Heatherwood Hospital 1992

Op' Waiting Lists Reducing

Health bosses are taking John Major's Patients Charter as their lead in reducing waiting lists at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital.
In the charter hospitals are asked to guarantee patients an operation or treatment within two years of joining a waiting list.
And from April, no one using Heatherwood or Wexham Park will be expected to wait longer than two years for the first time since 1977.
Chief executive of East Berkshire Health Authority David Treloar said: "In the last couple of years performance, in terms of waiting lists, has been encouraging.
"By the end of March, 1992, we are confidently expecting no patients from East Berkshire will be waiting longer than two years for an admission.
"This has never been the case in the last 15 years. What we have seen is a better use of resources and much clearer targeting in the use of our resources. "What we would like to do is take it one stage further and see how we can bring down times even further."
He added: "We will have extra investment by the middle of next year with day surgery at Heatherwood. "This gives us a real opportunity to build on the existing high level of day surgery work that is being done."
But the ball isn't just on the bosses feet. They want to see more patients keeping appointments at the hospital. Chairman of the health authority Richard Eassie said patients often failed to turn up for appointments without giving an explanations.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 16/01/1992

 

Unborn Baby ID Ban After Abortion Fear

By Post Reporter Pregnant women who want to know their baby's sex before birth are being refused because of fears the information could lead to an abortion.
East Berkshire Health Authority imposed the ruling amid worries that ethnic groups might terminate unwanted girls in families where boys are preferred.
Ultrasound scans, carried out to check on development and health of the foetus, often reveal the sex of the unborn child.
But a poster at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, tells parents to be not to ask for the information.
It says: "No sex here: We do not scan to determine the sex of your unborn child, so please do not ask."
The hospital has confirmed its policy is not to reveal the sex of a child before birth.
It said there were concerns that if an ethnic minority family already had several girls, the mother might have an abortion if it was discovered she was carrying another girl.
It stressed the scan was intended to check on the baby's well-being and development.
Avinash Batta, a mother who manages the Slough Asian Women's Association, said: "Many of the Asian parents do not want lots of girls in the family.
"If the women are due to give birth to another one, the family may want them to terminate the pregnancy.
"Most of the women in the Asian community are quite happy about the ruling not to tell parents what sex their child is going to be."
Her husband said: "Because of our customs, everybody wants their wife to give birth to a boy, but in my opinion whatever happens should make you happy."
Extract Evening Post 23/01/1992

 

Surgeons to Cut Hospital Waits

Two new surgeons are to join two major East Berkshire hospitals to allow more operations to take place.
They will specialise in Genito-urology and vascular surgery.
Nigel Crisp, general manager of Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, and Wexham Park Hospital at Slough, said: "We wanted to extend the range of services we offer.
"This will allow us to improve quality and service for patients rather than them having to travel to other hospitals. "It will also allow us to reduce our waiting list times."
Extract Evening Post 27/01/1992

 

Baby's sex - Don't Ask

Expectant mothers, wanting to know the sex of their unborn babies, will be out of luck in East Berkshire.
For East Berkshire Health Authority is keeping mum about the sex of unborn babies, fearing that 'prior knowledge' could lead to abortions.
Ultrasound scans, carried out to check on development and health of the foetus, often reveal the sex of the unborn child.
But a poster at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, tells parents-to-be not to ask for the information.
It says: "No sex here: We do not scan to determine the sex of your unborn child, so please do not ask."
The ruling has been imposed amid worries that ethnic groups might take advantage of the information to terminate unwanted girl babies in families where boys are preferred.
A Heatherwood spokesman said that there were concerns that if an ethnic minority family already had several girl children, the mother might have an abortion if it was discovered she was carrying another girl.
It stressed that the scan was intended to check on the baby's well-being and development.
Stefan Cantore, spokesman for the hospital, said although the policy was in force, staff would talk to families about any fears and concerns.
He said: "If there are family circumstances which need talking through we would do that."
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 30/01/1992

 

Two More Surgeons Will Speedup Heatherwood Operations

The appointment of two new consultant surgeons will speed up the rate of operations in East Berkshire. The surgeons, who will be appointed later this year, will be based at both Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital and Slough's Wexham Park Hospital and specialist in Genito-urology and vascular surgery.
Vascular surgery involves the replacement or clearing of blood vessels in cases such as thrombosis or varicose veins, while urology deals with kidney, bladder and prostrate problems such as kidney stones. The new appointments will mean more speciality surgery can take place.
It will also mean an increase in the amount of surgery as the senior surgeons being replaced are only taking partial retirement and will continue with some of their own general surgery.
Nigel Crisp, unit general manager of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals, said: "We are improving our service to patients all the time. We wanted to extend the range of services we offer and are therefore employing more specialists in more areas.
"This will allow us to improve quality and increase our local service to East Berkshire patients rather than them having to travel to other hospitals outside the area.
It will also allow us to reduce our waiting lists."
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 06/02/1992

