Planned new build adult CF unit at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton. Information giving/sharing evening for parents and carers - 24th May, 6.30pm-8pm room 1, West Midlands Institute, New C... more

Elaine our CF cente manager will be taking part in the Two Castles Run Kenilworth to Warwick 10k on Sunday 10th June raising money for the West Midlands Adult Cystic Fibrosis Centre and also the Neonatel Unit here at Birmingham Heartlands.... more

Congratulations to our Admin Team

Liz, Denise and Ann were winners of McVities Dunktime... more

Facebook Page Closed

It is with regret that we have decided to close our Facebook page... more

Disabled Students Allowance

If you hope to get to university this year, make sure you apply for a DSA grant! It helps students in higher education with extra costs arising from disability or health problems. Parents' income doesn't count & you don't have to pay it back! Many CF students have benefited e.g. with laptops & other costs. Ask for our support letter which explains CF needs.

Sickness Benefits Review

Employment & Support Allowance (ESA) is replacing Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Income Support granted on incapacity grounds. These older benefits will be phased out - people getting them are being reviewed under ESA rules, between April 2011 & March 2014. Find out more in our Patients Section Welfare Reform page & read the patient story about a review.

Inpatient Blood Sugar Monitoring

Are you being admitted to Ward 26? If you want to monitor your blood sugars while you are an inpatient, you will need to bring your own blood testing equipment, including blood testing strips and lancets, as we are unable to supply you with different blood testing strips while you are on the ward.

THERAPISTS GO MOBILE!

If you would like to contact the physiotherapists or dietitians you can now call them on the following numbers: physiotherapists - 07772 137613 dietitians - 07794 375776

Have you got a tale to tell?

Have you a story about yourself that's worth sharing with other patients? Any experiences, good or bad, glad or sad, that might be interesting or useful for others to hear about? Any achievements, celebrations, holidays, special events or just tough times you've got through and learned a lot? We'd love to hear from you - the website needs you!

Physiotherapists: A message for inpatients

If you are being admitted to ward 26, please bring your nebuliser and all your physiotherapy equipment with you. It would also be very useful to bring some trainers or flat shoes for exercising with the physiotherapist. So please, before you leave home, when you're packing that bag, think physio and make sure you come well prepared.

Are you planning a fundraising event?

If you're organising an event to raise funds for our CF Centre at Heartlands, please tell us all about it so we can help to promote it for you on the website. Spread the word about what you're planning - that extra publicity may help to ensure that you get that extra bit of support!

URGENT: Return of Tobramycin Pumps!

Please, please, please can we remind you to return tobramycin pumps as soon as you finish your IV antibiotics. Many pumps aren't being returned. Please check if you have a pump at home & return it as soon as you can. We often have no pumps in stock, causing delays for other patients due to start treatment. Until pumps are returned we cannot offer them home IV tobramycin!

This site is for everyone at the Adult CF Centre in Birmingham Heartlands Hospital. It has details of our facilities, our clinics and who's who in the CF team. In the Patients section, read about transition from paediatrics or if you're new to the unit, find out what to expect as an outpatient or in-patient. We have stories from other patients, practical information about useful resources and factsheets to download. We are constantly developing our service so if you'd like to help raise funds, we explain how to donate to our centre.

Heartlands CF Patients Pen Radio Drama

Cystic Fibrosis patients at Heartlands Hospital have created an original piece of radio drama to share their experiences of the condition. A visit from drama practitioners from Birmingham Repertory Theatre (The REP), has enabled some of them to learn about character and story development and as a result, create an original piece of radio drama.

Gregg Smith who took part in the project, said: "The drama practitioner from the REP who helped me come up with ideas for the radio drama was friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. I enjoyed using my imagination, much better than being in your room by yourself! I think this is a great way to show what it's like to have Cystic Fibrosis."

Tom Saunders, participation officer at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, (in photo above with Greg), explains: "Writing is a great way of expressing thoughts, feelings and experiences and playwriting is just a versatile way of bringing such feelings and experiences to life for other people. This project is a wonderful opportunity to show other people what life is like for cystic fibrosis sufferers. Over the week we've discovered that some of the patients have a real flare for creative writing and it's helped keep them active whilst in hospital."

The drama is to be recorded and broadcast via The REP's and Heartlands Hospital's websites (www.birmingham-rep.co.uk & www.heartofengland.nhs.uk)

Get involved!....Remember...your website needs you!

This is YOUR website! It's been created with the help of patients here so if there's anything that YOU would like to see in it, any ideas about how to improve it, please let us know. YOUR comments and suggestions are most welcome - the more patient input, the better it will be!

We're really keen to get even more of you to contribute, so please keep sending us your stories, photos and videos of special events, celebrations and holidays. Contributions to our newsletter, would also be most welcome! It's produced twice a year - if you've anything that you'd like to have included, please let us know.

We're also looking for a group of patients to take part in a focus group to discuss developing a new information pack for to help younger patients through their transition from paediatric to adult CF care. In addition, we would welcome your views on the clinic touchscreen. It's an interactive information point - you may or may not have noticed it in the corner of clinic! We'd like to find out what information you would find helpful to include on it.