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Ormskirk Hospital Open Day was a great success!

ON Saturday, 7 September 2019, over 400 people attended a fantastic Open Day, at Ormskirk Hospital. Visitors looked around x-ray, maternity, theatres, children's and orthopaedics in F ward.

West Lancashire Deputy Mayor Councillor Terry Aldridge and Rosie Cooper MP for West Lancashire visited and chatted to the crowds.

A 'menopause pop up' before the main Open Day was attended by nearly 100 women, all keen to speak to consultant Dr Paula Briggs, Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals' menopause expert.

Blood Bike Volunteers, Fire and Rescue and Police Officers came along to talk about how the services work together.

Children got the chance to try out basic life saving skills and key-hole surgery. X-ray had a long queue of injured toys needing their injuries checking out, before being taken to children's outpatients for a plaster cast and health check.

Deputy chief executive Therese Patten explains:- "What a fantastic day! The sun shone, the crowds had a great time and I was incredibly proud of all our hard working staff, of all who did an amazing job at showing off our Hospital and the excellent services we offer.

We had a recruitment event running alongside the Open Day, and we managed to hire 5 registered nurses, which is great as we are still pushing to hire over 100 extra nurses as soon as we can. Huge thanks to all that came along and all who worked to make it happen, can't wait to do it all again, at Southport next year!"

South American trip prepares student for final year

A 2nd year Sport and Exercise Science student has returned from a 2 week long trip in Brazil where she participated in a study on exercise performance. 20 year old India Middlebrook from Southport is in her 2nd year of study for her undergraduate degree and arrived back in the UK on Sunday, 8 September 2019. The research trip, funded by Edge Hill's Student Opportunity Fund, saw India being based at the University of São Paulo. She said:- "I'll be writing my dissertation next year so this was an incredible opportunity for me, not only being able to see how they collected the data, as I'll be using similar methods and equipment in my research, but being able to do it at such an esteemed university on the other side of the world. It's something I would never have had the chance to do otherwise."

India was directly involved in the data collection for the study by taking blood from individuals who participated in the project. The study investigated the influence ingesting sodium bicarbonate in different forms had on the pharmacokinetic profile of blood bicarbonate and pH responses over a 6 hour period. Blood bicarbonate is a physiological buffer; it can alter acidity levels, which, when increased via supplementation, can improve exercise performance.

Her professor, Dr Lars McNaughton, Associate Head of Sport and Physical Activity, said:- "The Student Opportunity Fund is an invaluable gateway for students to explore, study and hone their expertise outside of usual learning environments. India is an excellent student who has definitely made the most of the trip, working with peers in another continent. I look forward to welcoming her back to Edge Hill to begin the next part of her degree in preparation for her career with the experience she has gained."

As well as participating in the research, India has also had chance to see a muscle biopsy, muscle ultrasound and has worked closely with other students during her time there. India added:- "I've always enjoyed sport so to be able to study the subject and the science that underpins performance is of great interest to me. Everyone in the department was so welcoming to me during my stay in Brazil and I've had the most amazing time."

Now India's returned from Brazil, she'll be focusing on preparing for her thesis and own research, using similar supplements to the ones that are used in the lab in São Paulo. Edge Hill's Student Opportunity Fund gives students of all levels the chance to gain career enhancing experiences and transferable skills. Find out you can apply for financial support from the Student Opportunity Fund online now.