 

Treatment for Injuries Speeded Up

By Dawn Doherty Health reporter
Hundreds of Berkshire patients suffering painful injuries are now able to get physiotherapy treatment more speedily.
A new referral system at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, and Wexham Park, Slough, means patients are now seen within three weeks.
Previously, they could face a wait of months for treatment for back pain or neck injuries.
Under the new "direct access" system, a GP can arrange an appointment for a patient by a phone call or referral form.
Emergency cases can be seen immediately while others will have a waiting time of up to three weeks.
Previously, most patients had to first see their family doctor, then be sent to a hospital specialist who would refer them to the rehabilitation department.
Bobbie Jarvis, rehabilitation services manager, said: "We offer physiotherapy services which include assessment and a programme of treatment and advice on exercises and prevention of injury."
Extract Evening Post 13/02/1992

 

Cash to Provide Beds for Elderly

By Justine Morris
A Multi-Million pound scheme to upgrade services for the elderly in East Berkshire has been approved.
East Berkshire Health Authority has agreed a $7.3 million investment plan to provide more than 100 extra beds for pensioners in hospitals across the county.
A new 40-bed unit will be provided at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, for the assessment and treatment of acutely ill patients.
And a specialist rehabilitation centre at King Edward VII Hospital in Windsor will provide 96 in- patient beds and a 30 place day hospital.
Health authority bosses say they are convinced doctors, nurses and patients will benefit from grouping together beds for the elderly.
Richard Essie, East Berkshire Health Authority chairman, said: "This is an historic decision which sets the pattern for services for elderly patients for the foreseeable future.
"We believe it has major advantages.
It offers more acute beds for people who need urgent treatment." Building work on the two new projects is expected to start in 1993.
Extract Evening Post 25/02/1992

 

Health Bodies' Closer Links

Hospital Trusts and Health Councils in Berkshire have pledged to work more closely with local people.
Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals' Trust and East Berkshire Community Health Council have decided to strengthen their partnership to develop their existing links with the community.
Representatives from the trusts and the community health council will meet once a year to discuss proposed big changes.
Sue Hann, East Berkshire Community Health Council Manager, said: "We feel these proposals set a good basis on which we can all participate in planning for the future of hospital services in East Berkshire.
"We can reassure health service users in East Berkshire their views will continue to be taken into account.
" Nigel Crisp, Chief Executive Designate of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals' Trust, also welcomed the move.
He said: "Our intention as we move into Trust status from April 1 is to improve and develop our links with the community."
Extract Evening Post 25/02/1992

 

Patients Will Have Say

Patients at a South Bucks hospital have been told they will have just as much say in the level of treatment they receive once it opts out.
The pledge comes after hospital managers and the community health council met to hammer out their new relationship for the NHS trust at Wexham Park Hospital.
Legislation covering the setting up of NHS trusts removes the statutory right of CHCs to monitor health care provided.
But shadow board members of the Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals' Trust gave their assurances that patients' views will continue to be put forward and considered by health managers and senior doctors.
Regular consultations with East Berks CHC will continue and two joint meetings will be held each year.
"We are very pleased with the positive proposals put to us," said CHC manager Sue Hann.
"We can reassure health service users that their views will continue to be taken into account and expressed forcefully to those responsible for providing hospital based services."
Chief executive designate of the new trust, Nigel Crisp, said: "Our intention as we move into trust status from April 1 is not to reduce our links with the community but rather improve and develop them."
Extract Advertiser 04/03/1992

 

