Heatherwood Hospital 1999

Times New Year Babies Picture Album
Baby! What a start to '99

While most people were sleeping off the New Year celebrations, one Bracknell family was welcoming its newest member. Daniel Parker was born at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot at 8.11am on New Year's Day weighing in at 7lb 3oz, after his mother Deborah Birch of Welbeck, Great Hollands, went into labour while cooking spaghetti!
The birth went without any hitches and the mother and baby went home later that day.
The mum-of-three said her newest son was due to be born on December 22, and she had hoped he would be born on Christmas Day, but New Year's Day was just as good.
"It is very special," she said."We are very proud and happy." Daniel got his name just because his parents liked it, but he was given the middle name Ryan in remembrance of his grandmother, whose maiden name it was, who recently died.
A Warfield mother celebrated the start of the New Year in style when she gave birth to her third child. Shay Hollis was born at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot at 2.10pm on the first day of the year, weighing 8lb 4oz. His delighted mother Dawn, of Roman Way, said the birth caused her a lot of pain."I feel very soar," she said.
"It was painful and it took a couple of hours."
But the mum-of-three added: "I am very proud, he is my little man." Mrs Hollis was pleased her son was born right at the beginning of 1999.
She added: "I wanted him to be born on Christmas Day really. But he is here now, it is all over and done with, and I don't care."

Extract Wokingham Times 07/01/1999

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by three photos.
One photo Captioned: Proud parents. Dad Russell Parker with son Sean, aged four, three-year-old Jason mum and Deborah Birch and Daniel Parker.
Another captioned: Dawn Hollis and son Shay, who weighed in at 8lb 4oz when he was born at Heatherwood Hospital on New Year's Day.
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photos here.

 

New Theatre for Ascot Hospital

Hospital patients from Bracknell and Ascot are set to benefit from new state of the art facilities at Heatherwood Hospital.
A new 5th operating theatre was unveiled at the Ascot hospital last Wednesday by Ruth Watts-Davies, chairman of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust.
She was joined by members of the trust's management team, staff, and representatives from the community.
The new theatre now forms part of the general theatre department and will be used primarily for orthopaedic surgery lists.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 21/01/1999

 

Carol Concert

A major carol concert has raised almost £5,000 for the Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust. The money puts Heatherwood Hospital well on the way to being able to buy a new resucitaire.
This key piece of medical equipment provides oxygen and vital medication to a baby in the first moments after birth.
The carol concert was hosted by Bracknell Family Church and held at the Kerith Centre in December.
Now the cheque has been presented to hospital bosses.
The Rev Ben Davies, senior pastor at the family church, said: "We are very grateful to everyone who supported this event.
"This event brought together the church, the business community, schools and others to support Bracknell's local hospital.
"We hope, as a result of this, Heatherwood Hospital's maternity unit will have a new resucitaire very soon."
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 18/02/1999

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The photo captioned:"▲ Back row I to r: Peter Izod, Rotary Club of Easthampstead, Robin Horniman, Rotary Club of Easthampstead, John Hughes, Manager of Midland Bank, Bracknell. Front, I to r: The Rev Ben Davies, Bracknell Family Church, Shantha Gladwell and Jan Morrison, of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust."
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photo here.

 

Bracknell MP Andrew MacKay Has Visited Heatherwood Hospital's
New Orthopaedics Theatre.

Mr MacKay met senior staff at the hospital in the High Street, Ascot, when he toured the theatre on Friday, March 5, which opened in January this year.
Mr MacKay welcomed the opportunity to meet the hospital's new chairman, Ruth Watts-Davies and chief executive, Margaret Edwards.

Extract Wokingham Times 18/03/1999

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The photo captioned:" ► Mr MacKay is pictured above with Margaret Edwards, chief executive, Mary Wooding, senior nurse, and Ruth Watts-Davies, chairman."
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photo here.

