Know the facts about baby movements  

Feeling your baby move is a sign that they are well. If you notice that your baby’s movements have slowed down, changed or stopped, it may be a sign that your baby is not well.   

Contact your maternity unit immediately if you notice any changes to your baby’s movements. This could save your baby’s life. There are staff on the maternity unit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.   

Remember:  

• It is not true that babies move less towards the end of pregnancy. You should continue to feel your baby move right up to the time you go into labour. Your baby should move during labour too.  

• You should continue to feel your baby move right up to the time you go into labour and during labour.  

DO NOT WAIT until the next day to seek advice if you are worried about your baby’s movements.  

During your pregnancy you will have a named community midwife who will provide most of your antenatal care at your GP surgery.

The first time you see your Community Midwife they will show you how to access the Maternity online information. This will include a record of your pregnancy and should be available for access at all times, including if you go on holiday. They also provide very useful information to help you understand your pregnancy.

You should ensure that you have a device available with you to access the system when you attend for all appointments or treatment, including with the midwife, GP, antenatal clinic, health in pregnancy support etc.

During this first appointment, your medical, family and pregnancy history will be discussed and choices for your care will be offered, with referrals made appropriately. A personalised care plan will be developed, centred on yourself, your baby and your family, based around your needs and your decisions, enabling you to have genuine choices informed by unbiased information. The Screening tests for you and your baby leaflet (published by Public Health England) will be given to you and discussed. If you have misplaced your copy or would like to view this before your first antenatal appointment, please click the link above.

Other things we will discuss with you are:

• Birth place choice (consultant led care, midwifery led care, home birth)
• Scans of your baby
• Blood and urine tests
• Further appointments appropriate to your needs
• Vaccines offered to you later in your pregnancy
• Diet and lifestyle, including taking pregnancy vitamins
• Exercise in pregnancy
• Smoking and support available to quit
• Employment rights and maternity benefits

A urine sample bottle will be provided at this appointment for you to bring a urine specimen to all of your antenatal appointments.

Community midwives work in small teams and strive to provide continuity of care. Their contact number will be written on the front of your Mamma Wallet. Your GP may also be involved in your antenatal care. 

If you are booked under the care of a consultant obstetrician (a doctor who specialises in pregnancy), you will attend the antenatal clinic at Russells Hall Hospital for some of your appointments. However, your midwife and/or GP will still be involved in your care. You will be actively involved in any decisions about your care and if you have any concerns regarding these decisions, you should discuss these with your midwife or consultant. 

At The Dudley Group it is our belief that our employees are our most valuable asset. The health and well being of our staff makes an essential contribution to the success of the organisation and the care we provide to our patients. The Staff Health and Wellbeing Department’s core vision is to promote and maintain the highest degree of health, safety and well being of all staff.

Employees are most productive when they are working in an environment which supports their health and well being. Understanding the relationship between health and the workplace is fundamental to the success of any organisation. The range of services provided by Staff Health and Wellbeing is ideally placed to meet these needs. Access to the service offers the opportunity to explore the effect of work on health and the health and well being of employees at work.

Click here for the full range of services offered by Staff Health & Wellbeing

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The Dudley Integrated Liver Service aims to provide local residents with a population of around 450,000 with a high standard of Liver care within the hospital and outpatient setting.

Liver disease is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity. The gastroenterology department within the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust (DGNHSFT) is committed to providing high quality care to patients who have liver disease, in line with the Trust’s vision of “Excellent Healthcare, Improved Health for All.”

In order to try and improve services for patient’s with Liver disease, Dudley Integrated Liver Service was formed in 2021 to streamline and improve the patient experience.

The Dudley Integrated Liver Service (DILS) includes team members from a range of professional backgrounds including:

• Gastroenterologists
• Specialist Nurses – Hepatology and Alcohol care teams
• Ward and outpatient Nurses
• HCA
• Pharmacist
• Dieticians
• Physicians Associate

Having a diverse team of speciality staff allows us to offer our patients holistic and individualised care.