Double Dose Of Hospital

Marion McMullen TV Reporter
Life often imitates fiction for Beresford Le Roy, one of the stars of ITV's hit comedy Surgical Spirit.
Thirty-year-old Beresford's primary job is teaching anaesthetics at the Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot.
He said: "It's uncanny sometimes when we've just been filming a scene for Surgical Spirit I can come back to work at the hospital and have virtually the same thing happen to me.
"Most of the hospital scenes are pretty accurate even though it's comedy.
I do a lot of the technical advising for the programme too."
But Beresford, who plays Michael Sampson, admits when it comes down to making a choice between acting and medicine, it is medicine which comes first.
"When I left school my mother was always keen for me to get some academic training and so I studied medicine and eventually did an anaesthetics course in Holland.
"When I came back I started to dabble in acting, mainly plays, but they're too time consuming now."
His colleagues at his real life hospital are all keen viewers of the antics of fiery surgeon Sheila Sabatini, played by Nichola McAuliffe, and Jonathan Haslam, alias actor Duncan Preston.
Beresford said: "I get on well with all the cast. After nearly four years of the series, I still get the same enjoyment out of it."
Despite a heavy work schedule, Beresford still finds time for hobbies like flying and teaching karate.
He added: "I find that many of my actor friends have to sit by the phone waiting for jobs. Basically I like to keep myself occupied and still have plenty of spare time."
Extract Evening Post 05/03/1992

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The image Captioned:"Actor finds his real-life anaesthetics role can mirror TV comedy scripts Laughter medicine: Beresford Le Roy (second from left at back) with the rest of the cast, back row, from left, Emlyn Price, Suzette Llewellyn and David Conville; front, Marji Campi, Duncan Preston, Nichola McAuliffe and Lyndam Gregory".
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photo here.

 

Beresford's TV Role is Close to Truth

There can't be too many young actors who swop their usual job for a television role of almost exactly the same occupation.
Yet Beresford le Roy Michael from Granada's hit hospital comedy Surgical Spirit has done just that.
For his role of Operating Department Practitioner at Granada's fictitious Gillies Hospital is not far removed from real life for 30-year-old Beresford.
When he's not appearing in Surgical Spirit, Beresford works as a training officer teaching anaesthetics at the Heatherwood Hospital is Ascot.
"It's uncanny sometimes, when we've just been filming a scene for Surgical Spirit I can come back to work at the hospital and have virtually the same thing happen to me.
Most of the hospital scenes are pretty accurate even though it's a comedy I do a lot of the technical advising for the programme, too," adds Beresford.
But as he juggles a full-time job working for the National Health Service with a thriving career as an actor, Beresford admits that his medical career does come first.
"When I left school my mother was always keen for me to get some academic training and so I studied medicine and eventually went on to do an anaesthetics course in Holland.
When I came back, I started to dabble in acting, mainly plays, but they're much too time consuming now.
Extract Hull Daily News 06/03/1992

 

Tory Power Threatened

A massive bedrock of support for the Tories in East Berkshire has given the party free rein to pursue many of its most radical national policies in the constituency.
This makes health, the problems of over development and the economy key issues at the Bracknell hustings.
Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital will be in its second week as a trust hospital on election day.
And the constituency is currently besieged by hundreds of builders, working on a 4,000 home mini-town in the heart of the north Bracknell countryside.
The economic growth of the mid-1980s paved the way for a high-tech boom in Bracknell. BMW made their UK base in the town, along with Panasonic, Waitrose, ICL and Siemens-Nixdorf.
But the onset of recession and defence cutbacks have taken their toll and could lead to a closer election race than has been seen in the constituency for many years.
British Aerospace moved out of the town, taking 2,000 jobs with it, and big-name companies such as Ferranti have been forced to streamline their workforces.
Many small businesses have folded and there is more than one million sq ft of vacant office space in the town. Despite the recession, Tory candidate Andrew MacKay has a good record of defending local causes.
Successful campaigns which he has been involved with during his time as MP include: The accident and emergency, maternity and paediatric services at Heatherwood.
Labour candidate Keith Dibble He fears patients using Heatherwood will suffer as a Tory government would continue to under fund the health service.
But Liberal Democrat Linda Murray, who stepped into the fray after former candidate Chris Curtis moved to another seat, believes her party is a close second to Mr MacKay.
She wants to see: A community hospital in Bracknell, backed by long term care facilities for the elderly.
Extract Evening Post 24/03/1992

 

Shake-Up Should Help Out Elderly

by Philip Reynolds
Elderly patients in East Berkshire may soon have the benefit of a new 40-bed unit at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot.
In a radical shake-up of patient care for the elderly, the East Berkshire Health Authority plans to spend £7.3 million on the Heatherwood unit and another 96 beds at the King Edward VII hospital in Windsor.
The new unit at Heatherwood would provide 40 acute beds for patients suffering strokes and other such serious illnesses. The unit will be backed up with rehabilitation facilities for the further assessment and treatment of the patients.
The rehabilitation will mainly take place at the King Edward VII hospital.
The arrival of the specialist unit at Heatherwood will, however, mean the closure of eight general beds there and the same amount at Wexham Park in Slough.
The net gain would therefore be 24 beds in all.
The plans will be discussed in working groups over a three month consultation period and the watchdog Community Health Council must submit written responses to East Berkshire Health Authority by June 12. A health authority spokesman said: "The proposals represent a major improvement in the provision of services for elderly people in East Berkshire.
"The new development will consolidate the role of Heatherwood in providing services for elderly people who live in the south of the district. "There will be more beds for the elderly and these will be in far better accommodation."
The spokesman added that the proposals would probably create jobs as additional nursing, and paramedical staff would be needed.
East Berkshire Health Authority is due to make a final decision on the plans in July at the end of the consultation period.
Extract Bracknell Times 09/04/1992

