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Introducing the Medical Unit |
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Written by Debbie Palmer
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The Interim General manager for Medicine is Pat Rubin. The lead Consultant (Clinical Director) for the Medical Directorate is Dr. D Fluck. The Head of Nursing for Acute Care is Susan Hardy.
The Medical Unit comprises of some wards plus specialist areas at St Peters' Hospital and some wards and specialist areas at Ashford Hospital. The Matron for May CCU, Birch, Medical HDU and Aspen Wards is Debbie Palmer, Holly and Cedar and Maple wards is Kathryn Wood and Chaucer, Wordsworth and Fielding Wards at Ashford Hospital is Sarah Hill.
Medical unit at Ashford Hospital (AH)
The Unit admits patients transferred from St Peter's Hospital for rehabilitation purposes. AH does not have an A&E Dept. AH has a Walking Centre and a Rapid Assessment Centre (RAC). The RAC is managed by the Medical Directorate. The Unit has 3 Rehabilitation Wards and one of them specialises in Stroke. The wards are predominately consultant based.
Medical unit at St Peter's hospital
The Unit which admits about 19,000 patients per year, comprises 6 medical wards, a 7 bedded Coronary Care; 4 bedded Medical High Dependency Unit and the Haematology Day Unit. The wards are predominantly Consultant ward based and our dedicated Coronary Care provides facilities for ambulatory monitoring.
We offer a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation programme to all our patients. With the on-site cardiac catheterisation laboratory the cardiologists at the Trust are providing an on-site angiographic and pacing service. A full medical take is operated on St Peter's Site.
Learner nurses
At both sites, we have Diploma and Degree student nurses allocated to the wards. We also accommodate post-registration course members and overseas nurses undertaking a period of supervised practice. We have Health Care Assistants and Cadet Nurses on the medical wards that are being trained to NVQ Levels II & III. Patient care is mostly managed on the basis of Team Nursing. We also sponsor HCA's to undertake their student nurse training.
Philosophy of care
- We aim to ensure that the patient stay with us will live up to their highest expectations.
- The care patients/relatives receive will be safe, provided by skilled personnel, with access to a range of specialised services.
- This personal care will be of a high standard and provided in an atmosphere of warmth and friendliness.
- Implicit in the care delivered is the promise that confidentiality, open communication, and respect for religious and cultural beliefs will be maintained by all staff involved.
- Advice, support, counselling and health education will be provided to help patients and their families obtain the most from their stay with us, in readiness for discharge.
Commitment to new staff
We offer the following:
- A personalised comprehensive induction/orientation programme within a defined time scale.
- Support from the Matrons, Clinical Practitioner Educator and Divisional Head of Nursing to ensure effectiveness and efficiency in the workplace.
- A personalised development plan will be agreed between you and your mentor to ensure that you gain the experience required and have the opportunity to pursue any areas of development.
- A Preceptor/Mentor will be allocated for the first few weeks or months (as applicable) and where possible an experienced member of staff will work with you during the first two weeks (if applicable).
Senior Clinical Practitioner Educator
We have a dedicated Senior Clinical Practitioner Educator (CPE), Jo Finch, within the Medical Unit. The focus of the CPE is to support staff in clinical areas to develop and maintain clinical practice knowledge and skills which enhances the clinical competence of individuals and teams and improve provision of the fundamentals of care. The CPE also co-ordinates and supports individual staff nurses (including Return-to-Practice and Supervised Practice Nurses) through a programme that develops their knowledge and skills and produces a competent workforce with a low attrition rate. Pager 8122 ext 2618
Consultant Nurses
We have three Consultant Nurses in Medicine.
- Maggie Carr, Consultant Nurse in Rheumatology
- Lesley Spencer, Consultant Nurse in Lung Cancer.
- Margaret Wilkie, Consultant Nurse, Macmillan Services
Specialist nursing roles in medicine
- Advanced Specialist Practitioner in Cardiac Rehabilitation / Secondary Prevention
- Advanced Specialist Practitioner in Cardiology
- Cardiac Research Co-ordinator
- Research Nurses
- Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist - Advanced Practitioner
- Macmillan Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Advanced Specialist Practitioner in Diabetes
- Specialist Practitioner in Diabetes
- Advanced Specialist Practitioner in Rheumatology
- Specialist Practitioner in Rheumatology
- Advanced Specialist Practitioner in Haematology
- Advanced Specialist Practitioner in Haematology
- Advanced Specialist Practitioner in Stroke
Practice Development Units (PDU)
We have a Practice Development Unit (PDU) in the following areas within Medicine : - Chaucer Ward, Maple Ward. Both areas have been achieved Stage 2 accreditation.
The PDU, a multi-professional approach, is a patient centred framework that enables the development of creativity and innovation in practice. It facilitates practice that is leading edge and evidence based, and harbours a "bottom up" approach to improving care where any individual, regardless of rank within the unit hierarchy, can be instrumental in taking good ideas forward.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 February 2011 10:23 )
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