Health

60 Seconds Interview with Derek Wyatt What was your first job? I was a trainee accountant at the private King Edward VII hospital near Midhurst in Sussex, where I was in charge of billing patients. What attracted you to Trinity?  I came to Trinity in February, 2011, having stepped down as an MP in May, 2010.  I saw advert in the FT for the chairman post, which went straight to my heart.  My brother had died from cancer at 47. What was your career path? Early on I...

Yesterday, Royal Trinity Hospice announced I would be stepping down as chair in July. Here's their note:   http://www.royaltrinityhospice.london/news/chair-of-trustees-to-retire         

Letter Published in The Guardian 08.12.16 Dear Sir All the huffing and puffing by the Premiership Rugby about their protocols regarding the assessment pitch-side of a player who might have been badly concussed amounts to a dereliction of duty.   Protocols are frankly worthless unless there has been an established baseline recorded on each player in the off-season. Rugby players, footballers, boxers, jockeys, polo players, bikers et al need to have their brain scanned. When a player...

Brain Injury Charity Update I was concussed twice as a rugby player. The first time I was knocked out by an opponent. I was carried off to the changing rooms where  extraordinarily I undressed and then put my blazer and slacks. But instead of heading for the bar, I must have thought it was a good idea to have a bath because when the players came in from playing I was still in the bath with all my clothes on. The second time I was tackled and my head hit the ground (it was...

Concussion - the elephant in the room by Derek Wyatt We know a little about the brain. About 8% which is a pity given how important it is to us all. Whilst research spending on cancer, on heart disease and on AIDS has seen an upward J curve over the past decade, on the brain it has merely flat-lined. This must change.  We know a little about concussion but we need to know much more. We think about concussion when we watch rugby tackles where the recipient is either hit in the head or...

http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/features/behind-scenes-creating-ground-breaking-ebola-vaccine  

Introducing "Knocked": my new knee by Derek Wyatt Over the past five years, I have twice been told I needed a new knee. Off I trundled to consultants at the Chelsea & Westminster and separately the National Orthopaedic Hospital. Because I had no pain and I could still do knee bends both consultants told me to come back when the pain was unbearable. Whilst, I could not run for a bus, I could still play tennis - well knock up for an hour a week - but, walking down stairs was becoming...

Last night, I was runner up in the category of Best Chair of the Year!    

Two weeks ago I was short-listed for Charity Chair of the Year by ThirdSector magazine.

Channel 4 News last night  Yesterday Royal Trinity was featured on Channel 4 news at 7pm in a report responding to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report ‘Dying without Dignity’. Clare Montagu had a star turn talking about our Care Coordination Centre which was shown as a positive example of organisations working together to provide better coordinated care and communication.   The news report is called ‘Poor end-of-life care’ in NHS and can be...

Marion's husband Tom spent his last weeks at Trinmity Hospice  From The Guardian 29.04.2015 Wellcome book prize Marion Coutts wins 2015 Wellcome book prize for The Iceberg Marion Coutts’ moving and unflinching account of her husband’s illness and death has won the 2015 Wellcome book prize. Chair of judges Bill Bryson said The Iceberg was “painful to read, but beautifully expressed. She recalls things with such vivid detail that you almost feel you’re...

Social Networking 3/15 18-24 May 2015 Monday Gareth Thomas MP @ Portcullis House Neil Watkins @ Portcullis House Bump Barry Gardiner MP Nick Robinson BBC Mark Field MP Dr Ken Kennedy @ London Chambers Hambledon Wine Tasting @ Berry & Sons Bump Heather Miles Ian Pearson Ayan Mitre Nik Slingsby @ The Grazing Goat Bump Tuesday Clare Tattershall @ IoD John Webster @ RAC Bump Rupert Gavin Wednesday Caroline Logue @ Blue Boar Tessa Moore @ TC Thursday Talk on transgender and...

Royal Trinity Hospice has had three books published about patients who have spent their last weeks there: ** The C-Word by Lisa Lynch (Arrow) which was made into a BBC documentary last month ** Until Further Notice I Am Alive by Tom Lubbock (Granta) and his wife's response (in a way) ** The Iceberg: A Memoir by Marion Coutts (Winner of the Wellcome Prize 2015)

http://www.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2015/04/PalliativeCare.aspx

The Health Select Committee published its report on Palliative Care two days ago. You can access it viawww.parliament.uk and then use the search. Highlights: The care that people receive at the end of their lives has a profound impact not only upon them but also upon their families and carers. At the most difficult of times, their experience will be made worse if they encounter poor communication and planning or inadequate professional expertise. The Health Committee has looked at the state of...