Nottingham City Hospital receives top cancer award for second time
Nottingham City Hospital has received a national award for its commitment to patients living with incurable blood cancer.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust’s (NUH) haematology team was presented with the Myeloma UK Clinical Service Excellence Programme (CSEP) Award in recognition of its outstanding care and dedication to patients with myeloma.
This is the second time Nottingham City Hospital has received the award, which is only handed to a select few hospitals every four years.
Staff were praised for their efforts to improve patients’ quality of life and eagerness to adapt and listen to their needs.
Dr Dean Smith, Consultant at NUH, said: "We are delighted and proud to have been re-accredited with the Myeloma UK CSEP Award. The myeloma team at NUH strive to provide the optimum care and outcomes for our patients and this award is a reflection of the hard work, dedication and compassion shown by all those involved in the myeloma service. We thank Myeloma UK for this recognition and their ongoing support.”
Myeloma is an incurable blood cancer which claims the lives of 3,000 people in the UK each year.
Paul Caulfield, from Mapperley Park, was 53 when he diagnosed with myeloma back in 2020. He said: “Having myeloma, waiting and waiting to see what happens, feels like rolling the dice sometimes. It’s a bit of an overload.
“The worst thing about myeloma is that it does come back and it comes back hard. I never know how it will go. You can feel great today and be in the ICU tomorrow.
“I've always felt incredibly supported by all of the hospital staff I've had. What works especially well is the specialist nurses team. I can call them up if I'm worried about anything. I know that they're there if I need them and they have such depth of experience.”
Looking back, Paul had had symptoms since 2018, but he brushed off his constant exhaustion as part and parcel of a busy and demanding job. Until, in 2019, he bumped into his GP while running an NHS leadership programme.
Paul said: “I was running a leadership programme and in that first cohort, on the first day, was my doctor. He looked at me and said, ‘You don’t look well. I'm going to book you for an appointment right now. You need to be in my office tomorrow’. The next day, I went to hospital straight from his office. They found some kidney damage, I also had type 2 diabetes and high-blood pressure. It’s not until January 2020, after doing some blood tests, that I was sent to haematology. They gave me the diagnosis of myeloma.”
Paul started treatment in early 2020, his first three rounds of treatment did not go as well as expected and his cancer has returned three times.
Despite this, Paul has remained positive. Last year he married his long-term partner Greg and they’ve been enjoying new experiences and quality time together.
Pippa Foster, Director of Patient Services at Myeloma UK, said: “Myeloma is a challenging cancer which keeps coming back and can be really difficult to cope with both physically and mentally, so we were hugely impressed with the hospital’s efforts to ease patients’ burden.
“To see the team going the extra mile day after day to give those affected by myeloma a fighting chance to live well for as long as possible is truly inspiring.”