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August 2022 |
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First patient treated with new state-of-the-art radiotherapy machine
 Patients receiving care in our Kent Oncology Centre are not only receiving some of the fastest treatment in the country but are also benefitting from state-of-the-art technology after the first patient was treated with the new Halcyon machine last month.
Only a small number of cancer treatment centres in England are using the radiotherapy technology which halves treatment times and provides a much more comfortable experience for patients.
In July, our patient Paul became the very first person to be treated with the new machine. The 56 year old Crowborough resident said: “If I ever win the lottery I’ll be buying them another one!”
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Young patients' feedback a priority at Maidstone Hospital fun day
Children with complex needs and their families were guests at a fun day at Maidstone Hospital in July, hosted by the Trust’s paediatric orthopaedic teams.
The children invited to take part in the event were all patients with complex physical or needs who have had to come to hospital more than once for orthopaedic surgery. The day was designed to help the Trust learn from families’ feedback to help MTW better support the experience of children and young people visiting the Trust, especially those with additional physical and emotional needs.
Paediatric Orthopaedic Pain Nurse Specialist Julie Doherty said: “The children’s smiles really did say it all and it was wonderful for them to meet other children with similar experiences to them, and for their siblings and parents to meet other families. Numbers were exchanged and I think that they will stay in touch, which really is lovely.”
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Hip replacement, back on his feet and home… all in a day!
It’s hip, hip, hooray for hip replacement patients at the Trust after the first day case replacement in Kent was carried out earlier this year.
Local resident Ric had a total hip replacement with the Orthopaedic Team and walked out of Maidstone Hospital just six hours after surgery thanks to a new technique of minimally invasive surgery.
Ric said: “My kindest thanks to Mr Ahmed and the whole team in the Orthopaedic Unit. You are all very special people working for a world class organisation. In my heart is both gratitude and love!”
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Friends’ generosity helps birthing centre celebrate 25 years
 Our midwives and staff from Crowborough Birthing Centre were joined by the Friends of Crowborough Hospital, local MP Nusrat Ghani and new parents and their babies at a celebration last month to mark 25 years of midwifery-led care in Crowborough!
The event also marked the official opening of the new parent and staff kitchen and rest room, which was generously funded by the Friends.
Before inviting the MP for Wealden to cut a ribbon to officially open the new facilities, our Chief Executive Miles Scott said: “As well as publicly thanking the Friends for their generous donation, this is also an opportunity to mark the return of births to Crowborough. This service is really important to us and, since it reopened in April, it has gone from strength to strength. We are on course to be busier in the Birthing Centre this year than before COVID hit.”
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ICU teams celebrated for supporting critical care research |
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They help save lives every day – but now our fantastic Intensive Care Unit teams have been recognised by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) for their contribution to vital health and care research projects across the region.
The NIHR Clinical Research Network Kent, Surrey and Sussex Research Support Awards recognise NHS colleagues who support research, helping improve outcomes for patients and relatives.
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Trust radiographer becomes UK first
Team MTW is leading the way! Our Senior Radiographer Richard Flood has become the first practising radiographer in the UK to complete a special qualification to help improve speed of imaging services.
After achieving the level 1 HCSE (Health Care Systems Engineering) Richard is now working with our Radiology team to review how this work can be rolled out to other services across the Trust.
Richard said: “It really is a privilege to be able to improve access to our imaging services, hopefully achieving better outcomes for patients.”
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Pounding the pavements to support our patients
 This is certainly going ‘the extra mile!’ William O’Shea and friend Darren Reeves ran an extraordinary 60km from Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to Tunbridge Wells Hospital and raised £12,000 to support the Neonatal Unit (NNU) at Tunbridge Wells.
The pair were running in memory of William’s son, Thomas O’Shea, who was born at Tunbridge Wells Hospital on 2 July 2019 and, despite expert care from teams at both Tunbridge Wells and Great Ormond Street, sadly passed away on 19 August 2019.
The runners set off from Great Ormond Street on what would have been Thomas’ 3rd birthday (2 July) and arrived at Tunbridge Wells Hospital to cheers and applause from their families and friends. NNU Staff Nurse Justyna Thorburn also joined them at the finish line to congratulate them.
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