Sixties mark era of expansion and modernisation at Vic

The great and the good gathered at Blackpool Victoria Hospital on 29 January 1965 for the grand opening of a new operating theatre and sterile supplies department.  The £132,000 building costs described in the event’s glossy programme and brochure was among the first phase of works to transform the Vic into a district general hospital.  […]

Chrisella Morgan appointed Director of Operations and Performance

Chrisella Morgan has joined Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as Director of Operations and Performance.  One of her key leadership duties is leading and working alongside colleagues to deliver on a range of NHS constitutional standards, the key areas being patient flow, urgent and emergency care, referral to treatment, endoscopy and cancer.    Chrisella […]

Peter leaves legacy of learning to generation of nurses 

Nursing is very much a family affair for Caroline Costello whose mum and dad met at Blackpool Vic, fell love and made their careers there.  Peter Cardew was the tutor pictured with a class of 1991 at the old hospital nursing school submitted to our NHS75 archive by his former student Andrea Goodey.  “You’ve made […]

BTH given NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award for international recruitment

A team effort by the Trust’s HR International Recruitment team and the Nursing International Recruitment team has helped secure the NHS Pastoral Care Quality Award. Launched in March 2022, the award is a benchmark for recruitment of international nurses and midwives across England. Additionally, it provides the opportunity for Trusts to recognise their work in […]

New research role will benefit patients thanks to funding from Booths Supermarket

A conversation at a network event led to Dr Paul Cahalin striking up a momentous agreement with Booths Supermarket to fund a Cure Leukaemia research nurse based at his hospital trust. Patients are set to benefit after a partnership between Blackpool Teaching Hospitals and Booths Supermarket will create a vital new role. Family-owned grocers, Booths, […]

My Mercedes helped me walk again – with a little help from the NHS 

Critically ill in hospital, Kieran Morgan’s chances of surviving were “truly worse than terrible” but one thing kept him going.  It was the thought of restoring and getting behind the wheel of his newly bought 1999 Mercedes C-Class saloon.  Kieran, from Poulton-le-Fylde, was receiving treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease when immunosuppressant therapy he […]

Award ‘massive boost’ for children’s speech and language team

The team, which is based across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre, took top prize in the Research, Quality and Innovation Award at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Celebrating Success staff awards.   A scarcity of appropriately trained staff as well as the impact of the Covid pandemic meant the team was facing significant challenges providing the right support […]

Day-old NHS saved Marcia’s mum and dad £9 in hospital fees 

Having a baby in the days before the NHS was an expensive business if you had to go to hospital – which is why more than half the children born before 1948 were delivered at home, often by midwives employed by a local authority or nursing association.  Typically, the price of a home delivery was […]

‘There’s never been a day I didn’t want to come to work’

Working for the NHS is a world of opportunities as nurse Robert Ward’s career shows. He qualified as a registered mental health nurse in 1987, working at Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s psychiatric unit, later known as Parkwood and now demolished. Robert then took advantage of an 18-month post-registration course to become a registered general nurse. Blackpool […]

Group B Strep rapid testing reduces risks for mums to be and their babies

A trial is taking place at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals that could help reduce the risk of babies catching a potentially dangerous bacteria. Under the trial for rapid testing of Group B Streptococcus (also known as GBS, Strep B or group B Strep), important research will be carried out to see if testing pregnant women can […]