Lewisham Hospital Update

 

Bad weather is always going to have an impact on hospitals so I went to Lewisham Hospital on the 8th of January to see Tim Higginson the Chief Executive.

 

The first issue we discussed was that of the Big Freeze. The Hospital had taken steps to ensure that staff were able to come into work in spite of the weather by opening up the car parks and opening an additional crèche on site for staff to use. While many elective surgeries were cancelled, the hospital was able to cope with any broken wrists or other injuries that came into A&E.

 

The issue of patient safety was the main reason for meeting. The hospital was rated in the Top 40 Hospitals by CHKS, an independent provider of healthcare intelligence and quality improvement services that rates patient safety as its top priority. However in another recent hospital guide the hospital scored badly. The Chief Executive went through this discrepancy.

 

It was clear that the Dr Foster report had taken a different balance of criteria for patient safety – giving greater emphasis to reporting requirements than to hospital infection rates.

 

“I was pleased to be reassured on patient safety. While I am glad that the hospital is not being complacent about receiving a poor report I am relieved that this report doesn’t seem to fit with the views of other independent ratings.

 

I’d be pleased to hear from any constituents who views about their hospital treatment.”