Topping out ceremony at new multimillion-pound surgical centre

The final bolts have been tightened on a new multimillion-pound orthopaedic hub which will start treating patients from across the region in spring next year.

The Rt Hon Greg Clark, MP for Tunbridge Wells, visited Maidstone Hospital earlier this month to see the development of the Kent and Medway Orthopaedic Centre. He was joined by our Chief Executive, Miles Scott and two senior doctors who will treat patients in the new centre, and took part in a ‘topping out’ ceremony to celebrate the new building reaching its highest point.

The new centre will allow us to significantly increase the number of additional routine orthopaedic operations involving bones, joints and muscles that we carry out each year, including 2,000 extra knee and hip replacements.

New cancer technology

funded by Kilimanjaro climb 

After making the trip from Kent to Kilimanjaro and taking on Africa’s highest mountain, local MP and former patient Tracey Crouch visited the Kent Oncology Centre last month to present a cheque for £153,000. The money raised during the mammoth fundraising climb will fund new cancer technology to support patients across Kent and Medway.

Tracey teamed up with six women, including our very own Consultant Breast Surgeon, Deepika Akolekar, who works in the Peggy Wood Breast Care Unit. The intrepid group reached the Uhuru peak in seven days – an impressive 5,895m above sea level.

The money, donated to Breast Cancer Kent, will go towards purchasing a Faxitron which will be based in the Pathology department at Maidstone Hospital. This state-of-the-art machine will speed up the diagnosis time for patients who are being tested for breast cancer.

Visiting during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Chatham and Aylesford MP also met the clinical teams who work in our Kent Oncology Centre, which is one of the top performing cancer centres in the country.

Welcoming local schools to our careers event

We recently welcomed 100 students from local schools at a careers event at Maidstone Hospital. The day aimed to showcase all the career opportunities available in the NHS.

Our visitors had the opportunity to meet teams from a wide range of departments, including therapies, radiotherapy, emergency planning and catering. A number of interactive displays were also available, and students were able to watch resus demonstrations and see the simulation suite.

Our colleagues from South East Coast Ambulance (SECAmb) also joined us to share what a busy day looks like for them.

Lights, camera, action!

Something very exciting is happening early next year – our fantastic Emergency Department (ED) at Tunbridge Wells Hospital will star in popular Channel 5 documentary ‘A&E After Dark’.

The series will follow our incredible teams working in one of the best performing EDs in the country. Filmed during the night shift, the show aims to give an insight into what it’s like to work on the front line of emergency care after hours.

The production crew recently popped back to interview some of our clinical staff about their experiences working in A&E and producers are now making final edits to the programme – keep an eye out on our social media channels for further updates on when the show will air!

Trust wins national award for digital innovation

Our teams have taken top spot at the Health Tech Newspaper 2023 Awards! 

Winning in the Health Tech Digital Pathway and Workflow Optimisation category, the achievement recognised the development of a Virtual Fracture Clinic (VFC) in our electronic patient records system.

The VFC aims to help patients in A&E to access orthopaedic care more quickly. The new system enables around 75% of fracture referrals to become digital, meaning that processes are more efficient and patients are able to access care quicker.

It has also supported our commitment to sustainability by reducing the number of printed documents, helping save almost £10,000 per year in printing costs.

Consultant nurse hits Heart FM airwaves

As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, our Macmillan Nurse Consultant for Metastatic Breast Cancer, Claire Ryan was a guest on Heart FM with Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston.

Joined by her daughter Ella, Claire spoke about being breast aware, when to report something that feels or looks different from normal and when to seek professional help.

Claire, who has over 30 years' experience in breast oncology, highlighted how everyone can carry out basic checks themselves and what to look out for, such as changes in skin colour or texture. She also emphasised the importance of getting anything out of the ordinary checked as soon as possible.

Did you know?

We have over 250 SAS doctors working at our Trust. SAS doctors are specialty and specialist grade doctors who have at least four years of postgraduate training.

SAS doctors are the fastest-growing group of doctors in the UK and could become the largest cohort in the medical workforce by 2030. They are a core part of our Trust and are also involved in departmental activities including teaching, governance and management.

Last month, we celebrated this vital part of our NHS workforce as part of SAS Doctors Week by meeting some of the team, including Dr Hatim Albirnawi, a Specialist General Surgeon with an interest in upper gastrointestinal and bariatric surgery.

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