Our children and young people clinical advisor Julie Flaherty MBE says she feels “humbled” after being named a winner of the lifetime achievement category at the Greater Manchester Health and Care Champions Awards.

Julie was named joint winner with two other colleagues at the ceremony at Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum earlier this month.

She said: “I am unbelievably honoured and overjoyed to have received this prestigious lifetime award.  

“I do feel incredibly humbled by the whole experience of nomination, shortlisting and winning the lifetime achievement award.

“I have had a brilliant career of over 52 years nursing sick and injured children, and I know that the unwavering support from my family, friends and colleagues have made it all possible.”

She added: “My sincere gratitude goes to the brilliant team I work with at the Children and Young People Network. Throughout and in all honesty I can say I have always loved my work and feel elated achieving such recognition. There have been very few days when I did not want to go to work!

“Not bad for somebody who the careers officer said would never make a nurse!” 

Help parents prepare for epilepsy emergencies

Health professionals are being asked to spread the word to parents of children with epilepsy about a wallet card designed to help them get fast access to anti-seizure medication (the cards are also for people of all ages who suffer from epilepsy).

Sometimes, people with epilepsy experience delays in getting their repeat prescriptions because of occasional shortages in medication supply.

If a person finds themselves without their regular anti-seizure medication, they can use the wallet card (pictured above right) to request a minimum emergency supply from any chemist to tide them over until they receive their regular medication.

The card can be ordered or printed from this website, bringing community pharmacies up to the speed that the medications are time critical.

The initiative is a response to a Prevention of Future Deaths report following the sudden unexpected death of Charlie Marriage in 2021, who had been unable to get hold of his medication.

Highlighting successes. Celebrating a decade

The Network has just launched its annual report, which also celebrates its 10th birthday.

The document highlights a long list of successes over 2024-25, with team effort at the centre of their progress. 

Highlights include:

• Influencing NHS England policy for stroke and neurorehabilitation services
• Network website viewed 30,473 times by 6,557 users
• Extension of ambulance pre-alert window has reduced time to scan for stroke patients eligible for intervention by about a quarter
• Greater access to advanced imaging identifying more candidates for intervention whilst excluding stroke mimics
• New online referral system reducing telephone calls by 67% and inappropriate transfers and admissions by 81% to Salford Royal Hyper Acute Stroke Unit (HASU)
• Comprehensive audit of the National Clinical Guideline for Stroke by all inpatient and community teams ‘A’ rated care provided by all HASUs with 3/5 district stroke centres (DSU) rated ‘A’ or ‘B’ (Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme)
• Greater Manchester stroke units outperform nationally in most indicators of care – HASUs scan patients twice as quickly on arrival
• Launch of regional neurogenic bladder and bowel service – first of its kind in the country
• Toolkits published to support service improvement in functional neurological disorder, motor neurone disease and spasticity
• More than 80 clinicians attended the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy training to enhance emotional wellbeing support
• Comprehensive training including two webinars and eight in person events with our YouTube training videos viewed more than 8,000 times for more than 900 hours
• Step change in patient and carer involvement including increased diversity in the  group, launch of a toolkit and report.

Both stroke and neurorehabilitation Networks started life in 2015, with the two merging in 2021 to bring together both clinical pathways, and have grown in stature and output ever since.

Clinical director Dr Shivakumar Krishnamoorthy said: "It has been another very productive year that has hugely benefitted from our step change in involving those with lived experience in our quality improvement projects in stroke and neurorehabilitation."

Network manager Sarah Rickard said: “The team has achieved much over the past decade by working together, with more to come in future.

“Thank you to everyone who has worked with us and contributed to everything we have achieved in the past year and also the last 10 years – it's always a team effort!”

Former clinical lead becomes associate

Paramedic wins award for pathway dedication

A critical care paramedic who has been a major player in a new cardiac pathway which aims to save lives has won a national award.

Neil Mackay (pictured right) worked tirelessly with the Network as a clinical associate to implement the out of hospital cardiac arrest direct transfer pathway and has received the Judith George Award from the Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK).

In the past, patients who suffered cardiac arrests outside hospital were initially taken to the closest emergency department. Under the new process they may now be taken direct to a cardiac arrest centre.

The award honours someone working in immediate care who deserves more recognition for their work. It is named after Dr Judith George who was a recognised leader in the field of pre-hospital care and was a founding chair of RCUK.

Neil, who worked for the North West Ambulance Service and now works for North West Air Ambulance, said: “Being able to advocate for the patients I attend and give them the best chance of survival not only for them, but also for their family to see that all attempts were made to increase the chance that they may be able to get home and be with their family is hugely important to me. Patient care should not be a postcode lottery and this pathway is one of the essential ways of dismissing that lottery.

“It was a complete surprise receiving the email notifying me that not only had I been nominated, but had actually been successful in being given the award. 

“However, this was a massive team effort and the pathway could not have been achieved without the exceptional work from the Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Strategic Clinical Networks and all of our colleagues who helped bring the project to fruition, so this award is for all of them too."

The RCUK said: “Over the past five years, Neil has been a relentless advocate for improving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) care in Manchester. His work has culminated in the launch of the Greater Manchester OHCA pathway - allowing patients to be taken directly to cardiac arrest centres.

“A respected Advanced Life Support course director and passionate educator, Neil’s leadership and data-driven advocacy have helped reshape cardiac care delivery across the region.”

Neil receives his award at the RCUK conference in November.

