Patient First - March 2023

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust sent this bulletin at 10-03-2023 09:25 AM GMT

#Patientfirst

March 2023

Trust’s performance recognised regionally and nationally

We are delighted to announce that our Trust has moved to level 1 in the NHS System Oversight Framework (NOF), one of only seven trusts in England rated in the top tier. The decision by NHS England to move us from NOF 2 to 1 follows a recommendation by the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB). NOF 1 is given to trusts who are consistently high performing and play an active leadership role in supporting local and ICB priorities.

There are four levels within the framework, starting at level 1 for high performing trusts and moving down to level 4. The move to level 1 recognises the significant improvements and progress made by staff across our Trust in recent years. As one of the top performing acute hospital trusts in the country, we are regularly in the top five for A&E performance in England. We have also achieved the national standard for treating cancer patients within 62 days for the last three years.

Find out more about this achievement

Young patients with IBD share their experiences

Young patients with IBD at engagement event

Our Paediatric Gastroenterology team recently hosted their first engagement event for children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and their families.

It was the second in a series of events held by the Trust and gave us valuable feedback from families which will help us develop the support for children and young people in our care.

The day was a huge success, giving patients and their families the opportunity to meet others with similar conditions and share their experiences.

They were also able to speak with a wider team of specialists, including psychologists, our own Gastroenterology team and CICRA, the specialist charity for children living with Crohn’s and Colitis.

Read more about the event

Urology team reaches treatment milestone

Our Urology team has reached an important milestone as one of our consultant urological surgeons recently performed his 1500^th specialist HoLEP (Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate) procedure.

HoLEP uses a laser to remove tissue that is blocking urine flow. The very targeted procedure requires no incision and the laser seals bloods vessels efficiently, resulting in a faster recovery compared with other treatments. The Trust treats approximately 10 patients a week using this method, with 90% going home the same day.

MTW has an internationally-renowned HoLEP service, carrying out around 300 surgeries each year, and is one of a limited number of hospitals specialising in the procedure.

Learn more

Same day emergency care for orthopaedic patients

A new Orthopaedic Assessment Unit (OAU) has opened at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, to support the national drive for ‘same day emergency care’. Orthopaedics is an area of surgery dealing with injuries and conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system, such as bones, joints and ligaments.

The Unit provides emergency care to patients who are then be able to go home the same day, if safe to do so, and return later for review instead of being admitted to a ward. This helps to avoid unplanned and longer than necessary hospital stays. Those patients who are able to go home are also at lower risk of infection, and more likely to remain mobile and active.

The OAU joins a growing number of same day emergency care (SDEC) units at our Trust, including an Ambulatory Care Unit and an Acute Frailty Unit. Patients are taken out of the Emergency Department and treated in the appropriate SDEC unit, either on the same day or at a later date for planned care. Patients can also be referred directly into an SDEC unit, avoiding the need to go via the Emergency Department.

Find out more about our new OAU

We want to hear your views

Were you an adult inpatient at our Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells hospitals who was discharged over a weekend? If so, sharing your experiences of how it went will help us to provide outstanding care to future patients.

We have been making a number of improvements across our Trust, and we want to make sure that we are continuing to provide a high-quality service to our patients across the weekend. To do this, we are working with our partner organisation Healthwatch to get feedback from as many patients as possible from our adult inpatient wards.

By sharing your experiences with Healthwatch of being discharged at the weekend, you can tell us what we are doing well and where we need to improve. Your feedback will help us to ensure we get it right.

Have your say and make a difference

Trust wins silver award from Kent and Medway Healthy Workplace Programme

A programme that supports businesses across the county to meet the health needs of their workplace has recognised Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust with a silver award.

The Kent and Medway Healthy Workplace Programme supports organisations of all sizes and sectors across the county to meet the health needs of their workplace. This is achieved by assessing policies and training in place to support staff, ensuring workplaces are supportive of health and wellbeing, and encouraging staff to engage in healthy activities both in and outside of work.

The silver award saw our Trust committing to a number of pledges to support our staff, including ensuring that training opportunities are available to all.

We are passionate about supporting our staff’s health and wellbeing, and will be working towards the gold award next!

Discover more about the award

Did you know?

Our fantastic Catering teams prepared nearly 1 million patient meals in 2022, and our superb Domestic Services teams cleaned over 85,000 beds. Hard at work outside were our brilliant Grounds and Gardens team, who tended over 25 acres of estate.

The heartbeat of our hospitals, our portering teams logged mile upon mile of steps around our sites last year, moving patients and collecting notes and equipment. In 2022 they completed almost 300,000 jobs.

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