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Health|News Missed cancer targets ‘harmful’


EVIDENCE is arising of patient harm as a result ofMaidstone and TunbridgeWells Hospital Trust seriouslymissing cancer targets. The trust, under ongoing pres-


sure fromNHS England andWest Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), is operating a “ro- bust harmreviewprocess”. To date, four cases of low-level


harm have been identified and these relate to “continuance of symptoms – butwith no impact on outcome or treatment plan”. Work is ongoing to consider a


trustproactive harmreviewforpa- tients earlier in their pathway. The NHS says cancer perform-


ance inWest Kent “is of particular concern at highest levels in the na- tional team”. Fortnightly meetings are being


held between the CCG’s cancer commissioner and the GP clinical leadwith the trust’s cancer clinical lead and associate director of can- cer. The trust now has a worrying


history of missing cancer targets, andby this summer thepercentage for treatmentwithin 62 days of re- ferral fell to 59.8%, against a na- tional target of 85%. Latest figures showan improvement to 72.51%.


GP boundaries THE CCG has approved a request toreducetheboundaryofAylesford GP practice.Achange has also been approved to reduce the boundary for theSuttonValencepracticeaspa- tients fromnewresidentialdevelop- ment live closer to another practice.


Bed blockers ONAVERAGE21beds aweek(639 bed days) at Maidstone and Tun- bridge Wells hospitals were occu- pied in August with patients awaiting transfer to other services.


The trust is alsomissing the tar-


get forpatients to be seenwithin 14 days of a GP referral. The national target is 93%, but latest figures show the trust falling to its lowest level for a year (79.78%). The pathway with worst per-


formance is breast cancer, largely due to staffing issues in the trust. The trust is continuing with im- mediate measures of increasing


clinic and diagnostics capacity using current staffworking longer hours, appointment of clinical as- sociates and is in-sourcing an en- doscopy team. There are longer term plans to


increase sustainable capacity and additional resources have been identified. A shared approach to funding has been agreed between the CCGand the trust.


Training for GP referrals


TRAINING sessions for local GPs on cancer referrals are being arranged by the GP-led NHS Kent Clinical Commissioning Group, bothtoensure timely referrals and to avoid unnecessary referrals which increase pressure on the hospital trust. Almost 20 per cent of cancer


patients in the greaterMaidstone area are diagnosed with cancer only after an emergency admis- sion to hospital, according to Pub- lic Health England. The annual Cancer Patient Ex-


perience Survey shows 23% of patients inWest Kent who visited their GP with cancer concerns be- fore they were diagnosed said they saw their doctor between three and five times before going to hospital, but this did not neces- sarily mean symptoms were missed by GPs.


Staff parking charges ‘a scandal’


FIGURES released by the local NHS reveal that hospital staff paid more than £1million in parking fees and fines last year, which unions have described as a “run- ning sore of a scandal”. Medway, Maidstone & Tun-


bridgeWells (MTW) andDartford &Gravesham(DG) trusts collected in £1,078,006 from NHS workers parking across all their sites this year. The statistics also reveal the trusts made an additional


£4,296,925 from parking charges paid by patients and visitors in the same financial year. This brought the total parking


income generatedby three trusts to more than £5.3m. Unite, the union representing


health workers, said parking charges amounted to a “tax on hard-pressed” employees. Michael Cott, Unite regional of-


ficer, said: “NHS bosses…are rak- ing in enormous sums ofmoney in the form of carparking charges


from hard-pressed and dedicated NHS staff. It is a running sore of a scandal.” A Maidstone and Tunbridge


WellsNHS Trust spokesman said: “Income generated fromcar park- ing goes towards themaintenance andimprovement of our carparks. Income thereafter is used to sup- port our hospital services.” NHS staff have the option topay


to park at the hospital at a cost of £17.33 amonth.Alternatively, staff can pay £1 per 24-hour period.


ImprovedGP access proves popular


AS PART of the General Practice ForwardView(GPFV) the govern- ment has launched an initiative to improve access to general practice. Funding has been provided to


support the provision of extended opening hours and extra appoint- ments via GP surgeries. On October 1, NHS West Kent


CCG launched its Improvements which give access toGP services to all local patients until 8pm Mon- day to Friday, atweekends and on bank holidays. West Kent GPs work in clusters


and, to ensure the service has local patients’ needs inmind, each clus- ter has developed its own model. The service allows access to doc- tors, nurses, physios, pharmacists and health care assistants so that there are a variety of appointments available for patients just as in core hours (8am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday). Patientswanting tomake an ap-


pointment should phone their GP surgery and speak to the recep- tionist, who has been trained in carenavigation, andwill ask if they


are happy to be askedsome simple questions tomake sure they see the right person for their needs. Receptionists nowoffer the new


appointments routinely, but pa- tients are asked to tell themif they particularly need a weekend or evening slot. This may not be at the surgery


where the patient is registered, but will be within the locality and the patient has the choice of the date, time and location. Sunday services are held in two locations, one in the Tonbridge


area andone inMaidstone.Athird is set to open early next year to in- crease availability and choice. BobBowes,CCGchairman, said:


“This is a very exciting initiative as general practice is now available 365days a year.The servicewill be evaluated and patient feedback sought to help shape and develop it tomeet their needs. So far, take- up is goodandthe service appreci- ated. It is hopeditwill relieve some of the pressure on general practice in core hours and support patients by offering improved access. ”


Malling December 2018 27


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