Natasha Goode - Pharmacy Administrator I was first employed almost three years ago as a Senior Assistant Technical Officer for the Pharmacy hub on AMU. A typical day for me was to dispense medication for the ward patients, carry out locker checks to determine any medication that may be required and to assist dispensary where most of our outpatient, inpatient and discharge workflow happens. I enjoyed the fact that every day would be different, learning about the medication and conditions they treated and of course the interaction with the patients and different professionals. In this time I completed my industry recognised…

  Access to the unit - the unit has an intercom system to enter the unit.   Parents and visitors will be asked to confirm your identity by a member of staff, and visitors will be asked who they have come to see.   Please do not allow others to follow you through the door. Infection prevention - Parents and visitors will be asked to wash their hands and apply hand gel on entering the nursery. All outside clothing, such as coats, should be removed and there is a clothes rail to hang these on located in the sitting area, this is to…

Close and loving relationships Babies are born very dependent on their parents. Their brains undergo huge development in the first two years of life. This development depends on a loving bond or attachment relationship with a primary caregiver, usually a parent. Research in a relatively new branch of science called Epigenetics is showing just how important close and loving relationships with our primary caregivers are to our long term emotional health and wellbeing. The experiences of infants with their parents actually impacts their DNA and can positively or negatively affect the next generation. The most important stage for brain development…

Welcome Welcome to the Special Care Baby Unit at Hereford County Hospital located on the second floor.  Your baby may be on the unit because they require additional care. Our staff are all here to support you and help care for your baby. On this website page, you will find helpful information about parental access to the unit, visiting arrangements, what you may need, quiet time, feeding your baby, and useful links to information and support.  Please see the menu on the right side of this page to access this helpful information. We have two video tours of the Special…

Wye Valley NHS Trust’s Breast Team has launched a Breast Pain (Mastalgia) Clinic to help better manage what is a quite common condition which often causes unnecessary anxiety for patients. The new clinic will help to reduce this unnecessary anxiety. A referral to the Breast Team will naturally raise concern. The reality is that these referrals, where breast pain is the main symptom, rarely lead to diagnosis of cancer. This new clinic will reduce the number of referrals and therefore reduce the number of patients experiencing unnecessary worry and concern. At present, more than 20 per cent of referrals to…

Stacey joined WVT pharmacy at the start of the first lockdown, back in April 2020 as an ATO and came to this role with no previous experience in a pharmacy setting. My name is Stacey and I work in pharmacy, with my current role being Lead ATO (Assistant Technical Officer) for Patient Services. I joined WVT pharmacy at the start of the first lockdown, back in April 2020 as an ATO and came to this role with no previous experience in a pharmacy setting – I actually came from a well-known coffee shop. I was initially attracted to the job that brought me to…

Aromatherapy is a great way to individualise your birth environment and to help you feel more relaxed.  Relaxation is key in labour, as this can help you release more oxytocin - the love hormone which helps labour progression. The use of aromatherapy in labour and birth has been found to reduce the need for stronger forms of pain relief. One study found that the need for opioid pain relief reduced from 6% down to 0.4% (Burns et al, 2000). Aromatherapy is a complementary therapy that uses essential oils, derived from plants, for their therapeutic benefit.  The benefits are wide-ranging and…

The third stage of labour is the time between when your baby has been born and the birth of the placenta. Your womb will continue to contract and will be reducing in size. As your womb becomes smaller the placenta will comes away from the side of the uterus and move down into your vagina. As this happens you will have some blood loss as the blood vessels that were connecting the placenta and the uterus will temporarily bleed. The blood loss reduces once the blood vessels constrict and close up the space where your placenta was attached. Physiological third…

Wye Valley NHS Trust is the provider of healthcare services at Hereford County Hospital, which is based in the city of Hereford, along with a number of community services for Herefordshire and its borders. We also provide healthcare services at community hospitals in the market towns of Ross-on-Wye, Leominster and Bromyard.  The Trust exists to improve the wellbeing, independence and health of the people we serve. Our workforce of around 4,000 provides a range of specialist and generalists functions. We have strong clinical network connections with trusts in Birmingham, Worcester, Gloucester and Cardiff. With an annual turnover of around £400…

The endoscopy department undertakes more than 9,000 procedures each year. The endoscopy team consists of a dedicated team of consultants, trainees, nurses, health care assistants and other allied health professionals. The department has its own specialised, trained endoscopy decontamination technicians.  Our aim is to offer a high standard of clinical care for our patients within a professional, caring, comfortable and friendly environment. We aim to recognise the individual rights of patients, recognising the right to be informed and enabling patients to make decisions. We uphold the Wye Valley NHS Trust’s mission statement to care for patients as we would want…