 

Hospitals Will Treat More Sick

Thousands more people will be treated at two Berkshire hospitals following plans to boost patient services.
Health bosses at the new Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals Trust have unveiled their proposals for the year ahead.
Their main aim is to increase the number of patients treated in East Berkshire by at least ten per cent.
This means an extra 4,000 people could receive hospital treatment every year.
Nigel Crisp, chief executive of the Trust said: "We have set out plans for improving services for patients in East Berkshire and how we are going to do it.
"They are ambitious plans for the future."
Other features of the plan include:-
A reduction in hospital waiting time by investing more than £5 million in new buildings and equipment. Setting up a stroke unit at Wexham Park to provide a treatment and prevention service.
Opening a purpose built day surgery unit at Heatherwood Hospital.
Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals officially took up their trust status on April 1 this year.
Between 1992/3, the hospitals expect to earn about £57 million from contracts with health authorities and GP fund holders and a further $4 million from patients referred outside regular contracts.
Extract Evening Post 22/04/1992

 

Meetings on Health Plans

Patient watchdogs are staging two public meetings on East Berkshire Health Authority's proposed reorganised services for the elderly.
The meetings will be held at Windsor Guildhall next Wednesday (7pm) and on May 5 at Upton Hospital, Slough.
East Berkshire Community Health Council is gathering comments from local people on the proposals, which include a new unit at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital and concentrating long-stay beds at King Edward VII Hospital, Windsor.
Extract Evening Post 23/04/1992

 

Hospital Says "Trust In Us"

More patients Less waiting More wards
  By Philip Reynolds
More patients and shorter waiting lists that's the "ambitious" aim of the newly launched Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals Trust.
Management chiefs last week unveiled the business plan for the first year of Heatherwood and Wexham's launch as a trust which began on April 1 this year.
Outline proposals include a bid to increase the number of patients by around 10 per cent equal to an extra 4,000 people receiving treatment in the two hospitals over the next year.
Trust chief executive Nigel Crisp said that the new trust hoped to treat just under 43,000 patients this year compared with just under 39,000 last year when it was a shadow trust.
He said: "We have set out ambitious plans for improving services for the patients of East Berkshire." He added that the plans were looking to the future and included a target of treating 10 per cent more patients.
Granting hospitals trust status is the main thrust of the Conservative governments health reforms.
The main difference to the way hospitals are run under the new system is that they manage their own income rather than being financed by regional and district health authorities via central government.
The aim is to give the trust hospitals greater autonomy in spending their resources in specific areas of health care they feel is necessary.
As a trust, Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals in effect have to provide the health care services which health authorities and GPs now purchase off them.
The total projected income for the Heatherwood and Wexham Trust for the year 1992-93 is over £61 million.
About £57 million of this is expected to come from contracts with the purchasers (i.e health authorities) and in addition the trust management expect another £4 million income to be generated by private patients and non-patient services.
Mr Crisp said the other main features of the business plan included:
A reduction in hospital waiting time by investing more than £5 million in new buildings and equipment. Setting up a stroke unit at Wexham Park to provide a treatment and prevention service.
Opening a purpose built day surgery unit at Heatherwood Hospital which will allow more patients to be treated on a day care basis.
Trust chairman Brian Smith said: "Our aim is to run good quality units like a good quality hotel. "This is what people expect these days."
Extract Bracknell Times 30/04/1992

 

Hospital Sets Up Inquiry

Health chiefs at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot have launched an inquiry into the death of a patient in their care.
The investigation was put into motion following allegations by a pensioner's grief stricken family.
Henry Ricketts, 79, died in Heatherwood on April 13, 10 days after he had been admitted following a heavy fall at his Forest Park home.
Now Henry's family, including wife Violet and son Colin, have written to Heatherwood complaining of the poor treatment they claim he was given.
Stefan Cantore, director of patient services at Heatherwood, confirmed that the hospital had received a letter from the family and were acting upon it.
He said: "We are investigating the allegations the family made when writing to us."
Extract Ascot & Bracknell Times 11/06/1992

