On Monday 31st October, Kelly Tolhust MP visited the Medway Maritime Hospital to mark the next crucial phase of the Emergency Department’s redevelopment.
The NHS recently approved the final stage of the redevelopment programme which is due to be completed by the end of 2017 and will benefit the 100,000 patients who visit the Emergency Department each year.
Kelly was delighted to celebrate this milestone with the hospital and said on the visit,
“It was an honour to be able to celebrate this momentous event which will see a considerable improvement in the department’s service and capacity. This is a vital area for the hospital’s overall performance, responsible for treating life-threatening conditions and major injuries.
The staff at Medway do a fantastic job day in, day out and it is vital they can treat and care for their patients in an environment that is modern and fit for purpose. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this project develops over the coming year.”
Senior Matron in the Emergency Department, Clare Hughes, was also present at the visit and said,
“We’re delighted the next and most crucial stage of works has now started in earnest. As the only hospital in the area, it is extremely important that we have sufficient capacity to help us deal with the sheer volume of patients that we see year-on-year”.
On completion, the Emergency Development will have twenty-four bays in majors, seven bays in resuscitation, and ten in the Clinical Decisions Unit. This follows from the redevelopment of the children’s Emergency Department in 2014 and the minors’ area in 2015. Given recent capacity challenges, these developments have come at a pivotal moment and demonstrate a strong understanding of constituents’ needs and priorities.
Kelly is looking forward to monitoring the progress of the Medway Maritime Hospital’s Emergency Department and will be visiting again in the near future.