an amazing lifestyle) and these are where the great consultants go to.

I've been a user of numerous SI consultants in 2 different units for 30 years and have yet to find one that comes close to my oncologist, urologist, gynecologist and obestrics consultants.

Just my thoughts

[Apparelyzed]

There is more information in the local TV stations report below.

[JaneC]

I am a Pinderfields patient too and have not been sent a questionnaire either. I was back in the unit in December for surgery which was when I first heard that the unit was threatened with closure.

I would be devastated ! I travel about an hour and a quarter to Pinderfields and having to go further would mean about a 2 hour car journey. I have always had excellent care at the unit.

After my accident I was in a district general hospital for 9 days waiting for a bed at the spinal unit and so experienced the difference in care between the two. It was such a relief to get to the SCI centre and I know that I would not have achieved the recovery that I have without their help.

I have had fantastic care from all the staff, consultant, other doctors and nurses, they are brilliant in my opinion and I would hate to have to go anywhere else.

Also on a wider level it is vital that we fight to keep all the SCI units open..........perhaps we could get the backing of some Paralympic athletes with SCI .......as this is Olympic year ?

[physiotherapist]

As a previous staff member at one of the units in the UK I would concur with a lot of the above comments. Closure of any of the units would be catastrophic really as there are so few of them anyway and now those Pindersfield patients will need to have their care transferred to an alternative centre that is probably already struggling with the number of patients it has on their books. The availability of specialist follow-up for patients in this country is already under huge pressure and that is what motivated me to set up my business (www.sci-services.co.uk). There needs to be more experience at community level.

With regards to the quality of consultants at the units, my experience is that my colleagues were all exceptionally good but the problem arises when one retires or leaves. The fact that there are relatively few units in the country (and many of them do not take junior doctors on rotation either) means many people never get the opportunity to experience SCI care in their early careers and if they don't do that they will never grow an interest in the area. I think, therefore, recruitment is an issue. This doesn't only apply to consultants either - the therapy departments are in the same boat, e.g. when I left my post there were only two applicants and both internal to take it over!

Edited by physiotherapist, 07 January 2012 - 04:13 PM.

[silone74]

I have to say that it was the nurses and physiotherapists at pinders that made my time there a lot easier to deal with as i live 80 miles from there and family and friends could visit when they could i think the nurses and physios there are great even with a shortage of phyisios when i was in there they all made the effort to keep spirits as high as they could


Si

[JaneC]

As a previous staff member at one of the units in the UK I would concur with a lot of the above comments. Closure of any of the units would be catastrophic really as there are so few of them anyway and now those Pindersfield patients will need to have their care transferred to an alternative centre that is probably already struggling with the number of patients it has on their books. The availability of specialist follow-up for patients in this country is already under huge pressure and that is what motivated me to set up my business (www.sci-services.co.uk). There needs to be more experience at community level.

With regards to the quality of consultants at the units, my experience is that my colleagues were all exceptionally good but the problem arises when one retires or leaves. The fact that there are relatively few units in the country (and many of them do not take junior doctors on rotation either) means many people never get the opportunity to experience SCI care in their early careers and if they don't do that they will never grow an interest in the area. I think, therefore, recruitment is an issue. This doesn't only apply to consultants either - the therapy departments are in the same boat, e.g. when I left my post there were only two applicants and both internal to take it over!

Hi there physiotherapist, your website does not seem to come up when I google it, is it up and running yet ?

[physiotherapist]

As a previous staff member at one of the units in the UK I would concur with a lot of the above comments. Closure of any of the units would be catastrophic really as there are so few of them anyway and now those Pindersfield patients will need to have their care transferred to an alternative centre that is probably already struggling with the number of patients it has on their books. The availability of specialist follow-up for patients in this country is already under huge pressure and that is what motivated me to set up my business (www.sci-services.co.uk). There needs to be more experience at community level.