Who’s who

 Medical Team

• Dr Harborne – Liver Lead – Consultant Gastroenterologist
• Dr Mahmood – BBV and Endoscopy Lead
• Dr Rattehalli – Medical Service Head – Consultant Gastroenterologist
• Dr Fisher – Consultant Gastroenterologist
• Dr Shetty – Consultant Gastroenterologist
• Dr Egbuonu – Locum Consultant Gastroenterologist
• Dr De Silva – Consultant Gastroenterologist
• Dr King – Consultant Gastroenterologist
• Dr Frost – Consultant Gastroenterologist
• Professor lshaq – Consultant Gastroenterologist

Nursing Team

Alcohol Care Team

• Sam Morgan (Fisher), Lead Alcohol Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Ruth Tighe, Lead Alcohol Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Jenna Perkins, Alcohol Nurse
• Andreia Mandache, Alcohol Nurse

Hepatology Team

• Louise Allen, Lead Hepatology Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Mandy Pritchard, Hepatology Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Lauren Mansell, Hepatology Clinical Nurse Specialist

Ward and Support Team

• Alison Perry, Matron for Gastroenterology
• Sarah Gregory, C7 Ward Manager
• Rotating on an annual basis – Gastroenterology Registrar
• Rotating on a 4 monthly basis – Junior Doctors
• Asem Ismail, Physicians Associate
• Cory Hickenbottom, DILS administrator

Services Offered

Inpatient services are provided at RHH, initially most patients are admitted from the Emergency Department and the acute medical services. If a longer admission is required, the team will complete your admission and place you on the most appropriate care pathway for your condition. We offer specialist review from Hepatology across all departments in the hospital, 7 days a week.

Ward C7 is the specialist Gastroenterology/Liver ward. 36 bedded general ward, with access to specialist procedure room and quiet area for relatives.

We welcome any feedback about the care you or a relative has received on the ward, please contact the nurse in charge or our ward manager, Sarah Gregory should you wish to provide any feedback.

C7 Visiting Times are between 11am – 7pm

Outpatient services

Clinic appointments will be offered depending on the individual clinical need. You may need to see one of our doctors, hepatology specialist nurses or one of the team. Referrals are accepted from GP services, inpatient referrals and other relevant agencies and the referrals are triaged by a Consultant Gastroenterologist and allocated based on clinical need.

There is access to a range of diagnostic seNices including Fibroscan, radiology seNices, endoscopy, phlebotomy and a number of therapeutic interventions including day case paracentesis, alcohol peer support group (ALPS) and helpline support.

Sites for consultation

• Russells Hall Hospital Main outpatients Russells Hall Hospital – A2 Day Case Unit & Russells Hall Hospital GI Unit
• Russells Hall Hospital AIR room
• Russells Hall Hospital Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) & Corbett Hospital Main outpatients
• Guest Hospital Main outpatients

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The District Nurses service is a team of skilled nurses working with your general practitioner, generally based in the same building.

We will visit housebound patients requiring nursing intervention. This includes dressings, removal of clips/sutures, taking of blood specimens, injections, health promotion advice, smoking cessation, care of catheters and post operative dressings.

You can access the district nursing team via your GP surgery.

Service times

District Nurses provide a 24-hour service, in three shifts:

• Day service – 08.00-17.30
• Evening service -17.30-23.00
• Night service 23.00-08.00

For out-of-hours calls, after 5pm, or at weekends or on Bank Holidays, call Russells Hall Hospital on (01384) 456111.

Visiting times

• Every day – 2:00pm – 8:00pm

What do I need to bring?

Medicines

If you are regularly using medication including tablets, inhalers or creams prescribed by your own doctor or medication you buy from your local pharmacy or health food shop or if you have a special card with details of any treatment, please bring them with you during your hospital stay.

On many wards there are now safe drug storage lockers by your bed where we will store your medication during your stay. We will remove any old or unwanted medication and add any newly prescribed medication to your locker while you are in hospital.

