Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

A warm welcome to the 100 new resident doctors who joined #TeamMTW this week!

We have over 500 resident doctors at different levels of training and we're proud to be part of their journey.

Welcome to our new colleagues and thank you and good luck to all those moving on to continue their careers!

Our Maidstone park and ride service now stops at Hermitage Court.

✅ Park in the free car park
✅ Get the free shuttle bus
✅ Ask the driver to stop at Hermitage Court
✅ Catch the bus back to your car.

More information, including timetables and maps: www.mtw.nhs.uk/park-and-ride

What started as a routine day for Head of Nursing for Safe Staffing, Jules Partridge, turned into a life-or-death scenario when she came to the aid of a driver who had suffered a cardiac arrest near Maidstone Hospital.

Read more: ow.ly/ILr150WAKcQ

#ExceptionalPeopleOutstandingCare

Trauma & Orthopaedics bid farewell to Joy Trenchard who hung up her uniform last week after 48 years of nursing!

Ward Manager, Louise Jameson said: "She's been a great support to everyone on the ward. She was very caring with patients and always took the time to listen and reassure."

🌍 #WorldBreastfeedingWeek is a time to celebrate the people who support families on their infant feeding journey — like our infant feeding team, Sally and Florence!

They help families with more complex feeding issues, and train peer support volunteers.

🔗 www.mtw.nhs.uk/infant-feeding

New equipment is benefiting endoscopy patients at Fordcombe Hospital thanks to our MTW Hospitals Charity.

The charity has funded a CO₂ insufflator and flushing pump which will help reduce endoscopy waiting times, particularly for patients on the two-week cancer pathway.

www.mtwcharity.org.uk

We’re hosting the first Stroke Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) Community of Practice, building a network to support stroke SDEC development & set consistent standards across UK stroke services.

🗓️ Monday 22 September
🕛 12-1.30pm
📍 online

Register: ow.ly/av6Q50Wxk4F

Last month we unveiled a memorial to those who flew over Tunbridge Wells Hospital in wartime.

It commemorates First Lieutenant William M. McDermott, an American pilot supporting Allied Forces in the D Day landings. He crashed close to the hospital on 10 June 1944.

Read more: tinyurl.com/493avyc4

Welcome to our newest resident doctors: 79 new F1 doctors who joined us this week! 👏

They are qualified doctors in their first level of clinical training & will complete the two-year foundation programme before applying for further study and training in different specialties.

Welcome to #TeamMTW!

Congratulations to our Maternity teams at Tunbridge Wells Hospital! 👏

We're so pleased your dedication & hard work has been recognised with a rating of 'good' by the Care Quality Commission.

Thank you for your commitment to providing the best possible care for babies and families! 💙

The Maternity service at Tunbridge Wells Hospital has been rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an inspection in October.

Read more: ow.ly/PshH50WxQlW

Our first robot-assisted hysterectomy has been performed by a team led by Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, Mr Ahmed El Gohari.

This innovative surgery is less invasive, leads to less pain after the operation & can mean a faster recovery.

Read more: ow.ly/GRA950Wxfgm

Urgent treatment centres are open every day and treat minor injuries such as sprains, minor burns and broken bones.

No appointment is needed, just walk in.

Find out more about what to do at StopThinkChoose.co.uk

🇬🇧 In recognition of our commitment to the Armed Forces community, we've been awarded the prestigious Gold Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Award!

This award celebrates organisations going above and beyond to support veterans, reservists, cadet force adult volunteers and military families.

Group discussions with a specialist psychologist help them voice worries about starting a new school and learn strategies for explaining their condition to new people.

When moving schools they often need to take a more active role in managing their condition, and an event for 10 and 11-year-olds helps them adapt.

Using learning and play they learn about blood glucose, injecting or using insulin pumps, recognising hypoglycaemia/hyperglycaemia & managing diet.

Making the leap from primary to secondary school can be a daunting prospect but for children living with diabetes, a new school can bring new challenges.

A diagnosis can be confusing and frightening, and they often need long-term specialist help from a multi-disciplinary team of experts.

They’re working with the Stroke Association to incorporate the training into the charity’s learning resources.

Eleanor has also been seconded to the South East Stroke Quality Improvement for Rehabilitation, focused on enhancing stroke rehab in the south east.

#ExceptionalPeopleOutstandingCare

The project includes videos which have been piloted in care homes with positive feedback from carers, patients, families & managers.

The team are working with NHS England to include the resources in the Stroke Specific Education Framework, guiding training of healthcare professionals in stroke.

Following a survey of care homes, Clinical Lead Physiotherapist in Stroke, @eleanordoherty.bsky.social has been part of a team developing an educational project to improve care delivery to stroke survivors.

They presented the project at @opsyris.bsky.social conference & last year’s UK Stroke Forum.

Maidstone Hospital helipad reopens after £170k donation - BBC News A donation of more than £170,000 from the HELP Appeal has made the upgrade possible.

The helipad at Maidstone Hospital has reopened after a donation of £170,000 to our MTW Hospitals Charity enabled important upgrade works.

National industrial action by resident (formerly known as junior) doctors takes place from 7am today until 7am on Wednesday 30 July.

🗓️ You will be contacted if your appointment needs to be changed.

Please continue to come forward for the care you need.

📲 If you need advice, visit www.111.nhs.uk.

"Keep a close eye on any lumps and get them checked by your GP as soon as possible."

Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Dr Julia Hall supports patients diagnosed with sarcoma, a very rare form of cancer.

Read more about her role: ow.ly/eNzj50Wuxi4

#SarcomaAwarenessMonth

🚨 Supporting South East Coast Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) clinicians training at Maidstone Hospital.

Training exercises test the knowledge & skills of our teams, and improve responses to make sure we can keep people safe in a real emergency – helping save lives.

Supported by our MTW Hospitals Charity, Look Good Feel Better workshops support those living with a cancer diagnosis and help with the emotional and physical impact of cancer treatment.

📍 The Acorn Room, Ditton Community Centre
📅 7 August
🕒 1.30 - 3.30pm

Book your place: ow.ly/Z3e550WhlIN

Colt's Hill near Tunbridge Wells, will be closed overnight (10pm - 6am) from Monday 21 to Saturday 26 July.

A diversion will be in place but if you need to travel to Tunbridge Wells Hospital during the closure hours, leave extra time for your journey.

More information: one.network?GB144098686

Drawing on recent research, she highlighted how a different approach to medicine waste could support the NHS’s net zero ambitions.

Solutions could include improved ward-level tracking, better governance, formal waste reduction strategies & technology like barcode tracking and automated cabinets.

🌍 "Awareness of environmental impact & taking action to reduce it is key to delivering safe, effective & sustainable care"

At a House of Lords event, our Chief Pharmacist; Mildred Johnson highlighted how a new approach to medicine waste could support NHS net zero goals.

Our MTW Hospitals Charity are looking for adventurous fundraisers to Get Muddy for MTW (sponsored by Apogee Corporation) on Saturday 4 October!

Take on 90 minutes of muddy fun at the award-winning Nuclear Races.

Sign up today and do something amazing for your local hospitals: ow.ly/gzKz50WoexE

Resuscitation Officer, Paul Abdey & Tactical Commander, Tim Moore visited Wateringbury WI last week to deliver Basic Life Support training.

There are more 30,000+ out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year.

Less than one in 10 survive but early CPR can more than double someone’s chance of survival.