News
Church fete aims to stick
to tradition ORGANISERS of this year’s Otham Fete are planning a tra- ditional family day out. They say: “Despite the com- mercial feel to many village fetes, Otham and Langley Parish Church fete still aims to create family entertainment for all generations.” Attractions will include the
ever-popular hook-a-duck and pick-a-stick stalls, face-painting and coconut
shy.Add to that the usual plant, book and jam stalls and the afternoon has some- thing for everyone. Shows in the central arena
will include the Woofs Dog Show, a children’s rock band, dance troupes and vintage Army trucks. The afternoon will finish with races for chil- dren and adults, along with the tug o’war. The fete on Saturday, June 21,
runs from 1.30pm to 4.30pm Anyone who is able to donate
cakes, plants, bottles and other items for the various stalls should email scott.raffle@btin-
ternet.com.
downsmail.co.uk
Hospital defends care aer report criticism
MAIDSTONE Hospital has hit back at a damning report that claims it is failing to meet some basic national standards of care. The Care Quality Commission
(CQC) made an unannounced visit in February to look at two key areas: the care of patients undergoing sur- gical procedures and the provision of care for children. While all the people inspectors
spoke towere positive about the care they had received before and after surgery, somewere not happy about the number of delays and cancella- tions they had experienced. In some instances, patients were
asked to give their consent for sur- gery while already on the trolley ready for theatre. This meant that they might not
have had sufficient time or informa- tion to make an informed choice, ac- cording to inspectors. Other findings: • Patients did not always receive care from appropriately qualified staff. • Arrangementswere not in place for patients to receive on-going care from their consultant.
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• Children receiving care did not always have access to staff trained in paediatric medicine. • The paediatric resuscitation team did not routinely contain a paedia- trician out of hours. The team identified a number of concerns – including the manage- ment of risks to patients’health,wel- fare and safety. Professor Edward Baker, deputy
chief inspector of hospitals for the south, said: “We’ve identified some serious issues at this hospital around surgical services.” But Dr Paul Sigston, medical di-
rector for the trust, said some of the report’s findings were based on in- correct assumptions and defended the hospital’s safety record. He said staffing levels complied
with national guidelines and said: “Our hospitals are very safe. We have good mortality rates, positive patient feedback, high-quality out- comes and excellent infection con- trol.” He said the trust had launched a
review of paediatric care inA&Eand an assessment of paediatric nursing levels.
The trust is also examining proce-
dures for patients admitted on the day of surgery, to ensure they re- ceive privacy and dignity and have sufficient time to discuss concerns. Dr Sigston said: “We welcome
many areas of this latest review that identify good clinical practice, posi- tive patient comments and opportu- nities which we are quickly addressing to improve patient care. “We are also clarifying some in- correct assumptions within the re- port.” The trust has reviewed its surgical services and is said to be happy with the standard of these. Dennis Fowle, chairman of cam- paigning group MASH, said: "This report is a surprise. There have been no public signals of many of these problems. The trust disputes many aspects of the CQC report - and the quality of the report is in question. “Since the awful days of the C-Diff infection deathswe have seen many major improvements in Maidstone Hospital butwe are still uncomfort- able about the impact of reconfigu- ration of some services from Maidstone to TunbridgeWells.”
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