Teamwork: The catering team with their delicious food At the helm: Hospital Matron Maggie Powell
opens the new dining room
New facilities unveiled
Sevenoaks new kitchen and dining room has been completely refurbished as part of a major £750,000 upgrading plan.
The Primary Care Trust has also refurbished the boilers, lighting, heating and air conditioning.
During the winter work will be carried out on a £481,000 plan to upgrade the Minor Injuries Unit and cut waiting times. It should be finished by March.
President of the League of Friends Roger Hope said: “Clearly it is a cut above our existing unit and the staff are very excited about it.
“The unit will have a dedicated resuscitation room a children’s room, a plaster room and three adult examination and treatment rooms.”
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Focus on local hospital
Work which has been dealt with in acute hospitals will be going out to the community, a hospital leader has promised.
Mark Shepherd – Managing Director West Kent Community Health Trust - was speaking at the League of Friends AGM after a £750,000 upgrade programme at Sevenoaks in July 2009.
He said: “The journey the NHS is seeing is what has been done in acute hospitals is being done in the community to make the best use of resources.”
A “whole host of pathways” were being looked at including more outpatient clinics and virtual consultations at Sevenoaks.
X-rays can now be accessed remotely and consultants could be spoken to over a camera saving patients difficult journeys to bigger hospitals. This could be very helpful for dermatology patients and people recovering from heart surgery. Post- operative care could be provided locally.
Stroke patients’ rehabilitation could also be undertaken nearer to home with more specialist care being provided locally by experienced staff.
He said the government’s policy for making community hospitals the centre of what goes on should allow the closed Homesdale Ward beds to be re-opened in the future.
Efforts were also being made to allow local people a much greater say in decisions on their doorstep.
Community work: Mark Shepherd of Hospital Matron: Maggie Powell
West Kent Community Health Trust shows off the refurbished kitchens