This all helps to make sure you receive the best care. If you are unable or not willing to bring in your own medication please bring an up-to-date list of all your regular medication so we can ensure the drug chart at the end of your bed is correct. Bringing your own medication into hospital is very helpful and can reduce the time you wait for your tablets prior to discharge.

What else to bring with you:

• Address and telephone number of next of kin
• Your letter of admission (if applicable)
• Single Assessment Folder/SAP (if applicable)
• Personal toiletries
• Nightdress/pyjamas
• Dressing gown
• Well fitted slippers/footwear
• Tissues
• Towels
• Indoor clothes – if preferred
• Spectacles, hearing/walking aids etc

Security

The ward has a controlled access for security reasons so please use the intercom system, when a staff member answers, please speak into the loudspeaker. It is important that you use this system to gain entry and do not enter unannounced if, for instance, the door is open due to someone else leaving. When you and your visitors leave the ward, it is also important that you do not allow entry to others at the same time.

Useful links

• Dudley Falls Prevention Service

Visiting Times

• Daily – 2pm to 4pm
• Daily – 6.30pm to 8pm

The Georgina Unit Day Case

The day case is a modern, fully equipped clinical area where systemic anti-cancer therapies (SACT) are given.

Face to face counselling will be offered prior to your first chemotherapy treatment, where you will receive information about your upcoming treatment and you will be able to ask questions and raise any concerns.

The Day Case Unit comprises of 12 treatment chairs, two triage spaces and an assessment chair.

We offer free drinks for patients and relatives in the waiting room and regular drinks and sandwiches are offered within the unit.

The POD

There is a custom built POD where our patients can use the dedicated phlebotomist each morning.

It is also a dedicated waiting room for patients attending for clinic.

Home Chemotherapy

We provide a home chemotherapy service for haematology patients who meet the specified criteria.

Antonia Ashmore is the Lead Nurse for Home Chemotherapy.

Triage Service

There is a 24 hour dedicated telephone triage service, you will be triaged by a chemotherapy trained nurse who will liaise with medical team and decide the best treatment plan for you. This could include attending the unit to be reviewed or be advised to attend one of our assessment areas throughout the hospital.

C4 Georgina Ward

The ward consists of 22 inpatient beds for oncology, haematology and rheumatology patients, six of which are custom built isolation rooms.

There is also a private relatives room with overnight facilities available.

What to bring in:

• Toiletries
• Comfortable day wear
• Slippers
• Night wear
• Current medications

Any electronics will need to be PAT tested. If electronics are being used please bring earphones to be used with them.

What not to bring:

• Smoking equipment/ vaping equipment (we are a no smoking trust)
• Alcohol
• Over the counter medications
• Valuable items/ large quantities of money (you will be asked to sign a disclaimer)

You will be allocated one small locker, so please don’t bring too many personal belongings as you will not be able to store them.

The service provides a screening and treatment service for adult drug users accessing the Tier 2/3 Adult Drug Service in Dudley who may have been exposed to a blood borne virus (BBV) such as hepatitis and HIV.

The service is also open to the family, friends and partners of drug users accessing services who have been exposed to the risk of contracting a BBV or who have tested positive for a BBV.

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You may need a blood transfusion during or after your operation. This is more common with major vascular or abdominal surgery, or if you are already anaemic. You can ask your anaesthetist or surgeon about the risks and benefits of blood  transfusion. Blood transfusions are generally avoided  unless absolutely necessary.

The following leaflets contain more information.

• Anaemia: Gives an overview of what anaemia is and the options of treatment which may include a blood transfusion
• Will I need a blood transfusion?: Why you might need a blood transfusion, the risks and benefits and how will you feel during a blood transfusion.
• Iron in your diet: Helps understand the importance of iron in the diet and what can happen if you have low iron levels.
• Patient Blood Management: Patient Blood Management (PBM) is a standard of care that focuses on measures to reduce or avoid the need for a blood transfusion if possible.
• Cell salvage: Cell salvage is a way of collecting the blood that is lost during, or just after your operation, so that it can be given back to you.

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