Latest health news from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust Hospital has ‘vibrant’ future Continued from page one
£45m in savings (see page 21) from its revenue budget. A trust spokesman said: “We
canaffordtoinvestinthe Maidstone Hospital site over time because these monies (capital monies) are separate from our revenue budget. Equally you cannot spend cap- ital monies on revenue bills. “The work is spread over six
years to ensure it is affordable, and also for practical reasons (we can't redevelop all wards at the same time or there would be no wards open for patients).” Chief executive Glen Douglas
said this long-term clinical strategy secured Maidstone’s position as a key provider of high-quality local acute and ambulatory healthcare. He saw Maidstone playing “a busy, vi- brant and pivotal role for pa- tients in the future”. The development is also linked to the delivery of wider plans within community and social care to manage people’s illnesses more effectively in their own homes and commu- nity settings. This is expected to reduce hospital admissions for all but the most acute med- ical care.
Unit will cut number of
admissions THE large newUrgent Med- ical and Ambulatory Unit (UMAU) at Maidstone Hos- pital will assess and treat many patients referred by theirGPs orby the adjoining A&E unit.
This will reduce, by about
25%, patients needing a hospital admission. The unit includes 11 sta-
Akbar Soorm (A&E), chief executive Glen Douglas and lead physician Dr Chris Thom in the new UMAU unit atMaidstone Hospital
‘There will be no threat to A&E’ THE new unit is not seen as a threat bymanagement or clinicians to the future of Maidstone’s busy A&E department (60,000 patients a year). Lead consultant at Maidstone A&E, Mr Akbar Soorma, said the new unit and A&E would work side by side. “They will complement each other,” he explained. “It is well recognised a number of conditions can now bemanaged without the need for hospital admission.” He expects A&E will be able to treat patients faster and support improvements in the four-hour waiting-time standard.
tions for trolleys, in addition to seating, and should overnight assessments be necessary, there will be three four-bed wards and two single rooms. Currently, patients with medical conditions coming through A&E can be admit- ted tohospital and stay ona ward overnight or longer while waiting for tests and diagnosis from a senior physician and treatment. Many of these patients
can now expect treatment within hours, rather than days. They will be assessed in
the unit straightaway by a senior physician – two new consultant physicians are being appointed.
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