 

£400,000 Surgery Unit to Help Clear Waiting Lists

By Jim Stevens
Hundreds more patients will be treated at a Berkshire hospital following the opening of a £400,000 day surgery unit.
The new unit at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital, which took just 19 weeks to build and has 14 beds, will treat between 25 and 50 patients a week.
It will provide a wide range of operations, including the removal of moles and small tumours.
And for the first time at Heatherwood, surgeons will perform ear, nose, and throat operations, and plastic surgery.
The unit, which opened yesterday, will take patients from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and has access to an operating theatre through an adjoining corridor.
Mary Lamont, sister of the day surgery unit, said: "We are absolutely delighted with the day surgery unit and looking forward to being very busy.
"We have had to take on extra staff to deal with the workload and will be able to help in clearing some people off certain waiting lists.
"Day surgery is the speciality of the future.
More and more operations will be able to be carried out, with new techniques and equipment, on a day care basis.
"Patients find it so much more pleasant only having to come into hospital for a day rather than having to be admitted."
It may even be possible for out-patients awaiting plastic surgery to be referred immediately from the clinic to the day surgery unit for their operation.
Sister Lamont said: "We are working out the logistics of it but if it were possible it would be absolutely ideal for patients."
Stefan Cantore, director of patient services, said: "We have a firm commitment to increasing services at Heatherwood Hospital.
"The new Heatherwood/Wexham Park trust wants to see the hospital grow.
We are thrilled with the new day surgery unit, which will care for the people of East Berkshire, with easy access for people in the south."
Extract Evening Post 07/07/1992

 

Accountants Boost Charity

More than 18 staff from accountants Touche Ross helped raise £1,000 for charity in a sponsored cycle ride.
The staff, from the firm's Bracknell office, all completed the Three Counties Cycle Ride.
They were among hundreds of cyclists who braved wet and windy weather to complete the course, which passes through Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey.
The money raised by the firm will go to charities including the World Wide Fund for Nature and multiple sclerosis research.
Rob Groom, manager, said: "Despite poor weather conditions we all managed to complete the ride. As yet we are still unsure how much we have raised, but we have already exceeded our target of £1,000."
This is the company's second fundraising effort this year.
In April the company raised money for a new ultrasound scanner at Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital by taking part in a sponsored bowling match.
Extract Evening Post 16/07/1992

 

Day Centre Faces Axe

by Philip Reynolds
A day centre used by the mentally disabled in Bracknell may face permanent closure.
The Whitmarsh Centre at Coopers Hill has already shut down for the summer and while its fate is decided.
The centre is run by Berkshire County Council social services with help and input from mental health organisation MIND.
A spokesman for the county said: "Not enough people are using the centre and it is thought that the Whitmarsh Centre is no longer a very good use of resources.
"Also staff leaving has created difficulties and the social services have decided to shut the centre down while they carry out a review."
She said some of the users of the centre had started going to the new mental health day unit at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot instead.
Before it was closed only five or six people a day were using the unit. This may mean it might close down altogether she said.
Ex-borough mayor and MIND helper Eddie Thompson said it was a shame that this had to happen to the five year old centre.
Its fate would probably be decided by September, he said, and in the mean time people could use the new day unit at Heatherwood.
Extract Bracknell Times 30/07/1992

 

Cops Above It All

Three Bracknell policemen will be above the law on September 9.
In fact at 3,500ft over the Gower Peninsula in Swansea they will be above most things.
This is the date that Insp Dilip Amin and PCs Kevin Spiller and Dick Miller are jumping from a plane to raise money to buy hospital equipment.
The intrepid threesome are hoping their feat of daring will attract enough sponsors for them to buy a £1,400 incubator for the special baby care unit at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot.
If they raise more it will go towards an £8,000 incubator.
Insp Amin who did a parachute jump a few years ago said the unit urgently required new equipment.
"Sheer terror" were the words he used to describe the moment the call to jump came, but he said this is replaced by exhilaration in a few seconds.
Anybody interested in contributing can contact the officers at Bracknell police station on 0344-862626.
Extract Bracknell Times 06/08/1992

 

