Help us to help you this winter!

With winter just around the corner, we are seeing an increase in patient numbers at our hospitals.

There are three important steps you can take to help us help you, and make sure you and your family get the right care, in the right place, at the right time. 

• Use the right service - it may be more appropriate to visit an urgent treatment centre or pharmacist.
• If your relative is in hospital, support them to get home safely and quickly.
• Get your COVID-19 booster/flu jab if eligible.

Hospital ‘mission control’ opened by local MP

It’s been called a NASA style control centre and the eyes and ears of the Trust – now the officially named Care Coordination Centre at Maidstone Hospital has been formally opened by local MP Helen Grant.

The MP for Maidstone and The Weald cut the ribbon at the centre which is home to an innovative computer system used to improve waiting times and patient flow through both the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals. The system uses real time data to see how many of the 700 beds across the hospitals are empty, may need cleaning or have a patient who is leaving.

With real-time visibility of available beds, the Trust has significantly reduced the amount of time a bed is empty and the time a patient spends in the Emergency Department (ED) before being transferred to a bed. This ensures patients arriving in ambulances are quickly moved into the ED. The system has enabled the Trust to increase the number of planned operations performed each day and given nurses and ward staff more time back to focus on patient care. The Department of Health and Social Care recently visited the centre before making their way to ED and seeing it in action on the frontline.

Introducing our new autism communication passport for patients

We are delighted to have introduced the ‘My Health Passport for Autistic People’. The scheme has been developed by the National Autistic Society and endorsed by the Department of Health and NHS England.

The passport is a resource for autistic people who might need hospital treatment. It aims to help staff to give the best possible care to our autistic patients by asking important information such as what may cause distress and how they communicate pain. Patients are encouraged to bring the passport with them to hospital and show it to our clinical teams, so that our staff can ensure that their needs are met.

You can find further information about the autism health passport, including a copy you can download and guidance on how to complete the document, on the National Autistic Society’s website.

Farewell to our Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Lynn Gray

After an incredible 37 years of NHS service spanning five decades, we said farewell last week to our fantastic Deputy Chief Operating Officer Lynn Gray, who retired on 1 December.

Lynn began her career at Guy’s Hospital in 1980, and then went on to do her nurse training at Bromley Health Authority (as it was called then), qualifying in 1984. She then worked on a male medical ward until the birth of her first child in 1986. Lynn briefly left the health service after securing a role as a school nurse with the Shaftsbury Society, looking after children and young adults with severe learning disabilities, but returned to the NHS in the early 90s after having her second child. Her subsequent roles included Ward Manager of the Medical Assessment Unit and Divisional Nurse Director of Medicine. She joined Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in 2013.

To commemorate her amazing commitment and work in the NHS, Lynn visited Parliament last week as a guest of MP for Tunbridge Wells, Greg Clark, who presented her with her Long Service Certificate on the House of Commons Terrace.

Interested in finding out more about our occupational therapists?

We celebrated Occupational Therapy Week last month, and took the chance to spread the word about some of the fantastic work our occupational therapists (OTs) do.

The nation’s health can be impacted by many different issues and OTs are here to help people to help themselves. Did you know, for example, that we have OTs working in Critical Care? Research shows that rehabilitation in Critical Care has the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes and recovery from critical illness and we now have two part-time OTs covering approximately 30 intensive care beds! They assess the impact that a critical illness and ICU admission can have on a patient’s physical, cognitive and psychological function, and use early rehabilitation to increase a patient’s independence.

OTs are also a key member of the teams in Stroke and Neurology, working with patients who may have suffered from stroke, head injury, spinal injury and other neuro medical conditions such as encephalitis. They regularly work with patients so that they can get themselves washed and dressed, and also work on the tasks that mean the most to the patient, ensuring that they are safe to leave hospital.

We welcome our first cohort of students from Kent and Medway Medical School

The first cohort of medical students studying at Kent and Medway Medical School (KMMS), which opened its doors in 2020, have started their placements at our Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals. The Trust is providing clinical placements for medical students at KMMS, a collaboration between the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University, which attracts talented students from all backgrounds. Once fully established, the new medical school will place 120 additional medical students with the Trust each year, alongside students from King’s College London and St George’s, University of London. The 31 medical students joining the Trust for their placements are in their third year of a five-year course and are due to graduate in 2025. Their placements will see them participate in hands-on learning across the Trust’s hospitals in a range of medical and surgical specialties, while also caring for patients.

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