Newborn babies tested for over 200 genetic conditions in world-leading study at UCLH
04 October 2024
Publish date: 21 October 2020
The hospital marked the start of the year with a visit by HM The Queen in February 2020. A few weeks after this celebration, the pandemic took hold and the hospital stepped up to help.
Working with NHS England, the team set up an emergency dental hospital so patients from across London who would otherwise see their local dentist could be assessed and treated.
Deborah Bomfim, Interim Director of Dentistry, service said: “We would triage people over the telephone and where needed provide face to face appointments. Patients ranged from children who had cracked a tooth, people with dental pain and infections, to those with more complex issues.”
The UCLH staff testing service was established at the hospital and run by the division. It means that UCLH staff can rapidly access a COVID-19 swab if they or a member of their household have COVID-19 symptoms. With results back rapidly, staff who test negative can quickly and safely return to work.
Clinicians from the hospital have also been at the forefront of research about COVID-19. Peter Andrews, interim clinical director of surgery, said: “I am proud of our role in developing understanding of COVID-19 and its impact on smell and taste and that we are now treating people in our smell clinic. Our PhD program at the EAR institute and collaborations with Institute of Neurology are also looking at new treatments. Our aim is look at new ways of restoring anosmia and taste loss amongst our patients.”
Alongside developing research and treatment, clinicians were redeployed during the peak of the pandemic. Anaesthetists and ENT surgeons worked in our critical care units and nurses worked with COVID-19 patients on the wards. Dentists with dual medical qualifications have supported our maternity teams, and our nurses, dental nurses and allied health professionals have been involved in ways ranging from fitting personal protective equipment to developing our testing service. The psychology team also were involved supporting staff.
None of this would have been possible without the hard work of the administration and management teams, who behind the scenes played a huge role, setting up remote systems, staying in touch with patients, and ensuring the clinics were set up and able to run.
Finally, during the lockdown, innovative ways of working to ensure our ENT and dental patients continue to receive high quality care and treatment were set up.
Just some examples are:
Navdeep Kumar, divisional clinical director for the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, said: “Now one year old, the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals teams have made an incredible contribution to the UCLH response to COVID-19.
"Now, as we approach winter, we are ready and open to provide the very best care for all our patients. Thank you to everyone in the division for all of their hard work over the last year.”
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