Clinical lead stars in new podcast

The Network’s primary care lead is featured on a new episode of a podcast which focuses on new asthma guidelines

Manchester GP Dr Murugesan Raja (pictured left) goes through the latest recommendations in the episode of the Primary Care Knowledge Boost Podcast.

The episode goes through new guidelines for different age groups, starting with a reminder of what symptoms make up a typical asthma history, moving on to the new pathway of investigations and ending with a chat about management covering AIR and MART. 

Answering questions from presenters Dr Lisa Adams and Dr Sara MacDermott, he also touches on green prescribing, steroid cards and other important areas of management such as adherence and inhaler technique.

You can listen via your favourite podcast app by searching ‘primary care knowledge boost’.

Clinician updates manual for health professionals

Nicola Milne, specialist nurse clinical lead at the Diabetes Network, is celebrating the publication of the second edition of the Oxford Diabetes Nursing Handbook.

Nicola (pictured right) along with co-author Teffy Thomas, who is the inpatient diabetes specialist nurse (DSN) lead at Manchester Royal Infirmary, have drawn on their extensive experience at the frontline of diabetes care.

The book also includes a number of contributions from specialist nurses working at Manchester Royal Infirmary, including Jiney Edwards, Kelly Hayes, Alyson Chapman and Jayne Hince.

The new edition provides a comprehensive guide for healthcare professionals who support adults living with the disease and provides a blueprint for excellence in diabetes care across primary, community and inpatient settings.

There is lots of evidence-based, practical guidance presented in an easy to read, quick reference ‘Oxford Handbook’ style.

Initial chapters recap the fundamentals of anatomy and physiology, diagnosis, classification, and management. There are a number of key updates that include the psychological and emotional wellbeing demands of living with the disease, female health in diabetes, the perioperative management of it and technology for insulin delivery and glucose monitoring.

The book sets the tone for what holistic, person-centred care should look like with an emphasis on joined up care in cardio-renal risk reduction and a consistent focus on lifestyle, health inequalities and reaching underserved communities.

Reflecting on their journey Nicki and Teffy commented:

“We were privileged to be offered the great opportunity to update The Oxford Handbook of Diabetes just over 2 years ago. The original edition, with DSN Lorraine Avery as the lead author, had been a popular and effective companion to many DSNs.

“However, with its publication date of 2014 there was a compelling need for content of the book to be updated. Lorraine kindly handed the baton to us and so began our journey.

“On review of the first edition, it was very enthusing to note just how many positive changes there had been in diabetes care since 2014 but how much of the fundamentals of best practice care had remained.

“Although the title gives a nod to diabetes ‘nursing’ the book is applicable for all healthcare professionals so as to encompass the full diabetes multi-disciplinary team of nurses, doctors, pharmacists, phycologists, podiatrists, dietitians and other allied health professionals.

“We hope that this edition also becomes an invaluable companion to those starting out in their diabetes career or those wanting to re-fresh their knowledge.”

The publication marks a great achievement for Nicola and Teffy and provides an essential tool to support nurses and clinicians to improve the standards of care they deliver.

Read more details and access the book.

Clinical leads to speak at event

Diabetes clinical lead Professor Naresh Kanumilli (pictured left) and specialist nurse clinical lead Nicola Milne will be speaking at an event which will put the spotlight on cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) conditions.

CKM is a health disorder due to connections among heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes and obesity, which leads to poor health outcomes, and the session in September will aim to strengthen clinical knowledge and improve collaboration in this area.

The in-person event at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in the city centre will also feature the Network’s programme manager, Ewan Jones, diabetes technology lead Jonathan Schofield and Fozia Ahmed, who worked on the Triage HF Plus pathway, which uses health data from pacemakers and defibrillators to improve care of patients with heart failure.

Read more details and register to attend.

Wellness walk hits Manchester

Artificial intelligence to support safety improvements

Trusts across Greater Manchester will soon be part of the national move to use an AI signal system to alert them to possible safety issues.

Wythenshawe Hospital (one of its maternity units pictured left), part of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, has been running a pilot since October last year and will be looking to roll out the maternity outcomes signal system (MOSS) across the city region by the end of this year.

The work will form part of the Government’s aim to improve maternity safety standards, which includes the Secretary of State for Health’s national investigation into maternity and neonatal services. It will make the NHS the first health system in the world to use AI to analyse hospital databases and spot potential safety risks.

The MOSS pilot in Greater Manchester is working to track data from outcomes and alert a Trust if there is a higher than expected adverse rate. For example, this could be for stillbirth, neonatal death or brain injury.

The Trust’s board will need to respond to the alert, rapidly reviewing the data before reporting back to the Local Maternity and Neonatal System and the integrated care board. 

LMNS clinical assurance lead who made 'enormous' contribution says goodbye

This month, the Local Maternity and Neonatal System's clinical maternity assurance lead Val Clare says farewell.

Val (pictured right) joined the LMNS in May 2022 as workforce clinical lead and then took up her latest role in October 2023.

She has established the maternity assurance role and process within the LMNS, including: annual assurance visits with all maternity units; sharing good practice; checking compliance to the three year maternity plan; enhanced surveillance of providers where concerns have been raised and quarterly provider meetings to check compliance with each item in the plan.                                   

Everyone at the SCNs and LMNS would like to thank Val for her professionalism and hard work. She has made an enormous contribution.

We wish her all the best for the future and her retirement part II.