Neil MacDonald

Garret Anderson

Elizabeth Garrett-Anderson was born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk and was one of the first female doctors - read her story here. It has taken a long time for her to be recognised in her home county but it seems fitting that the new expansion at Ipswich Hospital will be named the Garrett-Anderson Centre.

This will be a wonderful facility and will hopefully ease the pressure on many overworked departments.  The hospital have just applied for planning permission, having sorted out the finances.  The Garret Anderson centre will be opened in 2007.

This new £26 million centre will bring much-needed capacity to the hospital:

• new Accident and Emergency department
• a critical care centre
• day surgery suite
• theatres and beds solely for planned operations - so patients don't have their operations repeatedly cancelled

All good stuff.

Hartismere update

During a visit to the North of the constituency, I was told of problems at Hartismere hospital involving ward closures and spending cuts.  There were also worries that no patients from Ipswich were allowed into the hospital because there was no funding for them.  So I contacted the head of the local PCT asked him about it.  He has now provided a written response which says

• There are no plans to close any further wards in the immediate future
• There is not a spending freeze at Hartismere although there are "significant financial constraints"
• No restraint on Ipswich patients

I will meet with him soon to discuss the way forward for Hartismere and community hospitals in general.

The Common Cold

This is more of a public service broadcast than a party political one but as I have been struck with a cold I thought I'd share my research with you.

Cardiff University has a Cold Centre where people volunteer to be infected with the common cold in the aid of research.  Very brave people!

I think their website is worth a look.  No chance of a vaccine as there are over 200 cold viruses to cover and also the vaccine couldn't have any side-effects (as the cold isn't that bad). 

Colds spread through sneezing and best way to avoid a cold developing is to keep your nose warm. 

Public service over.  Normal service will be resumed.

Healthport

I was pleased to read that a Healthport is planned for a location near Ipswich.  They are provided by a private operator (Vanguard Healthcare) to NHS standards and are designed to provide day surgery.  They are placed at a GP surgery and can be built in six weeks.  The Healthport can bring in mobile surgery units with specialist facilities if required and these just dock onto the Healthport.

I think that this scheme will provide a better service to people who have a significant travelling time to hospital and help reducing waiting lists. A higher rate of patient throughput is achieved because units can concentrate on a single operation in a purpose built unit.

Did I mention that waiting lists are down? Again! Figures released yesterday showed that in November 2004 the waiting list stood at 844,000 - a fall of 13,000 since October and the lowest since records began in September 1987.

Waiting lists down

NHS patient waiting lists are down again!

At the end of September, 856,600 people were waiting for treatment - a fall of 4,500 from the previous month.

The 0.5% decrease also means waiting lists have fallen for nine months in a row - the first time that has happened.

The last time waiting lists were this low was September 1987.

Overall, waiting lists have fallen by 300,000 since March 1997 while the number waiting for more than six months has fallen by 100,000 in the last year.

FANTASTIC NEWS!

Mental Heath

I spent half a day last week going round the facilities on offer for Mental Health to constituents of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.  One in four people will have mental health problems at some point in their life, a surprisingly high figure.  It's important that facilities are good so that appropriate treatment can be given early to prevent problems getting worse.

The current facilities need upgrading as they are not up to the standards expected today: patients should be in single rooms with ensuite for privacy during treatment, offices should not be near the treatment areas and consulting rooms need to be the appropriate size.  The Mental Health Trust has a plan to change the model of care with more emphasis on treating patients in their own homes (where they feel more comfortable) rather than putting people in hospital.  Early assessment is the key to this and close working between the Health Trust and Social Services.

I was impressed by the professional attitude of the staff I met and the need for a fundamental shift in the philosophy of care.  I hope that funding from the Strategic Health Authority is forthcoming.

Matron's Charter

I'm really pleased to see that a Head Nurse has been appointed. I'm especially pleased to see that Chris Beasley will prioritise improving hospital cleanliness and tackling hospital acquired infections such as MRSA, estimated to cause at least 5,000 deaths a year.

To coincide with her appointment, John Reid also published a Matron's Charter, a "no nonsense" guide that outlines the role that all hospital staff should play in improving hospital hygiene.

A key point on the Charter is
- Do you have a rapid reliable way of responding to patient comments?

I think that the most important role of Modern Matrons is to be available to take on concerns raised by the public - usually people visiting sick relatives - about any aspect of hospital life. I think this will lead to a better and more pleasant stay in hospital. Of course fighting the superbug with first class hygiene is also very important and is reflected in the top priority of the Chief Nurse.