Mount Vernon’s new £1.43 million chemotherapy trial centre one step closer

New unit, once approved finally, will provide state-of-the-art environment for cancer patients involved in chemotherapy trials

Northwood, UK – 23 July 2008 – A new £1.43 million chemotherapy research trial facility – which is being supported by the Cancer Treatment and Research Trust (CTRT) – is one step closer to being built at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. This follows consideration of a business case at a recent meeting of the Trustee of the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust Charitable Fund (known more commonly as enhance herts), which has been leading the fundraising efforts on this important project, through its CTRT Appeal.

In order to meet the needs of increasing numbers of patients and updated regulatory requirements for conducting clinical trials, the cancer centre’s current facilities need to be overhauled completely. The proposal is for the existing facility to be renovated and expanded so that patients undergoing chemotherapy trials, as well as those receiving standard treatments, will be cared for in state-of-the-art surroundings.

The chief executive of the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, Nick Carver, welcomed the announcement: “The decision by the Trustee of enhance herts to approve the business case in principle, subject to all outstanding issues being resolved by its next meeting in September 2008, enables us to keep momentum going on this important project for the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre’s continued development. This means that we can carry on with the design work that is underway already and seek tenders to build the new facility – which we are aiming to open during mid-2009, subject to final approval being received.

2/Mount Vernon’s new £1.43 million chemotherapy trial centre one step closer

“This important project is just the latest in a series of major investments in the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre that have been managed by the Trust. In September 2006, a new £2.25 million brachytherapy unit – which provides specialist radiotherapy for diseases such as prostate cancer – was opened to patients. Just six months later in March 2007, the £21.82 million New Radiotherapy Wing began treating its first patients.

“Assuming there is no delay in the building of the new chemotherapy trials facility, £25.5 million of combined NHS and charitable investment will have been pumped in to Mount Vernon since the Trust took over the running of the cancer centre in April 2005. This has helped us not just to improve the range and quality of care provided to patients, but importantly also the environment in which they are treated. While there is more to be done still, many of the centre’s facilities have been transformed.”

Professor Gordon Rustin, who is a director of medical oncology at the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre and has been at the heart of plans to develop its chemotherapy trial facilities, said: “I am very pleased that the new unit is a step closer to being built. I and my colleagues – with the welcome support of the Cancer Treatment and Research Trust in particular – have been working hard to deliver this vital project.

“With our fundraising efforts continuing, we are confident that all the money needed to deliver the new unit will be raised. The real heroes of the CTRT Appeal are the cancer patients who formed the appeal committee, as well as the thousands of former patients who have made donations – both big and small.”

The proposed new chemotherapy trials facility at Mount Vernon will include:
· an area, comprising 16 treatment chairs and two beds, for treating up to six patients taking part in clinical trials and a maximum of 12 receiving standard chemotherapy;
· three consulting rooms for the examination of patients, undertaking clinical procedures, follow-up appointments and private discussions with patients and/or their families or carers;

3/Mount Vernon’s new £1.43 million chemotherapy trial centre one step closer

· one counselling room for consultations that may involve breaking distressing news to patients;
· two prep areas for laying up trolleys for phlebotomy and chemotherapy administration, as well as checking drugs;
· more space for research nurses who are monitoring patients taking part in clinical trials;
· better facilities for research data and sample processing.
· enlargement of the waiting room area to accommodate the increasing numbers of patients using the facility, along with their relatives and/or carers – including views of, and access to, landscaped gardens;

To date, after costs, £1.11 million has been raised through a combination of funds received and pledged, with an additional £300,000 underwritten funding available should it be needed. The current timelines see final business case approval being received in September 2008, subject to all outstanding issues being resolved to the satisfaction of the Trustee of enhance herts. The tendering process, which will commence shortly, should result in a contractor being appointed in October 2008, with construction starting the following month. If this timetable is delivered, then this would see the unit opening to patients from April 2009.

Three Board Meetings in two days - quick highlights

Reading about three Board Meetings could be a marathon - so this just gives highlights. Watford PCT and Hillingdon PCT met on Tuesday, with Hillingdon Hospital Trust following, on Wednesday

Firstly common factors:
1. All these Boards watch finances like hawks - all have marginally overspent in the first quarter of the year, but still expect to break even in March 2009.
2. All are concerned about meeting infection targets, but all are reporting fewer cases, which is good news for patients.
3. None are meeting “Choose and Book” targets, but more patients are gradually having hospital appointments booked electronically, in GP surgeries.
4. New health centres are on the way - at Hemel Hempstead, Welwyn Garden City and Yiewsley – with building contracts hopefully in place by the end of 2008.
5. All have plans to tackle reductions in smoking and childhood obesity, and to increase rates of immunisation, screening and breast feeding.

