{"id":421717,"date":"2026-02-12T11:53:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/421717\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T11:53:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T11:53:37","slug":"patient-who-couldnt-even-press-the-nurse-call-button-helped-by-resourceful-hull-hospital-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/421717\/","title":{"rendered":"Patient who \u2018couldn\u2019t even press the nurse call button\u2019 helped by resourceful Hull hospital staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘I love seeing people get their independence and part of themselves back’\"Physiotherapist<\/p>\n

Physiotherapist Jenna Ellis, left, and senior occupational therapist Jen Ross(Image: Humber Health Partnership)<\/p>\n

When it comes to making a long-term difference to Hull patients\u2019 lives, physiotherapist Jenna Ellis and senior occupational therapist Jen Ross have proved themselves to be a cut above. Recently, the dedicated pair came together to help a patient who had severe loss of function in all four limbs, after suffering from sepsis, discitis and edema.<\/p>\n

Jenna said: \u201cIt was really hard for the patient<\/a>. Before she had been living independently but now, she\u2019d lost the ability to walk, lift her arms, brush her teeth and feed herself. She couldn\u2019t even press the nurse<\/a> call button.\u201d<\/p>\n

Determined to help her regain her independence<\/a>, Jenna and Jen first worked with the Med Physics team to get her a call button which could be pushed with a flat hand \u2013 but they were not done there. Jen said: \u201cI\u2019d never come across a patient with hand function like hers before, but we really wanted to help her to do more for herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially we tried giving her cutlery with really thick handles but, with her edema and the pain she was suffering, it didn\u2019t work for her, so it was back to the drawing board. I\u2019d seen adaptive cuffs on Amazon, which allow you to slot in things like cutlery, or a toothbrush.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t expect the patient to buy them themselves and we don\u2019t have the funds to buy them for them, so I decided to make one.\u201d Jenna said: \u201cJen sourced the fabric herself and hand-stitched it for the patient, using Velcro so that it was adaptable and could be adjusted if her hand swelled.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The cuff made by Jen for the patient, to allow her to feed herself independently(Image: Humber Health Partnership)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe got quite emotional when she was able to feed herself for the first time in months and that really helped her start to regain her independence.\u201d Over the three months that Jenna and Jen worked with the patient, she went from not being able to tolerate hoisting to being able to walk, aided by two.<\/p>\n

Jen said: \u201cBecause it was a general medicine ward, the case load is lower but more complex \u2013 so we get to spend deeper time with our patients. Doing hour-long sessions most days means you get a real relationship with the patients and when you build up that holistic relationship and rapport, that gives them more confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenna said: \u201cShe trusted us. We were putting this lady through quite a lot and it was painful, but she was willing to give it a try. She knew she was safe and wasn\u2019t going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

And making that difference is the thing both of them love most about their work. Jenna said: \u201cI have a real love for seeing patients making big milestones.<\/p>\n

\"Dedicated<\/p>\n

Dedicated pair – Jenna Ellis, left, and Jen Ross(Image: Humber Health Partnership)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis patient thought she would never be on her feet again, but she did it. For her to do that and then get so emotional \u2013 I love proving them wrong and showing them they can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jen said: \u201cI would second that. I love seeing people get their independence and part of themselves back. It\u2019s often little things, that we take for granted, like being able to feed themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think they are never going to be able to do that again and we say \u2018no \u2013 we can make this happen\u2019 and we help them find a way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘I love seeing people get their independence and part of themselves back’ Physiotherapist Jenna Ellis, left, and senior…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,104,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-421717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-nhs","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}