Phone Times Cut

Hospitals in east Berkshire have slashed the time it takes to answer the telephone.
Response times for telephone calls to NHS hospitals in Maidenhead, Bracknell, Windsor and Slough have been cut by more than half thanks to a new phone network.
The £750,000 system, with a main switchboard at Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, came into operation in May. Now bosses say they are able to answer calls within just seven rings.
Jacquie Baker, telecommunications manager for Heatherwood and Wexham Park hospitals, said: "Before the new system came in, it was not uncommon to have to wait for over 20 rings.'
The hospitals-Wexham Park, Heatherwood in Ascot, King Edward VII in Windsor and St Mark's in Maidenhead can now dial each other simply by using extension numbers.
Extract Evening Post 12/08/1992

 

Coming On Nicely

The trust which took over the running of Heatherwood hospital has given itself a largely clean bill of health.
Managers have reviewed the first three months of work carried out by the trust which was established in April.
They believe it is running services more efficiently than the old system of hospital management.
They say improvements have been made in a series of areas like cutting waiting lists and introducing new services.
And they have reassured residents that no cuts in staff numbers or facilities are planned at the hospital or at Slough's Wexham Park Hospital which is managed by the same trust.
Trust chairman Dr Brian Smith said the new system made better use of resources because it was less bureaucratic.
Departments have been given budgets to spend themselves and money left over could be used for other departments.
In the past more decisions were taken by more distant managers at district or even regional level.
Chief executive Nigel Crisp said the trust had spent £180,000 more than it originally planned but had also treated more patients and had generated £75,000 more income. But there were contingency funds available to cover this and it amounted to being only half a per cent over budget as the total budget was £15 million.
Dr Smith said: "We have not got any wards closing and we don't intend to have any.
Numbers of staff have actually risen by 20 or 30 because of the extra work we've been doing and I'd be surprised if anybody was worried about redundancies.
The trust has gone better than expected." He was pleased with the state of both hospitals' waiting lists.
At the end of June no patient was waiting more than two years and 83 per cent were treated within one year. Fifty per cent had to wait less than six months 20 per cent down on the previous year.
He said more efficient use of resources would help the trust invest in a series of new projects.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 20/08/1992

 

Soaking Up The Cash

Bracknell's fire fighters will be sloshing water about as usual on Saturday not to douse any flames but to raise money for a medical equipment.
They will be holding a charity car wash at their Downshire Way station between 10am and 4pm.
Anybody can have their car washed for just £2 and I contribute towards the Immediate Care Scheme. This is a medical charity which enables doctors to give treatment at the scene of an accident.
Des Tidbury, the Bracknell station commander, said: "It's a voluntary scheme run by doctors and not funded by the government or health authorities.
"Their equipment needs replacing and updating." The last time they did a charity car wash in March 1991 they raised £1,246 for the Rainbow children's ward at Heatherwood Hospital.
Extract Bracknell Times 27/08/1992

 

Darts

Paul Carpenter hit two 180s, and Jim McMechan one.
The winner of the six-dart challenge and £20 first prize was Bob Taylor who, in scoring 225, contrived to hit exactly the sequence of darts that won him his heat.
Martyn Forrest was second and took the £5 runner-up prize.
The prizes were presented to the winners by Keith Matthews, and this was followed by the presentation, on behalf of all participating players, of a cheque for £501 to Keith in recognition of all his hard work over more than 15 years in making the Bracknell Social Club Darts League one of the strongest leagues in the area.
Keith has asked me to pass on his thanks to all players, with the news that he will be donating £100 to Ward 12 of Heatherwood Hospital.
I'm sure everyone is glad that he is well on the road to recovery., writes Paul Vernon.
I would like to thank Bracknell Trophies and Bracknell Print Room for their sponsorship of the trophies, Churchillian Social Club for donating all raffle prizes and especially Roz Ainsley for all her assistance over the last seven weeks.
Extract Wokingham Times 15/09/1992

 

Hospitals offers Scans For Pregnant Mothers

An ultrasound scan is now on offer to women in two East Berkshire hospitals.
Ascot's Heatherwood Hospital and Wexham Park Hospital, Slough, now offer the in-valuable scan, which can help detect problems before the baby is born, to women in their 19th week of pregnancy.
It follows a four-year study by radiologist Dr Carole Luck at Heatherwood Hospital in which more than 8,000 women received an ultrasound scan.
The scan enables doctors to discover any problems there may be with the baby so that they can be treated at birth.
If severely crippling or lethal abnormalities are detected, doctors can offer an abortion.
Dr Luck, who reported on the study in the British Medical Journal, is recommending that all maternity departments should offer the screening.
She said that as well as helping to deliver healthier babies, routine screening is cost effective because it saves thousands of pounds in caring for or treating children with severe problems.
She said: "The programme requires skilled and experienced staff and good communication between them and the mother. "A counselling room in essential.
News of a major problem can be devastating."
During the initial study, the scan detected 140 out of 166 cases where there was something wrong with the baby in the womb.
Nigel Crisp, hospital trust chief executive, added: "The 2 results of Dr Luck's study pointed clearly to the need to offer this service to our patients."
Extract Evening Pots 15/09/1992