Special Hillingdon items include:
1. Despite being in the top hospitals nationally for MRSA cases compared with number of beds, Hillingdon Hospital thinks its MRSA target is unfair. It started with few cases, but its target gets smaller each year and is now down to just 12 cases. Other same size hospitals have targets twice as big! “Failing” causes bad publicity and shakes patient confidence – remember this if it is unlucky and gets 13 cases!
2. Big news is that Hillingdon Hospital hopes to become a Foundation Trust in March 2009 and it has promised to continue holding Board Meetings in public! The Community Voice has long campaigned for this, as many FTs hold all Board Meetings in private.
3. The Mount Vernon Treatment Centre expects a grand opening in January 2009, with access aided by a new car park and a new road replacing the old “C” Block. But, who will open it - the Queen opened the Princess Christian building - so will she come again?
4. Also good news, Hillingdon Hospital’s pilot ward with single rooms will be completed in August and the public will be able to see it at an Open Day in September.

Watford issues include:
1. A new Urgent Care Centre is due to open at Hemel Hempstead in October 2008.
2. It was expected that by then inpatients would be received by the new Acute Admissions Unit at Watford Hospital – but the latter project has slipped to March 2009, leading to double running costs. The Primary Care Trust has set aside £2m to cover all such costs
3. The rate of GP referrals to West Herts. Hospital Trust is causing concern, up by 11.5% in first two months of 2008-09 compared with last year Causes are being explored, including patients being sent back to GPs (instead of consultant to consultant referrals), and possibly re-admissions following too early discharge from hospital.
4. Herts. County Council will get £361K per year for the next three years, to fund its Local Involvement Network (LINk). It must appoint a host organisation to provide administrative and other support to the LINk and it hopes to do so by September.

Joan

Topping Out - Mount Vernon Hospital Treatment Centre

The "Topping Out" ceremony for the new Treatment Centre took place on Thursday 17th July 2008. Like the "Turf Cutting" ceremony which took place on 10th January 2007 where there was no turf to cut, likewise at the Topping Out, there was nothing to top! Still we visited the site and were shown round the ground and first floors. After a photo shoot we returned to the Managers meeting room. David McVittie CEO gave a brief outline on the project. See Video.

Construction of the Treatment Centre is on schedule. Hand-over is promised for the 5th December 2008 it will open in January 2009

Complete with 4 operating theatres, 14 day case beds, 12 short stay beds, 24 in-patient beds and 2 High Dependency Units. It will be linked to the completely refurbished Princess Christian Unit, making one light and airy new building.The Treatment Centre will take most planned surgery from Hillingdon Hospital and hopes to make a name for itself as an orthopaedic centre of excellence. It will also have a wide range of outpatient clinics, possibly over an extended working day.David McVitie CEO reassured us that at least 88 more parking spaces will be provided, close to the Treatment Centre, on level ground.
Mount Vernon has had some tough years, but at last it is emerging from the shadows, with a bright future ahead. We are lucky to have it on our door-step, located in Hillingdon Borough.

No. 8 Video- The Post Room

The Post Room may be considered the hub of the 'Snail Mail' for Mount Vernon Hospital. In charge of this important department is Elmer Gorospe. Known to many as Alma! Elmer does everything from collecting the mail from the postman to sorting the incoming and outgoing mail, franking outgoing mail and placing in the correct sack, tray or pigeonhole. Mail for Hillingdon Hospital is sent by 'internal mail' which is delivered via the shuttle bus. I was surprised to learn that Elmer is also a 'porter', she has to take the sacks of mail on a trolley to where the post van waits.
Donald
Publicity

The tide is turning for the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre!

After fifty or so years of threat of closure, the tide is on the turn at last.

Nick Carver, Chief Executive of East & North Herts Hospital NHS Trust, which manages the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, tonight assured Hillingdon’s External Services Scrutiny Committee that the Cancer Centre will stay at Mount Vernon. In his opinion its future there is safer than at any time in the last twenty years or more.

Why this wonderful news? Firstly, because investment over the last couple of years has transformed the site. Secondly, because the Cancer Czar, Mike Richards, came recently to the site and pronounced “We need Mount Vernon!” Thirdly, although Nick Carver did not quote this, recent guidance from the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group (NRAG) suggests that the UK needs to double its radiotherapy capacity – so it is not the time to spend a fortune on moving what is already up and running well.

