In the bleak midwinter – think Africa!
Think Africa; hot sunny weather, palm fringed beaches, weird wild animals … and haemophilia. I have, as many of you will know, a love of Africa and have been fortunate to visit Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Ethiopia with either WFH or with the Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation (NNHF) to educate haemophilia teams and to diagnose and …
HNA’s Angel of Mercy prepares to take the plunge
As we all left Manchester at the end of the HNA 2016, there were the usual “see you next year” farewells. But for the first time since I started in my present role 14 years ago I won’t be at HNA 2017. The first half of 2017 is going to be a very exciting, if …
Chris goes the extra mile for her patients
Congratulations to Chris Loran, Haemophilia Nurse Manager at the Arthur Bloom Haemophilia Centre, who’s work for patients was recognised last week. Chris submitted a poster to the Cardiff and Value University Health Board Specialist Services Clinical Board celebration event. In it she gave details of a project to provide virtual clinics for bleeding disorder patients. …
What sort of future should we create for haemophilia?
Perhaps it was just the clean, crisp Nordic air but last month’s European Haemophilia Consortium (EHC) opened with a real sense of hope and optimism. For some, it was the realisation that we are on the cusp of a new era of haemophilia management. For others, there was the growing sense of unity amongst the …
Changing practice? Yes we can
It took nearly two years, five whole day meetings, numerous emails and a little blood/sweat but no tears to plan our first residential training course for haemophilia professionals. “Contemporary Care for People with Bleeding Disorders” was developed and delivered by Kate Khair (Great Ormond Street Hospital), Debra Pollard (Royal Free London), Cathy Harrison (Sheffield) and …
The Edinburgh Psychological Support Project
Recent campaigning from those with haemophilia and their families for increased psychological support across Scotland has resulted in funding by the Scottish Government for a two-year pilot project based in the Edinburgh haemophilia centre. Clinical psychologist Dr Gráinne O’Brien (second from the right in the photograph) started work in January of this year offering psychological …
How to avoid the prescribing police
On completing her prescribing course, haemophilia nurse Trish Bell was moved to compose a new opus, which you can read below. But before you do, we’d just like to add that on 24 September, Trish will be taking the plunge to swim a mile for The Haemophilia Society. Trish has pledged to raise £1000. HNA …
Reflections on WFH 2016 as Team GB prepares for Glasgow!
So, WFH 2016 is now a memory, but before it fades we asked some of those who attended from the UK contingent to reflect on what they had brought back from Orlando along with the Mickey Mouse ears. “WFH 2016 was my very first WFH congress to attend in my few years as a haemophilia …
What does it mean to be a haemophilia nurse?
Earlier this year, members of the UK’s haemophilia nurse community all provided ideas on what it means to be a haemophilia nurse. We’ve captured the diverse range of comments in a short video. Here, April jones gives her own view of what it means to be a haemophilia nurse. by April Jones For those of …
Migrant health and the NHS: navigating choppy waters
We’ve all seen the lurid tabloid headlines about the “migrant crisis”. Leaving the politics aside, it is the case that UK clinicians are increasingly being asked to provide health care for people who, until recently, were resident overseas and in particular for people from migrant communities. As always, in haemophilia, it is the nurse team …