 

Screening Can Save Thousands

by Sophie Barratt
A new study has shown that routine ultrasound scans on pregnant women can help detect problems which might otherwise go unnoticed until the baby is born. About 90% of abnormalities occur where the mothers are not known to be particularly at risk.
Consultant radiologist Dr. Carole Luck of Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot supervised the study, which offered a scan to all pregnant women at Heatherwood over a four-year period to the end of 1991.
Ninety six per cent of them accepted and the ultrasound scanning programme was able to detect 140 out of 166 cases where there was something wrong with the unborn baby.
Early detection of problems allows prompt treatment of the baby after delivery, and in cases of severely crippling or fatal abnormalities an abortion is offered.
Dr. Luck also says the screening saves thousands of pounds in caring for children with severe problems. She recommends that all maternity departments should offer routine screening, as long as it is done by trained staff in the right environment with full support from doctors and nurses.
Chief executive of Heatherwood and Wexham Park hospitals NHS Trust, Mr Nigel Crisp, said: "The results of Dr Luck's study pointed clearly to the need to offer this service to our patients."
Since the study both hospitals have continued to offer ultrasound scanning at 19 weeks to all maternity patients and say they are committed to continuing doing so.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 01/10/1992

 

Hospital Patients To Get Shuttle Service

By Philip Reynolds
A new hospital hopper bus service for Bracknell is going to be given a trial period starting in the new year.
The bus will pick-up patients and visitors travelling to Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot and Wexham Park in Slough.
A shuttle service will run between the two hospitals and also take in King Edward Hospital in Windsor.
It will be funded mainly by the Heatherwood and Wexham Hospitals Trust and interested local authorities, though this is to be confirmed.
Sue Hann of patients watchdog, the East Berkshire CHC (Community Health Council), said her organisation had been pressing for such a service for a long time.
She said: "Heatherwood and Wexham (in Ascot and Slough) are not well served for public transport.
"Some patients say they spend all day travelling to the hospitals. "We have been howling about a service for some time and lobbied the regional health authority."
She said that the CHC would be keeping up pressure on the Heatherwood and Wexham Hospital Trust to start the service.
Stefan Cantore, Director of Patient Services for the Trust, said: "We are still negotiating the exact details of the service. "There will be a six month trial period starting in January or February and ultimately we are aiming for it to be self-funding."
He said the service would use established bus stops in Bracknell but would drop off the users "according to their needs" on return journeys.
Mr Cantore would not comment on the cost of setting up the service but said that the fares would be at the same level or below current public transport costs.
Extract Bracknell Times 15/10/1992

 

Outpatient Kray

Gangland killer Ronnie Kray was yesterday allowed out of top-security hospital Broadmoor to visit Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot, Berkshire, as an outpatient.
Extract Birmingham Post 16/10/1992

 

Parking Fees for Hospital?

Management at Wexham Park Hospital are bracing themselves for a public outcry after plans were un-veiled to bring in parking charges.
A consultation paper on the plan is now being circulated and came after surveys revealed that patients and visitors were frustrated by parking congestion and are becoming increasingly fearful of car crime.
Susan Hann, of East Berkshire Community Health Council, said: "Parking there is pretty abysmal at the moment.
There really are not enough spaces and we have been concerned for some time about the numbers of people parking outside the hospital gates.
"But it is inevitable that their will be a hue and cry because people who have hitherto parked for free will now be asked to pay," she added.
The board of management for Wexham Park and Ascot's charges would fund the expansion, Heatherwood trust hospitals is pro-management and surveillance of the posing to spend £70,000 on on the site. Spokesman for the regional health authority, Andrew Moss, said that although Wexham Park had hundreds of spaces re-organisation was needed.
The car parks would be divided into three areas.
Short term waiting with a pick up/ drop off point for patients A pay and display area for visitors and patients closest to the main entrance with a proposed charge of 50 to 70p per 4 hour session Separate parking for staff Surveillance cameras would be installed and extra security guards employed to combat car crime.
The money raised from the charges would fund the expansion management and surveillance of the site.
Any surplus would go towards the hospital budget for patient care.
Drivers on voluntary duties for the elderly and disabled would be exempt from charges and and an inter- hospital hopper scheme would be introduced.
At present the consultation paper is being circulated to local councils, voluntary organisations and MPs, but the final decision belongs to the trusts' board of management.
The director of patient services, Stefan Cantore, said: "We are looking for constructive ideas and we would listen to any objections.
A number of people have already objected to the charges but they have not come forward with any alternative suggestions."
Extract Beaconsfield Advertiser 28/10/1992

