Hospital’s ‘vibrant’ future
BIG plans to modernise Maid- stone’s 30-year-old hospital in Hermitage Lane with a £23m spend over the next six years will transform theway patients are seen and treated. The first phase – a £2.9m ur-
gentmedical and walk-in unit in a rebuilt Monckton’s children’s ward, closely linked to A&E – will be in use this month. This will reduce by about
25% the number of patients needing hospital admissions and as beds are vacated, the hospital trust will, over the next six years, spend £15m modernising 10 wards into five large specialist medical and surgical wards. There will be more single rooms, and six-bed- ded bays will become four-bed- ded en-suite bays. The changes have been driven by clinicians at Maid- stone Hospital, following the loss of several key services to the new Tunbridge Wells Hos- pital – and they are delighted by trust management and fi- nancial support. Lead physician, Dr Chris Thom, said: “At present, pa- tients can be transferred be- tween wards and teams in the middle of a hospital stay, de- tracting from good hospital care and adding to length of stay. The changes mean our wards will be aligned to the needs of patients with the speciality best able to care for them.” Four other projects planned
Latest health news from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust By Dennis Fowle
Unit will cut
admissions THE large new Urgent Medical and Ambulatory Unit (UMAU) at Maidstone Hospital will assess and treat many patients referred by their GPs or by the adjoining A&E unit.
This will reduce, by about 25%, patients needing a hospital ad- mission. The unit includes 11 stations
for trolleys, in addition to seating, and should overnight assess- mentsbenecessary, there will be three four-bedwards and twosin- gle rooms. Currently, patients with med-
Akbar Soorma (A&E), chief executive Glen Douglas and Dr Chris Thom in the new UMAU unit atMaidstone Hospital
to start next year include rede- veloping the endoscopy and urology units and admissions and discharge lounges. Improvements will also in-
clude redevelopment of two cancer wards and private pa- tient unit, and there are plans to increase car parking. The investment comes as the
trust is offering voluntary re- dundancy to all staff as it seeks to make £45m savings. A trust spokesman said: “We
can afford to invest in the 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,
Marathon cash for foetal care
and also for practical reasons (we can’t redevelop all wards at the same time or there would be no wards 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, vibrant and pivotal role for patients 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.
MAIDSTONEHospital’s day assessment unit and foetal assessment unit have been presented with a cheque for £640, raised by marathon runner Kirsty Jones. Kirsty’s sister, Sadie Jones, was cared
for by the units during her pregnancies with both her daughters, Tilly (2) and Holly, aged five and a half months, when she suffered from gestational dia- betes and pre-eclampsia. Sadie, from Maidstone, said: “The
staff looked after me so well Iwanted to do something as a gesture to say thank you for their care. As my sister was run- ning the London Marathon earlier this year, the Maternity Unit Trust Fund seemed like the perfect place to raise money for. “Everyone forgets about this side of pregnancy – the main focus is always on going in to labour and having your baby, but the pre-birth experience is so im- portant. The staff here really do provide a personal touch and deserve recogni- tion for what they do.” Adriana Perera, Midwifery Lead for
the DAU and Ante-Natal Clinic (ANC), said: “We are extremely grateful to Sadie and Kirsty for recognising the work we do here. We hope we will be able to use some of the money to im- prove the waiting area for patients.”
30 East
THE Priory Group has been given permis- sion to convert the Vine Medical Centre at 166 Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, into a res- idential care home for autistic patients. It will cater for 10 people with learning disabilities and additional support needs associated with autism specific conditions. Maidstone Council granted planning per- mission on condition a car parking layout at the rear of the site was revised. A deci- sion notice said: “The scheme will provide for one ambulance parking space, two minibus parking spaces and a maximum of
ical conditions coming through A&E can be admitted to hospital and stay on a ward overnight or longer whilewaiting for tests and diagnosis fromasenior 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.
No threat to A&E’ THE new unit is not seen as a threat to the future of Maid- stone’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. “Theywill complement each other,” he explained.
Centre to become autistic care home
eight car parking spaces. “This is to ensure a satisfactory appear-
ance to the development and an acceptable quality of life for future occupiers, and be- cause the provision of excessive levels of parking is likely to lead to reliance on un- sustainable transport such as private cars.” In October last year, planning permission
was granted for a new medical centre at the former borough council offices half-a-mile away, at 13 Tonbridge Road. Thiswill serve more than the 8,500 patients who use the Vine.
After-school club improves OFSTED inspectors who visited Kinder After School at Allington Primary School found it to have made several improvements since its previous report in February 2009. The improvements meant the after-school club was
rated good, up from its previous rating of satisfactory. Inspectors found that the children developed positive relationships with staff, who took the trouble to find out about the children’s interests, abilities, and were able to provide good support for their learning. Children voiced their opinions about the club and eval-
uate the activities, and staff acted on their comments. Behaviourwas good and children cooperated with staff
and their peers, showing they felt safe and secure. Parents said their children were happy at the club. To improve still further, a space should be provided for
to rest following physical activities, where they can relax or chat quietly to their friends.
UPVC windows
plan rejected A GENTS’ hairdressers in Union Street was blocked in its proposal to replace timber front windows with UPVC. Short 'n' Curlies was re-
fused listed building consent at No 70 because, according to Maidstone Council’s deci- sion notice, “the double- glazed UPVC sash windows would have an adverse im- pact on the character, appear- ance and significance of the heritage asset and the charac- ter of theHoly Trinity Church Conservation Area”.
Have you got news for us? Phone our News Desk on 01622 734735
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56