TEESSIDE’s heart unit is marking a milestone anniversary after 30 years of delivering state-of-the-art care to patients with cardiovascular disease across the region and beyond.
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16 Nov 2022 |
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Stagecoach, Britain's biggest bus operator, led the industry at the 2022 UK Bus Awards in London, picking up more awards than any other business. The company’s performance saw it pick up a total of 20 awards - seven gold, six silver and seven bronze. Stagecoach scooped the top ‘gold award’ for supporting the environment, contributing to safer driving, services to the community, top express coach operator and top national bus depot. Two Stagecoach employees also won the top ‘gold’ award for ‘Engineer of the Year’ won by Jamie Stockton from Stagecoach Manchester and ‘unsung hero’ won by Lesley Hester, who is operations manager at Stagecoach Manchester’s Sharston Depot. The awards were presented yesterday (November 15) at Troxy in London, hosted by BBC presenter Jane Hill. Carla Stockton-Jones, UK Managing Director for Stagecoach said: "At such a challenging time for our customers and the bus sector, it’s great to see the fantastic recognition for the hard work of Stagecoach Bus teams around the country. “We have a fantastic team of committed people who are proud to serve their customers and local communities and these awards reflect this hard work and professionalism for everyone in the Stagecoach family. “It is great to have such a range of award wins, recognising all the hard work our people do from work in the community, to engineering, supporting the environment and culture change as well as being recognised as top shire operators and top national bus depots. “A huge congratulations to all of this year’s UK Bus Award winners.” The full list of Stagecoach awards is: Culture change – Stagecoach London, Safety Strategy Forum winning bronze. Young manager of the year – Ben Houghton from Stagecoach London won bronze and Zachary McAskill won Silver. Supporting the environment- Stagecoach East for its Big Switch Off campaign, winning gold. The ROSCO award for contribution to safer driving- Stagecoach London winning bronze for its Safety Strategy Forum and Stagecoach East and Volvo Bus winning gold for Intelligent Speed Assistance. Leader of the year – Joel Mitchell from Stagecoach South East winning silver. Top shire operator – Stagecoach East Scotland winning silver. London bus garage of the year – Stagecoach London’s Bow garage winning silver. Bus and the community – Stagecoach East Scotland’s ‘Sams Wellbeing on wheels’ winning bronze and Stagecoach South East winning gold for ‘The Friendship Bus’. Top express coach operation – Stagecoach Oxford Tube winning gold. Engineer of the year- Craig Mills from Stagecoach London winning silver and Jamie Stockton from Stagecoach Manchester winning gold. Unsung heroes – Lesley Hester, Operations Manager from Stagecoach Manchester winning gold with commendations for Glenn Oldman (Stagecoach London), Louise Sills and James Third (Stagecoach South East). Buses for pleasure – Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire winning bronze for ‘Explore the Lakes by Bus’ Top national bus depot – Stagecoach East Scotland’s St Andrews Depot won bronze, Stagecoach North Scotland’s Portree depot winning silver and Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire’s Barrow depot winning gold. Top national bus driver – Gurnam Singh from Stagecoach West winning bronze.
Interesting facts and Accolades about Stagecoach:
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"Sponge on a String" test revolutionises cancer detection at James Cook
By Gavin WinshipRAYMOND Berry was one of the first patients to benefit from a new service being used at The James Cook University Hospital to detect and monitor oesophageal conditions such as Barrett’s cancer.
The new Cytosponge is a small capsule which is attached to a string.
Patients like Raymond are asked to swallow it while the nurse keeps a hold of the string. Its outer lining, made of vegetarian glutelin, then dissolves to reveal a tiny sponge around the size of a 10p piece.
The sponge is withdrawn from the stomach via the mouth by a quick pull of the string, taking between 500,000 and 1 million cells on its way before it is sent to the lab for examination.
Findings can determine whether further testing or surveillance is required and can improve early detection of changes which may lead to oesophageal cancer.
Raymond, a former miner from near Loftus, has regular endoscopies after pre-cancerous cells were previously found in his oesophagus.
“Usually, I have the endoscopic camera but obviously this is a new treatment and I said I’d volunteered to have it done and it was easy, better than the camera,” said the 66-year-old.
“I’ve had the endoscopic camera six times but compared this is better, it isn’t stressful.
“When they said they’re going to put a tablet down in your mind you have a good idea what it is, but the tablet I thought would be bigger. It was only a small tablet but when it came out it’d obviously swelled up.
“I’d tell others not to worry if they’re having this because it’s what seven minutes, seven and a half minutes and they pull it out gradually, you get a bit of wind but nothing else.
“I just hope it helps everybody else.”
Arvind Ramadas clinical lead for endoscopy said: “The early detection of cell changes (dysplasia) in Barrett's oesophagus could make treatment much easier and enable doctors to intervene before cancer develops.
“This procedure will be rolled out in a phased manner through the South Tees minimally invasive gastrointestinal service.”
Peter Davis, consultant upper GI cancer surgeon and chair for the regional cancer MDT, added: “I’m delighted that South Tees has become an early adopter of this new diagnostic approach and technology.
“This will allow the diagnosis of oesophageal cancer patients at an earlier stage with improved outcomes.”
The newest minimally invasive gastrointestinal service comes just four months after James Cook extended its use of tiny pill-sized cameras, offering patients upper GI capsule endoscopies following the success of using the pill-sized cameras to investigate and diagnose bowel abnormalities.
Leila Lyons, nurse endoscopist added: “This is another exciting development within our department.
“It enables us to perform essential assessments of patients who we know are at risk of oesophageal cancer in a less invasive and less stressful way.
“The patients we have seen so far have found it a much easier test than the scope, it’s quick, comfortable and they can return to their normal activities right away.”
Celebrating those who have gone but are not forgotten this Christmas
By Gavin WinshipSOUTH Tees Hospitals NHS Foundations Trust’s palliative care team has once again teamed up Our Hospitals Charity to offer people the opportunity to remember a loved one by hanging a personalised bauble on their Christmas trees.
Each year, the trust’s Christmas trees at The James Cook University Hospital and the Friarage Hospital are decorated with beautiful baubles that people have dedicated to a friend or family member.
Each bauble has a feather inside it along with a heartfelt personalised tribute for someone who has died in James Cook or the Friarage.
As well as paying tribute to their loved ones, people who hang a bauble on the trees are also helping other families going through similar experiences.
All the money raised from the baubles goes towards buying items for the palliative care team’s Dragonfly Scheme.
This scheme allows the team to provide comfort bags and memory boxes, which are given to the relatives of patients receiving end of life care to help them cope at such a difficult time.
Laura Devereux, Macmillan palliative support sister, said: “This Christmas if you’re missing someone special who died at James Cook or the Friarage our dedicated memorial trees give you the opportunity to pay tribute for a small contribution.
“We know all too well that a lot of families lose someone close to their heart every day.
“We hope it gives those who add a tribute to our trees comfort in knowing that the money raised from the baubles helps other families experiencing the heartache of saying goodbye to their loved one.”
Make your dedication online today
If you would like to pay tribute to a loved one you can do this via our JustGiving page – www.justgiving.com/campaign/OHCMemorialChristmasTree
The team ask for a minimum donation of £2.50 per bauble.