Instead, conforming to latest guidance, the talk now is about making the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre the hub of a system, with one or more spokes on distant sites. Major diagnostic and treatment facilities could be concentrated at Mount Vernon, but with routine treatment provided also at satellite centres. That could make everyone happy!

Of course the current Commissioning Review must consider all options for the Cancer Centre, including moving it off site, as recommended by the 2002 Varley Review. Remember that recommendation still stands and will continue to do so unless and until it is considered again - and overturned.

Not quite time to uncork the champagne – but definitely the time to buy the bottles!

And, as icing on the proverbial cake, East & North Herts Trust has graciously reconsidered its constituencies for its Foundation Trust bid, so Mount Vernon will no longer be lumped with South Cambridgeshire and East Hertfordshire.

It was definitely a meeting I shall not forget.


Joan (15.7.2008)

Still no ambulance station in Ruislip

What a saga! Back in 1994 the ambulances were homeless, sited in the road in Midcroft, off Ruislip High Street, waiting for calls with no facilities at all for the crews. There were petitions and counter petitions about building an ambulance station in the Pavilion in Kings College Road. That Battle was won by the opposition.

For a time ambulances were based at Winston Churchill Hall Ruislip, with crews waiting for calls in unsatisfactory upstairs accommodation. Then on to a temporary home at Mount Vernon Hospital. Now, still temporarily, they use the old Northwood & Pinner Community Hospital in Northwood Hills – it is warm and dry there, with basic facilities for the crews, but too far north to be ideal.

By 2006 an ambulance station site was identified behind shops in Pembroke Road, near the Ruislip Manor traffic lights but now, two years later, there is still no sign of building activity.

Our enquiries indicate that Transport for London, head leaseholder of the site, is blocking progress, despite planning permission for an ambulance station being agreed with Hillingdon Council. So we have written to the Deputy Mayor of London, Richard Barnes, to ask for his help to resolve this long-standing problem.

The only good news is that current ambulance response times are satisfactory, despite the lack of a purpose-built ambulances station. This is a credit to the crews of course, but they deserve a permanent, purpose-built home. We shall continue to press for this. Their fourteen years wait is already far too long!

Joan

No.7 Video- Paul Strickland Scanner Centre

The Paul Strickland Scanner Centre remains at the forefront of world-class scanner technology with the latest CT scanner, 2 MRI scanners and a second PET/CT scanner just installed. The Centre continues to support the vital diagnosis, treatment and research into cancer conducted by our colleagues in the Cancer Centre. In the past many patients have travelled long distances to use the Scanner Centre’s services, especially for PET/CT. This has decreased as more PET/CT facilities have become available around the country.

The Paul Strickland Scanner Centre, is totally privately funded. It relies on donations and fund-raising events

Act quick to combat a stroke!

The above poster is available from Community Voice on request by email.

We often hear how important it is to recognise a stroke - check that the patient can:

• S - Smile normally



• T - Talk normally eg answer a simple question



• R - Raise their arms normally



• ( and stick out their tongue straight and walk normally)

If a stroke is possible and any of these responses are abnormal, ring 999. Speed is important because 15% of stroke victims can recover completely - but only if diagnosis and treatment are rapid.

Here is a quote from the Chief Executive's Report to East & North Herts Trust on 25th June 2008:

"QEII thrombolysed the first stroke patient in East & North Hertfordshire on the evening of 17th June. A 55 year old patient with a dense right sided paralysis which came on at 4.20pm was in casualty within 30 minutes. Dr D O'K was called at 5.13pm, the patient was assessed and given a CT scan, and thrombolysis started at 5.50pm. This was a remarkable turnaround time of less than 40 minutes from call to treatment. By 7pm all the patient's weakness had resolved. The patient was quoted as saying"it's amazing".

Joan - with thanks to Jean Dixon for attending the meeting

Next meeting of The Community Voice

We do not meet in August and there is no mailing in July.

Our next mailing will be in mid-August. Our next general meeting is at 7.45pm on Thursday 4th September at the Post Graduate Centre Mount Vernon Hospital, when our guest speaker, Dr Paul Nathan, will update us on current research in the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre.

If anything of great note occurs in the meantime, we will report it here on our blog.

Have a good holiday!


Joan

Our July meeting focused on carers - their rights and their needs

Our July meeting, last before our summer break, examined an important topic from many angles. We had three guest speakers to lead the forum, bringing views about carers from Harrow, Hillingdon and South West Herts, with input from three professional perspectives - Social Services, an organisation dedicated to carers, and a general organisation supporting older people. After each guest speaker had spoken for ten minutes, questions and comments were open to the audience.

