26 October 2023
FHFT staff were shortlisted for two categories at the Nursing Times Awards, held on Wednesday 25 October.
Nurse consultant Andrew Barton- Lead nurse for IVAS
Shortlisted in Nurse of the Year category
Andrew was nominated by Maya Guerrero, a NIVAS (National Infusion Vascular Access Society) colleague and former member of his vascular access team who now works for NHS Supply Chain as an IV nurse specialist.
Maya describes Andrew as “an outstanding nurse and nurse leader who goes above and beyond what is expected from his day-to-day role. He truly makes a difference, putting the Trust on the map, nationally and globally”.
Andrew sits on the global committee of the World Congress of Vascular Access and chairs the National Infusion and Vascular Access Society.
He built our IVAS from a two-person team to one with nine staff cross-site. It now operates seven days a week from 8am-8pm and has a proven record in reducing hospital admissions and length of stay. The team also provides training and support for peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) placers and vascular access both in the UK and internationally.
Andrew’s ethos ensures that patient care is at the forefront of everything the team do.
His insight and initiative ensured that Frimley Health was one of the first trusts to offer an IV access service and the first trust in the UK to trail and implement mini midlines (Powerglides) as part of its Difficult Intravenous Access (DIVA) service. This work became the inspiration of the NIVAS White Paper which Andrew led on as the current chair.
Andrew was the first practitioner to evaluate and use near infrared technology to visualise veins and is the first and only UK clinical service to evaluate and implement biphasic vein amplification technology to further assist with peripheral cannulation for difficult IV access (DIVA) patients.
As if this wasn’t enough, he has written the national guidelines on flushing IV and was part of the clinical reference group that created guidelines on infusion pumps during the Covid-19 pandemic. He has led the charge on changing the compatibility of emergency drugs prefilled glass syringes, and is leading on the national extravasion and infiltration campaign. He works with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as an expert advisor/assessor and with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as a principal expert and lead investigator for the medical technologies’ evaluation programme.
Most recently Andrew has written a White Paper which has been presented to government and senior NHS executives in the hope of replicating the Frimley IVAS service in every NHS hospital. So far on the back of the White Paper five vascular access service teams have been set up across the country using the Frimley model and 10 in Ireland.
According to Maya, Andrew’s “exemplary work, ethics and immeasurable patient outcomes make Andrew an exceptional nurse who deserves the highest recognition.”
Nurse-led oncology and non-specific symptoms service
Shortlisted for Ingrid Fuchs Cancer Nursing Award
Lara Roskelly, Macmillan acute oncology/NSS/CUP/primary brain cancer lead nurse, is delighted that her team being shortlisted.
She said: “My team and I are absolutely delighted to be shortlisted as a finalist for the Nursing Times Ingrid Fuchs Cancer Nursing Award.
“We are a team of seven specialist acute oncology nurses and work cross-site seven days a week. We are very proud to deliver a nurse-lead acute oncology service (AOS) to cancer patients who present as an emergency to hospital.
“We reviewed 5,381 cancer inpatients last year and we also deliver a huge amount of training on managing oncological emergencies for doctors, nurses and AHPs throughout the Trust.”
“We also really enjoy our role to provide nurse-led suspected cancer, non-specific symptoms (NSS) reviews. The AOS/NSS nurses triage, request investigations and CT scans, and manage referrals from GPs with NSS vague symptoms.
“Our aim is to diagnose cancers earlier and have received 325 two-week-wait referrals in 2023.
“We continue to work closely with our colleagues in primary care and provide training via monthly webinars to improve referrals and ensure patients have access to specialist services to aid early diagnosis, and ultimately improve patient experience and outcome.
“We are also delighted that the patients who responded to our patient experience surveys felt that they experienced good to excellent care (94%) and 97% of patients felt the NSS nurses explained what would happen in their pathway clearly. We also are the keyworkers for patients with primary brain cancer and for patients with Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP).”