Oxford University Hospitals

OUH leading the way with innovative integration of psychological medicine into cancer care - Oxford University Hospitals

The service is now in its 10th year and growing year on year.

📈 2024: 18,355 patients contacted and 2,108 telephone reviews leading to treatment.
📈 2025: 18,986 patients contacted and 2,191 reviews resulting in treatment.

More details in our news story ⬇️
🔗 www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article...

Decorative with the text: Caring for minds during cancer care

We are one of the few worldwide that integrate psychological medicine directly into cancer care. 💙

At the Churchill and Horton hospitals, patients receive personalised psychological support alongside treatment — with our Psychological Medicine Team also working closely with GPs.

Happy Holi

Happy Holi to everyone celebrating ✨

Holi is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the festival of colours, love, and spring.

📞 To use Martha’s Rule at OUH: call 0300 304 7777 (switchboard) and quote ‘Martha’s Rule call’.

🕛 Available 24/7, across all inpatient areas.

It means anyone who feels their worries haven’t been fully addressed can request an urgent review from an independent, specialist clinical team.

Martha’s Rule is available for all OUH inpatients – including in adult, children’s, neonatal, maternity and emergency department areas – at our hospitals.

Do you know about Martha’s Rule?

Launched at OUH today, this safety initiative gives patients, their relatives, carers and staff an additional way to raise concerns when an inpatient’s condition is worsening.

📰 www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article...

A five-year-old admitted with a rapidly progressing and extremely rare infection, necrotising myositis — survived against the odds thanks to early diagnosis, decisive action, and exceptional multidisciplinary teamwork across Paediatrics, Plastic Surgery, Anaesthetics, and Critical Care at the JR.

Decorative: Rare Disease Day

#RareDiseaseDay spotlight

We’re proud to share a remarkable case from #OneTeamOneOUH, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Thank you to everyone involved for all that you do.💙

Read about the case study in our news story ⬇️

🔗 www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article...

February is Oesophageal Cancer Awareness Month. Ten years on from his treatment at the Churchill, former patient Matt Carter, shares his story of the excellent care he received — highlighting the life‑saving importance of recognising symptoms early.

Full story: www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article...

Following the news of the first woman to give birth after having a womb transplanted from a deceased donor, let’s congratulate our amazing transplant team who carried out the seven-hour operation at the Churchill Hospital in 2024.

More details ⬇️

🔗https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/articles/2360

This form of donation is only possible as part of this research programme, after extra consent from a family.

It's not covered by the NHS Organ Donor Register or 'opt out'.

The parents of the donor have expressed "tremendous pride at the legacy" their daughter leaves behind:

"Through organ donation, she has given other families the precious gift of time, hope, healing and now life."

A couple sitting together on a sofa, with the woman holding a newborn baby.

Grace is incredibly grateful to the deceased donor - and their family - for choosing to donate by giving the special, extra consent required for womb donation:

"Their kindness and selflessness to a complete stranger is the reason I have been able to fulfil my lifelong dream of being a mum."

A woman seated on a sofa, holding a newborn baby upright against her shoulder.

Meet Grace Bell and baby Hugo!

Grace is the second woman in the UK to give birth after a womb transplant and the first from a deceased donor, thanks to a pioneering research programme.

📰 www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/articles/2360

We're excited to be able to share the results of our Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) pilot at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Details below ⬇️

✔ AVT securely converts spoken consultations into accurate clinical notes
✔ Nearly 90% of clinicians reported reduced documentation time
✔ 99.7% of patients consented and found the process efficient and helpful
✔ Staff also reported improved wellbeing and reduced administrative burden

Organised by TheHill, #OneTeamOneOUH digital innovation team, this pilot highlights how AI‑enabled voice tools could support future digital transformation across OUH.

Decorative

A successful pilot of Ambient Voice Technology (AVT) at OUH has shown real promise — helping clinicians save time, reduce stress, and focus more on patient care.

Thank you to everyone involved for all that you do. 💙

More details in our news story ⬇️

🔗 www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article...

Decorative with the text: Ramadan Kareem

Ramadan Kareem to all our #OneTeamOneOUH Muslim colleagues, patients, and visitors.

The Islamic Holy Month of Ramadan is expected to start this evening ☪️ and will end with the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr.

Last year alone, they supported around 450 families affected by domestic abuse.

Find out more about DAISY Awards or make your own nomination ⬇️

🔗 www.ouh.nhs.uk/working-for-...

Pregnancy is a high‑risk time for domestic abuse, and at OUH our specialist safeguarding midwives and embedded Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) work closely with maternity teams to identify risks early and provide trauma‑informed support.

🔗 www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article...

By creating a safe space for disclosure and working swiftly with our maternity safeguarding team, she helped trigger a coordinated multi‑agency response that ensured the family could access emergency protection and safe accommodation.

#OneTeamOneOUH midwife been honoured with a DAISY Award after her sensitive and decisive actions helped protect a mother and her children experiencing long‑term domestic abuse. ✨

Thank you to our midwives for all that they do. 💙

Read the nomination ⬇️

🔗 www.ouh.nhs.uk/working-for-...

Decorative with the text: Happy Lunar New Year

🏮 It’s Lunar New Year – Year of the fire Horse 🐎

🧧 Also known as the Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, it marks the end of the winter period and signals new growth.

🧨 We wish everyone who celebrates a happy Year of the Horse!

For more about the Embers of Care exhibition at OUH and to join the virtual exhibition read our news story ⬇️

🔗 www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article...

Join us in recognising the incredible contributions migrant healthcare workers make every day – join the virtual presentation on Tuesday 17 February, 1–1.30pm, where John will share the stories and inspiration behind the exhibition.

The series of 100 portraits celebrates the compassion, resilience, and lived experiences of internationally educated colleagues across the NHS — including eight inspiring members of #OneTeamOneOUH.

Thank you to all our staff involved for sharing your stories. 💙

✨ We’re excited to host Embers of Care, a powerful national portrait exhibition by artist and nurse John Yayen, now on display at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

The exhibition is at the JR until the end of February, followed by the exhibition at the Churchill Hospital until the first week of April.

We remain committed to ensuring that all members of the Armed Forces community receive the high‑quality, equitable care they deserve.

Thank you to the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance for recognising our continued improvement and dedication. 💙

Veteran Aware Logo

✨ We are proud to have successfully passed our one‑year review as a Veteran Aware Trust, recognising the progress made to better support veterans, serving personnel, and their families across our hospitals.

Read more about the one-year review in our news story ⬇️

🔗 www.ouh.nhs.uk/news/article...