Jill Akroyd, Development Manager, Herts Social Services, was invited to focus on the basic rights of carers, as defined nationally, plus any general problems that arise from the legislation. She told us about the new Revised National Carers Strategy , launched last month, which offers improved support for carers backed by £255m of funding.

Jonathan Sanders leads an older carers project for Hillingdon Carers, a voluntary organisation. He was invited to focus on how his organisation supports carers – and the key problems carers face. He noted the key role of GPs in alerting carers to their rights - but sadly only about a third of GPs are fully supportive.

Ann Hurley, Information and Advice Service Manager, Age Concern Harrow, was invited to outline the supplementary services her voluntary organisation provides for carers and the most frequently asked questions they receive from carers - which in her experience are about power of attorney and benefits entitlement.

Robust discussion followed and there was great concern that so few people are aware of Attendance Allowance, a non-means-tested benefit for patients who need help with basic personal care such as eating, washing, toileting. One member stated that she cared for her husband for nine years before anyone mentioned that he was entitled to help worth £67 per week!

Members were so incensed at the lack of posters and publicity about AA that they asked the Executive to explore launching a campaign to address this problem. Watch this space to hear what we actually do!

Joan

Chairman

No. 6 Video - The Estates Department. We Fix it

The Estates Department are located round the side of the dental practice behind the Post Graduate Centre. It is a much smaller site than they originally had some years ago when I inspected plant in MVH.
As usually happens, they are not given much thought till something breaks down or falls apart, then they are called upon, like the emergency services, when can you come and sort out our problem.
Donald
Publicity

No.5 Video - The Volunteer Drivers of Mount Vernon

Many patient attending the Hospital for treatment, have no viable means of public transport from home to hospital and back and taxi costs are prohibitive. This is where the Volunteer Drivers come to the fore. Without them many old or handicapped patients would experience great difficulty and expense getting to hospital.
Donald
Publicity

No.4 Video - The Comfort Fund Volunteers of Mount Vernon

Volunteers are another group of 'The Unseen People of Mount Vernon'. Not only are they unseen but, as the word volunteers indicates, they are also unpaid. They give up their own time to help others and raise money for the hospital Comfort Fund, which goes back into helping the patients. You will note from comments in the video, this is a very satisfying use of your spare time. Why not think of joining up.

'Your Hospital Needs YOU'
Donald
Publicity

North West London Hospitals Trust Board 25 June 2008

There was an interesting variety of issues raised at this meeting.

First, the good news. The (national) A & E target of dealing with at least 98% of patients within 4 hours is now being met regularly. Last year the trust averaged just under the target. Now the target is being met regularly, in one recent week the Trust achieved 98.81%. This is largely due to some reorganisation and better monitoring of what happens. MRSA is slightly up on target, 10 cases instead of 6, C.Diff is much better than target, 41 instead of an expected 57.

Next, some of the problem areas. We had the report of the Annual Inpatient Survey, for the period October – December 2007. This is the (national) Healthcare Commission’s report. At this trust 850 patients were asked to complete the survey forms but only about 350 (42%) did so, compared to a national response rate of 56%. On the whole the responses for NWLH were not very good, in the 20% worst performing trusts in 44 out of the 62 questions. Actually, most of the London hospitals did badly, especially the outer London ones. Among the best performing ones nationally were those who deal only with planned treatments, i.e. Royal Marsden. Figures for CMH were generally better than those for NPH. But one has to be careful in interpreting the figures, as several of the questions were subjective (e.g. ‘Did you find the food excellent, good, bad?). And some people don’t give correct answers: there are some matters where the survey answers contradict independent figures the hospital has its own figures, for instance on bed usage.

The quality of record keeping came up on other matters, too. First, resulting from the merger of Northwick Park and Central Middlesex, there are duplicate records, as the two hospitals had separate systems. Some people have been patients at both hospitals and the result is that records exist at both sites for the same patient. Combining these is proving difficult. But there is more, some patients give their names in different forms, even at the same hospital, again resulting in separate records. And people may also make mistakes in recording what they are told. It’s a big problem for the trust, in preparation for unified NHS records for the new national system. Steps are now being taken, by appointing additional staff and installing more equipment. There is also a problem of ‘cashing up’ outpatient records, because information is being missed especially in busy clinics. This has potential financial consequences.


Paul (once again, the only member of the public in attendance!)

No.3 Video - PATHOLOGY

Pathology, everyone has their own name for the nurses that take our blood samples. As I was on my way in I met a couple of patients with the tell tale cottonwool on the arm, 'just seen the Vampires' , the other had just come from Transylvania. I call John, The Count till I eventually asked someone the correct name. The Phlebotomist. Now we all know.
Donald
Publicity Officer