The League of the Friends of Pembury Hospital

Welcome to the Fifteenth newsletter of The League of the Friends of Pembury Hospital. This is published twice a year to update our existing members and to attract new members. If you would like more information about the League or matters in this newsletter, please contact Alan Davis, Honorary Secretary, by email. An enrolment form can be found here if you wish to join the League.

Letter from the Chairman

As another year draws to a close, we await further news of the plans for the new hospital but the at League of Friends it has been business as usual.

Our regular fundraising activities include a coffee morning, street collections, one-off events, annual fete and of course, our shop at Pembury Hospital.

In August, we held another successful fete and were delighted to welcome Jayne Torvill, the ice-dancing star, to formally open proceedings in the presence of the Mayors of Tunbridge Wells, Southborough and Tonbridge and Malling. The sun shone for us and we raised over £15,250 including the Grand Raffle and collections outside major stores, which will be put towards the purchase of an infant ventilator for the Neonatal Department at a total cost of £22,000.

Also in August, our President Lady De L'Isle formally opened the new dermatology department for the hospital for which we have donated over £50,000 towards the cost of much needed equipment.

Our shop continues to offer a full range of sweets and foodstuffs, toys and greeting cards, and at this time of year, Christmas cards. The shop provides a valuable source of income to us, in the region of £5,000 per annum, but we are so dependent on our small band of volunteers who serve behind the counter, and are always looking for more volunteers. If you have a few hours to spare each week, and would be interested in helping us, we would be very pleased to hear from you.

As I write these notes, Christmas is rapidly approaching and I know that the staff will be making tremendous effort once again to decorate the wards, and to make the patients' stay as comfortable as possible. I look forward to touring the wards with the management team, and seeing for myself that the funds we raise really do make a difference.

I would like to thank all our volunteers who have assisted us over the past year and the members of the public who have generously supported us.

Gary Purdy

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Dermatology Department opened

The President of the League of Friends of Pembury Hospital, Lady De L'Isle, formally opened the new premises on 21 August 2001 by unveiling a plaque to commemorate the occasion.

Both the dermatology and rheumatology departments are now housed in the building previously used as the staff restaurant.

The League of Friends originally committed £35,850 to purchase items from syringes to an Olympus microscope at £10,350. Other items of note were operating tables, a machine to stem bleeding, skin cancer removing equipment, recovery couch and many minor surgical items. Later the League committed the proceeds from the 2000 Summer Fete to purchase a new PUVA (Ultra-violet) machine costing £16,000. This makes the total donation to Dermatology Department £51,850. First comments from staff at the opening comparing their new premises/equipment to their old were too embarrassing to print!

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New Hospital coming...

Following Government approval for a privately financed initiative (PFI) to build a new hospital at Tunbridge Wells, Stephen Collinson, Chief Executive of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust announced the timetable:

• PFI Project Director Chris Turner appointed to head team appointed to plan the new hospital.
• Outline planning permission application to Council, to be followed by -
• Outline business plan application to Government, including the formal case for siting the hospital at Pembury.
• Between November 2001 and April 2002, prepare a short-list of partners to provide money, expertise and building skills.
• Building is expected to start early 2003, with a two and a half year construction period leading to an opening in 2005/6. During this time the departments presently housed in the old huts at the bottom of the site will be temporarily housed elsewhere in the area.

The new hospital will be a fully developed 450 bed district general hospital with all the expected services of A&E, X-Rays, theatres, intensive care etc etc.

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Yellow Light for Kent and Sussex and Pembury Hospitals

Kent and Sussex Hospital and Pembury Hospital have moved from red (poor) status to yellow (acceptable) in less than six months following re-inspection by the Patient Environment Access Teams (PEAT).

Trust Chairman Anne Chapman said, 'We have carried out a huge programme of work in only six months. I would like to thank everyone who has worked so hard to make such a difference' Trust Chief Executive Stephen Collinson explained that hospitals were assessed in the same manner as the previous visits, and given scores on a scale of 1 to 4, where 1 is poor and 4 is excellent. "These scores are then translated into colours with red as poor, yellow acceptable and green good. Both hospitals scored all 3s and 4s.

'The PEAT inspections tend to be known as Clean Hospital awards which is misleading as they not only look at cleanliness but also the state of decoration, signage, smells, uniforms and ID badges, road markings and many other criteria'.

'It will always be a struggle for us to achieve green status at K&S and Pembury because of the age and fabric of the buildings, which is why we say we need a new hospital for Tunbridge Wells. However, we have spent a great deal of time and money improving the decoration, signage and car parking access on both sites, and I hope patients and relatives have noticed the difference. We have made an excellent start and will continue to roll out our planned programme of work for both sites until the day comes when we can move into our new hospital'.

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