With regards to the quality of consultants at the units, my experience is that my colleagues were all exceptionally good but the problem arises when one retires or leaves. The fact that there are relatively few units in the country (and many of them do not take junior doctors on rotation either) means many people never get the opportunity to experience SCI care in their early careers and if they don't do that they will never grow an interest in the area. I think, therefore, recruitment is an issue. This doesn't only apply to consultants either - the therapy departments are in the same boat, e.g. when I left my post there were only two applicants and both internal to take it over!

Hi there physiotherapist, your website does not seem to come up when I google it, is it up and running yet ?

Hello Jane,

Sorry for the slow response!

Yes, the site is up and running but we haven't yet entered it into google Adwords - a job for the next few weeks! - so it won't come up in a search at the moment. If you type the address - www.sci-services.co.uk - directly into your browser you should get straight through to it. Please do let me know if you're still having problems though!

All feedback greatly received!

[greybeard]

All feedback greatly received!

I was amused to read that your travel expenses cover distances of 10000 miles. I doubt that was intended, but perhaps a working radius from Hereford might be useful for clients.

[physiotherapist]

All feedback greatly received!

I was amused to read that your travel expenses cover distances of 10000 miles. I doubt that was intended, but perhaps a working radius from Hereford might be useful for clients.

Hi,

That's very interesting - we perhaps need to change the wording!

HM Revenue & Customs set out two mileage rates each year, one that is to be used for the first 10,000 miles and one that is to be used for any mileage beyond that (see http://www.hmrc.gov....ates/travel.htm ) We worded it like that so that it was hopefully clear which rate we charge but perhaps it is not as clear as I thought.

Thank you for the feedback - we'll definitely review it and see if we can come up with a better way of putting it.

With regards to the radius from Herefordshire, we go anywhere within the UK but obviously the further you are from us, the more our mileage costs are. We have only just started trading but our hope is that in a few years we'll be in a position to employ people to cover different areas of the country so that we can reduce these costs to our clients.

Thank you once again for the feedback - it's much appreciated!

[gazbrid]

I too am a patient there but i have not been sent any questionnaire to fill in i also have to keep phoning near the time of my annual check up to find out when it is as they seem to forget to send my appointment letter out?infact that's just reminded me its due and no letter again :-l
Although i agree there should be more spinal units pinders in my own experience has gone down hill even with the new unit being built,consultant wise i find it terrible.

Si

that sounds like my problem too

[Kevbak01]

Dear All
I wanted to let everyone know that a campaign group was set up to actively work against the Pinderfields Spinal Centre moving etc. This group was Chaired by me and was called 'Keep Spinal Injuries at Pinderfields', made up of mainy ex-patients, but also an ex-Consultant (Andrew Burt) and an ex-Physiotherapist (Roger Ellis). THe campaign was intense and was supported by the SIA and the centre's specialist commissioners. It ended up in me going to Parliament to speak at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Spinal Cord Injury. Following this a Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust Board meeting formally ratified that the Centre would NOT be moving from Pinderfields - so patient power does work my friends.
Many may think this was the end of the problem, but far from it - as it was suggested to me that what we need at the Centre is a potent, viable and professional Patient Service User Group at our SIC, so I wrote a strategy/discussion paper for the Management etc. This was agreed and we then lobbied lots of patients. Last week (27th June) we held an open meeting at the Centre in the Gym, and many ex-patients and in-patients came, as well as Consultants, Nurses, Physio's, OT's and our specialist commissioner. At that meeting we formed our Patient Group which is called SPINE (Spinal Integrated Network). It will become the voice of the patient at Pinderfields and will involve itself in the re-development and building of better Sport, Recreation, Communications with patients, Ward Business Planning, Specialist Spinal Equipment for the ward, Education and Research etc etc. We will have a core committee and a Manager - which will be me for the foreseeable future in a voluntary capacity working at the SIC for 2 days per week. We are busy producing a constitution and speaking to the Trust about getting a communication to ALL ex-patients (which numbers over 2000). We will have a website (the domain has been purchased) and an e-magazine. With this in mind anyone who is a patient of Pinderfields or a member of staff (or ex-member) can join SPINE, it is free, just send an email to - spine.pinderfields@gmail.com - leaving your name, postal address etc and your involvement with the Centre and you will become a member.
I will keep you up to date with progress
Best Regards
Kevan Baker OBE
T12/L1

[Tetracyclone]

That ping was the sound of my button bursting as I swell with pride!

