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Stars shine at our Star Awards
 On Friday 28 April, we celebrated our amazing staff and volunteers at our Exceptional People, Outstanding Care Star Awards.
Many of you nominated staff and volunteers whose work has had a profound impact on you, and your friends and family – our heartfelt thanks to everyone who sent in a nomination in recognition of our amazing teams here at the Trust.
Winners on the night included our Breast Radiology Team, who scooped up the Team of the Year award for their involvement with numerous research projects and their dedication to offering an inclusive service. Individual winners included Anthony Jennings, who won Volunteer of the Year. Anthony has been volunteering for an incredible 15 years, and makes a real difference to our A&E Team.
Huge congratulations to all our Star Awards nominees and winners – you are all heroes! Visit our website for a full lowdown of our winners, where you can also watch a highlights reel of the night so that you can soak up the atmosphere of this special evening.
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Pioneering knee surgery trialled at Trust
Young patients who have torn their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are the first in the country to benefit from ground-breaking reconstructive knee surgery being trialled at our Trust.
ACL injuries happen when a severe twisting force is applied to the knee, and are often seen in people who play sports such as football and netball, or who go skiing. The new procedure to repair this type of injury is part of a unique clinical trial underway at Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
Surgery for ACL injuries usually involves taking part of the child’s own hamstring tendon to create a new anterior cruciate ligament, which connects the two bones making up the knee. The surgery being trialled at the Trust involves taking a donor hamstring tendon from a parent to make the repair. The pioneering procedure, which it is hoped will eventually be offered as routine surgery in the UK, has attracted media coverage from both the BBC and ITV.
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Neonatal Unit awarded
platinum Bliss accreditation
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The Neonatal Unit at Tunbridge Wells Hospital has become one of only four in the UK to receive platinum accreditation in the Bliss Baby Charter.
Run by the charity Bliss, which supports premature or sick babies, the Baby Charter was established in 2005 and is now the UK standard for developing, measuring and improving family-centred care. Neonatal Units can audit their practices against the Charter’s practical framework, meaning they can develop plans to achieve changes that benefit babies and their families.
After assessing the Neonatal Unit at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in February, Bliss said that they were impressed by many aspects of the Unit’s care, including follow-ups with all parents post-discharge and the availability of support services for bereaved families.
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Super Milo to the rescue
When an anxious young patient was told she needed to have an endoscopy, it became clear that she was going to need some additional support to prepare for the procedure. An endoscopy is a test that looks inside your body by passing a long thin tube with a camera through a natural opening, such as your mouth.
Our Health Play Specialist team, who help children and young people to understand their medical conditions and support them during treatment, spent time with the patient to try and reassure her, but she remained very nervous.
Help soon arrived on four paws in the guise of Milo, the young patient’s therapy dog. Health Play Specialist Vicki Belton arranged for Milo to accompany his human to hospital prior to the appointment, and to be there to comfort her after she woke up from the procedure.
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Trust colleague becomes third in UK
to achieve HCSE qualification
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Jasmine Turner, CT Superintendent Radiographer at our Trust, has become the third practising radiographer in the UK to complete the level 1 HCSE (Health Care Systems Engineering) qualification. Jasmine is now our second member of staff to be qualified in the discipline.
HCSE helps hospitals and healthcare providers to look at their current practices, identify areas of improvement and implement changes that would benefit patients and improve their care.
Jasmine trained for the qualification as part of a wider initiative to increase efficiency and to reduce patient wait times across all CT (computerised tomography) scanners in the local region.
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Celebrating the Coronation
 Our teams got into the Coronation spirit last week as they took part in a Coronation-themed Best Decorated Ward competition! Creative flair was truly on display as patients and visitors were treated to balloon guards, royal carriage doorways and even life-sized figures of Their Majesties the King and Queen dressed in their finery.
Our judges were blown away by the hard work and creativity shown by all who took part. The winners of the competition were Ward 20 at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, the Palliative Care team at Maidstone Hospital and our Medical Records team in Paddock Wood.
Though our teams continued working across the Coronation Bank Holiday weekend, they were able to enjoy delicious cupcakes on Sunday as part of the Coronation Big Lunch held nationwide. A huge thank you to our brilliant Maidstone Hospital League of Friends and MTW Hospitals Charity for providing the Coronation-themed treats and ensuring everyone felt part of the celebrations. A big thank you also to all our staff who worked throughout the Coronation weekend to look after our patients.
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