It’s a very special festive edition of In Conversation With this week, after we sat down with our Trust’s very own ‘Mrs Christmas’. Christine Pethers, admin support for our ophthalmology team, lives and breathes Christmas for the whole of December, from coaxing her colleagues to help create a Christmas chimney, to having a festive outfit for every day of the month!

Mandarin A ward at Queen’s Hospital are the latest winners of our You Made a Difference Award, a monthly prize that celebrates those who go above and beyond to give outstanding patient care.

Our ophthalmology (eye department) secretaries at Queen’s Hospital have got into the festive spirit, by constructing their own chimney and fireplace scene, complete with Santa’s feet stuck at the top!

Ahead of our next death Café, which will be held at King George Hospital next Tuesday (10 December) from 11.30am to 12.30pm, we spoke to Bridget D'Aliessio, a palliative care clinical nurse specialist (CNS) at our Trust.  Death Cafes, which are held monthly at our Trust, led by Gemma Norburn from our Mortuary team, are an open forum for people to discuss death while enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of cake. They aim to help people become more comfortable talking about dying. Anyone is welcome to come along.

National Clinical Audit Week ran from Monday 25 to Friday 29 November, so we thought it was be the perfect time to get our Clinical Audit and Effectiveness Manager, Jonathan Sharman, in the hot seat for an In Conversation With interview!

Bridget D’Aliessio, a palliative care nurse at our Trust, has encouraged local people to join our next Death Cafe, which will be held at King George Hospital on Tuesday 10 December from 11.30am to 12.30pm, in the Cedar Centre.

Julia Peat, a medical laboratory assistant in our pre-natal screening lab at King George Hospital, raised £1,500 in a swimming challenge for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Members of the Sikh Welfare Society have delivered an early Christmas present to children staying at Queen’s and King George hospitals over the festive period.

This week we spoke to Sam King, our Emergency Department (ED) research nurse, to find out more about a recent pilot he was involved in, using artificial intelligence (AI) in our ED.

Sam completes our first husband and wife In Conversation With interview set, after we interviewed Laura earlier this year!