[Annie Glover]

Hi Everyone,

I am not a patient of Pinderfields Spinal Unit. But, I have only just visited this unit on Friday 27th July as I had a meeting with Dr Raza and Kevan Baker. This seems to be a secure unit now as far as I can understand. As I was there to discuss the possibility of the CES UK Charity supporting the hospital by creating a support group for Cauda Equina Syndrome sufferers. Cauda Equina Syndrome is a spinal cord injury which has never been fully look upon by some professionals around the UK, for sufferers to be cared for under a spinal cord injured catagory until recently. The meeting went really well, and I will keep you up to date with our developing news. Both Dr Raza and Kevan Baker were both really welcoming and interesting people with extreme vast amount of knowledge and experience. This spinal centre is absolutly brilliant. What an excellent centre. I do hope that the NHS doesn't choose to close down this centre in the future as it will be hard felt by a lot of their patients.

Annie

[silone74]

Dear All
I wanted to let everyone know that a campaign group was set up to actively work against the Pinderfields Spinal Centre moving etc. This group was Chaired by me and was called 'Keep Spinal Injuries at Pinderfields', made up of mainy ex-patients, but also an ex-Consultant (Andrew Burt) and an ex-Physiotherapist (Roger Ellis). THe campaign was intense and was supported by the SIA and the centre's specialist commissioners. It ended up in me going to Parliament to speak at the All Party Parliamentary Group on Spinal Cord Injury. Following this a Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust Board meeting formally ratified that the Centre would NOT be moving from Pinderfields - so patient power does work my friends.
Many may think this was the end of the problem, but far from it - as it was suggested to me that what we need at the Centre is a potent, viable and professional Patient Service User Group at our SIC, so I wrote a strategy/discussion paper for the Management etc. This was agreed and we then lobbied lots of patients. Last week (27th June) we held an open meeting at the Centre in the Gym, and many ex-patients and in-patients came, as well as Consultants, Nurses, Physio's, OT's and our specialist commissioner. At that meeting we formed our Patient Group which is called SPINE (Spinal Integrated Network). It will become the voice of the patient at Pinderfields and will involve itself in the re-development and building of better Sport, Recreation, Communications with patients, Ward Business Planning, Specialist Spinal Equipment for the ward, Education and Research etc etc. We will have a core committee and a Manager - which will be me for the foreseeable future in a voluntary capacity working at the SIC for 2 days per week. We are busy producing a constitution and speaking to the Trust about getting a communication to ALL ex-patients (which numbers over 2000). We will have a website (the domain has been purchased) and an e-magazine. With this in mind anyone who is a patient of Pinderfields or a member of staff (or ex-member) can join SPINE, it is free, just send an email to - spine.pinderfields@gmail.com - leaving your name, postal address etc and your involvement with the Centre and you will become a member.
I will keep you up to date with progress
Best Regards
Kevan Baker OBE
T12/L1

I have sent an email awhile ago but had no response?

Edited by silone74, 29 July 2012 - 07:18 PM.

[Kevbak01]

Hi Everyone,

Do not worry if you have emailed our new group at Pinderfields called SPINE - and have not yet heard anything back - we will have received it. We are just waiting now for the Trust to send out all the letters to spinal patients under the care of our SIC. It will be a few weeks before you all receive a formal response. Be patient please as it is taking time to set up the complete database.

Kevan Baker

[silone74]

Hi Everyone,

Do not worry if you have emailed our new group at Pinderfields called SPINE - and have not yet heard anything back - we will have received it. We are just waiting now for the Trust to send out all the letters to spinal patients under the care of our SIC. It will be a few weeks before you all receive a formal response. Be patient please as it is taking time to set up the complete database.

Kevan Baker

Thank you for the reply.




Si

[silone74]

I recieved the letter thanks.


Si