Exciting developments ahead for East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust

Source: Healthcare Digital UK site

Date :26/11/2007 12:09:42

Director of Operations Jim Davey tells us about East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust and how it is working to extend its provisions for the future.

Written by Alison Withers and produced by Paul Radbourne

East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust (ESHT) was formed in April 2002 in the second wave of trust status. It combined two existing trusts, Eastbourne Hospitals NHS Trust and Hastings & Rother NHS Trust. It Is one of the largest employers in East Sussex, which has a traditionally elderly population.

Jim Davey (pictured), 42, is Director of Operations (elective) trained as a nurse and previously managed in Surgery and Anaesthetics for five years. He has been in his current post for 17 months.

New initiatives

The Trust Board has 11 members, including chief executive Kim Hodgson, six non-executive directors and is supported by five other directors each with responsibility for a sector of the activities of a large organization.

In 2006-2007 the Trust treated 94,548 inpatients and day cases (almost 1 in 4 of the population) 97,058 patients in the two A & E departments, 322,941 out-patients and maternity staff delivered 4,018 babies.

“We strive to have very good general hospitals with a good response to patient needs,” Jim says. Bexhill, has the highest elderly population in Western Europe and Eastbourne is a famously popular retirement area. This demographic profile means the Trust has developed considerable expertise in care of the elderly, and is currently planning a dedicated Stroke centre. “Stroke patients have a specific set of physical and emotional circumstances and if you don’t start rehabilitation as soon as possible there’s a significant impact on recovery and quality of life in the future. Managing elderly care is not without its difficulties and we see it as a patient need.”

ESHT has one of the lowest figures for pre operative bed days in comparison with the national figures and a high performance in cancer care, meeting three targets – for referral, diagnosis and treatment. The hospital is one of the top performers in the country.

The Trust has introduced several initiatives which it sees as key to its high service standards. One of these is its excellent communication with the PCT (Primary Care Trust) and local GPs to ensure continuity of care for patients between hospital and home.

Jim Davey highlights two hospital-based initiatives: “We have a matron on site 24 hours a day. Their responsibility is to manage the site and visit every ward in the hospitals. They do spot checks on cleanliness, staffing levels, patient dignity, food and promote understanding of the basic level of requirements for patients. The wards have their own teams so it’s to everyone’s advantage to do the best they can.”

The Trust has also resisted contracting out cleaning services and all its cleaners are directly employed. While Jim accepts there can be financial benefits of contracting out, he argues that there are other aspects of patient care that are more important, for example in...

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