 

Housewife Trapped by Police in Gun Drama

A housewife told yesterday of her terror when 18 armed policemen, some carrying riot shields, mistook her for a gunman on the loose in the grounds of a hospital.
Mrs Jean Coburn, aged 36, had been taken to the casualty department at Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, Berkshire, and was looking for the way out when she became lost.
She found herself in the administration block just after a gunman had held up a driver nearby.
A porter who spotted her shadowy figure in an office locked the door and alerted police.
Teams of marksmen surrounded the building. Nearby roads were sealed off.
Police lay in wait for almost two hours, hoping the "gunman" would give himself up before eventually bursting in and realising their mistake.
"It was the most terrifying two hours of my life," said Mrs Coburn, who lives near Sandhurst, Berkshire.
"I kept banging on the door asking them to let me out but no-one took any notice.
I couldn't believe what was happening. "One minute I was being treated in casualty and the next I was looking down the barrel of a police gun."
"Within a couple of minutes, they realised their mistake and were ever so embarrassed."
Extract Birmingham Post & Leicester Mercury 10/12/1992

 

Police in Gun Farce

By Philip Reynolds
A major alert was sparked at Heatherwood Ascot, when a senior porter thought he had spotted a gunman in the administration wing.
A massive police operation was mounted to catch the 'gunman' including 18 armed officers from a special firearms unit kitted out with riot shields and flak jackets.
As part of the operation early on Wednesday evening last week, Ascot High Street was blocked off along with part of Kings Ride, amid fears the desperate gunman might try and make a getaway.
Inside the single storey wing, police surrounded the office where the suspected gunman was locked in.
The alert was started about two hours earlier when a gunman held up a hospital mini-bus driver and escaped with his portable telephone.
Police received a 999 call from the hospital saying a gunman was holed up in the hospital.
Chief Inspector John Reeve of Windsor Police said: "We got a call from the hospital saying there was a man with a shotgun in the administration block. "We immediately surrounded the building with armed police officers and called in trained negotiators to coax the person out."
However, the police and hospital authorities got a big surprise when after three hours of negotiations the gunman turned out to be a female psychiatric patient who had left her bed for a walk.
Insp Reeve said: "The information turned out to be incorrect.
"She was obviously not the person we were looking for in connection with the hold up of the driver. People had just made an assumption.
"However, in the circumstances we could not afford to take any chances."
Stefan Cantore, director of patient services at Heatherwood Hospital, said: "In view of the earlier incident the senior porter is to be commended for being alert and taking such prompt action."
Extract Ascot & Bracknell Times 10/12/1992

 

Festive Extravaganza

Royalty & Empire is recreating a traditional Victorian Extravaganza in the Royal Station Arcade located at the entrance to the Exhibition, for their visitors this Christmas.
There will be all the traditional trimmings fully decorated trees, hot fruit punch and mince pies, hot chestnuts and carols sung by local school children as well as Father Christmas in his grotto.
The Royal Station Arcade is open seven days a week, including late nights on Thursdays.
Carol singers and jugglers will entertain you while you enjoy the festive atmosphere, and browse through the stalls.
Make this Christmas special for someone in hospital and donate a gift to our Christmas Toy Appeal.
Bring along an unwrapped gift to our carriage outside Royalty & Empire and Father Christmas will deliver it to children at two local hospitals, Wexham Park, Slough, and Heatherwood, Ascot on December 19 and 20.
Every child who donates a present will receive a gift.
Enter our Free Victorian Christmas Quiz. You could win a prize.
Admission to The Royal Station Arcade is free and there is free weekend car parking for anyone visiting the Royalty & Empire Exhibition.
Extract Evening Post 11/12/1992

 

More Treatments Cut Lists

Health chiefs in East Berkshire say they are treating about 400 more patients each month than last year.
Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospital Trust bosses said it was possible they will have treated an extra 3,000 patients by the end of the year.
Many of the extra cases are people with heart and chest illnesses and elderly patients who needed to come into hospital urgently.
Chief executive Nigel Crisp said: "The hospitals are working very hard and everyone has responded well to the increase in the number of patients we are treating."
He added waiting lists had fallen as a result of the increase.
Extract Evening Post 30/12/1992