What's new in April in Hillingdon Hospital?

Resignation of the Chairman

The Chairman, Tony Valentine, has announced his resignation, effective on the 1st July.

Accident and Emergency Department activity

Demand has recently escalated with an extra 35 to 40 patients per day in A&E, mostly between 8pm and midnight. So Hillingdon Hospital failed to meet the national target of treating all A&E patients within four hours of arrival. In April its rate dropped to 96.4%, bottom for London and in the lowest quartile nationally. So, the Trust has been summoned to discuss its action plan with NHS London. Additional staff are being introduced on evening shifts.

Finance
2008-09 was very challenging, with the combined pressures of achieving the 18 week target, very high energy and utility price rises, and a large increase in agency staff use. Never-the-less, the Trust delivered its best performance on national and local targets and ended the year with efficiency savings of £4.7m. The highest earning departments were Obstetrics and Trauma / Orthopaedics, followed by Accident & Emergency.

Flu Pandemic
In a recent audit of preparations for a possible ‘flu pandemic the hospital scored an assessment of 98%. This was a national audit, in which the London average was a score of 82%, so The Hillingdon Hospital was considered well prepared

MRSA Screening
It is hoped that all elective patients will be screened for MRSA by the end of April or early May. All inpatients after two weeks are now re-screened every 14 days to assist in the identification of high-risk patients.

Pressure ulcers
A successful pressure ulcer awareness week was launched in March to raise awareness among both staff and the public.

Joan Davis