North Staffs GPs Triumph in Awareness Raising Cricket Match

Result after 30 overs: North Staffs GPs 171 - UHNM Consultants 153

UHNM Charity would like to thank the players, spectators and donors of the UHNM Consultants vs North Staffordshire GP Federation fundraising cricket match at Hanford Cricket Club on Monday 31 May. 

The annual match between the Consultants and GPs was played to raise awareness of the effects of long covid post critical illness and sepsis.   

Funds raised will support the Trust’s Sepsis initiatives and the rehabilitation of patients in the Royal Stoke’s Critical Care Unit.

As well as raising funds for the hospital charity, the purpose of the day was to raise awareness of Critical Illness Long Covid and Sepsis.

Guests of honor were Mark and Dianne Cooper from Werrington who were given a special presentation by Dr Ram Matsa, Consultant in Acute Medicine and Critical Care and Lead for Sepsis and Critical Care Rehabilitation at UHNM. Mark, a Covid-19 survivor, spent 10 days in the care of the Critical Care team. 

Dr Matsa also paid tribute to Jo Steele and Lucy Powell, Critical Care Rehabilitation Coordinators for their excellent care and commitment to the rehabilitation of Critical Care patients during the pandemic. Mr Cooper also expressed his gratitude towards Jo and Lucy for their part in his rehabilitation journey as part of the UHNM Critical Care Unit Covid-19 Follow-up Pilot. 

Speaking about the purpose of the event, Dr Matsa said: “When we conducted our pilot Critical Care Covid-19 Follow-up Clinic we saw many patients who still needed on-going care and support six months after their discharge from hospital due to long-covid. Unfortunately there is little awareness of the significant issues these patients still have and the considerable rehabilitation required to optimise their recovery.

“We want to take this opportunity to raise awareness of the complexity of these patients’ needs alongside our GP partners who are providing excellent care and support in the community, so that patients and their families know where they can access additional support.”   

Dr Vishnu Machineni, Consultant Anaesthetist and Captain of UHNM Consultants team said “As we are aware Sepsis has been the biggest cause of death and suffering for a long time. Added to this Covid has created havoc in the last 15 months impacting our communities and the NHS very badly. People who were lucky enough to survive this ordeal will need to be rehabilitated to improve their physical and psychological wellbeing”

Dr Annamalai Veerappan, Clinical Director and Chair of the North Staffordshire GP Federation said: “Our GP team play on our local ground in Hanford and challenge our consultant counterparts to a game annually. This year we decided the game should be used to raise awareness of both Sepsis and Long-Covid post critical illness.”

Dr Veerappan added “The topics of Long-Covid and Sepsis are both very common but equally important. We are hoping that the event will be fun as well as informative. Raising awareness of these issues is extremely important as the GPs and all of those working for the NHS have worked really hard during the pandemic.”

The match was attended by the Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Councillor Dr. Chandra Kanneganti, himself a GP.