 

Come Along An See The Show

Scouts and Guides dressed as clowns and comical animals filled Bracknell town centre on Saturday with colour and pageantry to promote a forthcoming arts extravaganza for charity.
The South East Berkshire Gangshow, involving performances of song, dance, drama and comedy, is returning to the Wilde Theatre at South Hill Park this year after many years of using Camberley Arts Link as a base.
Volunteers handed out leaflets promoting the show, which will raise money for CRY, (Cardiac Risk in the Young) set up after the tragic death of Sandhurst schoolboy and Scout member, Lewis Marsh.
During the last 12 years, around £9,000 has been raised for local youth-based causes, with the money from the 1998 production benefiting the children's unit at Heatherwood Hospital.
The show, from April 5-10, aims to appeal to young and old and is produced entirely through the efforts of the Scout-Guide movement.
Organiser Pauline Jordan said: "People in Bracknell town centre have reacted enthusiastically to the event. "But until you have been to the show you don't realise how professionally done everything is, including the costumes and scenery."
Extract Bracknell Times 01/04/1999

Comment:- The above article was accompanied by a photo.
The photo captioned:"Volunteers Advertising the gang show,add a splash of colour to Bracknell."
Copyright prevents us from displaying the photo here.

 

10 Years Ago This Week

Heatherwood Hospital staff were celebrating a £11m handout this week designed to take it into the 1990s.
The news has quashed fears among staff that major services were to be removed from the Ascot hospital.
Instead it will get several new wards and a brand new service for the elderly.
Extract Wokingham Times 27/05/1999

 

25 Years Ago This Week 1974

Over 100 nurses, doctors and patients marched out of Heatherwood Hospital, Ascot, on Monday morning in a mass demonstration in support of the nurses' national pay claim.
Traffic was brought to a standstill as the nurses marched with banners across the roundabout, and patients in wheelchairs lined up with domestic staff on the pavement cheering them on.
"Our patients need us. Our patience needs you," said one banner.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell Times 27/05/1999

 

Summer Fete

A Tug of war, line dancing and children's fancy dress promises a fun day at Heatherwood Hospital's annual summer fete on Sunday, July 4.
The fair, which starts at 2pm at the Ascot hospital in the High Street, also offers balloon races, tombola's, cream teas, stalls, a grand draw, raffles and barbecue.
Extract Wokingham Times 30/06/1999

 

Council in Hospital Plea

A Hospital in Bracknell may be on the agenda when civic leaders write to the Prime Minister following a motion from Conservative councillors, Terry Mills and Alan Ward to Bracknell Forest Borough Council.
Conservative leader, Paul Bettison, said the town just kept on growing and had been promised a hospital.
Residents have petitioned Berkshire Health Authority on the need for a hospital in Bracknell and the council feels it should lend its support.
But spokesman for Berkshire Health Authority, David Rowson, said: "Development in health care is not about building hospitals.
A lot of care now takes place in the community.
He said the authority was looking at Heatherwood Hospital playing a more enhanced role.
Extract Bracknell Times 21/07/1999

 

10 Years Ago This Week 1989

Five people will die unnecessarily every week if plans to close facilities at Heatherwood Hospital go ahead, nursing staff have claimed.
They estimate that shutting down the main accident and emergency facility at Heatherwood will cost at least 260 lives every year.
They say the idea of keeping a skeleton emergency service at the Ascot hospital is ridiculous and will not work.
Extract Wokingham Times 28/07/1999

 

Hospital Bid Wins Backing

A campaign for a new hospital for Bracknell has taken off with the full backing of the borough council.
Cllr Paul Bettison, leader of the council, speaking at last week's full council meeting, asked everyone to work together on the subject and to campaign for a new hospital.
Cllr Terry Mills, who brought the motion, said: "It is estimated there will be a population increase in Bracknell of 20 per cent in the next 17 years. "We cannot rely on the hospitals around us. Bracknell deserves better."
Bracknell residents are currently referred to Heatherwood in Ascot, Frimley Park Hospital, in Camberley, and the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. But Diane Hedges, of the Bracknell Primary Care Group, said it had an aim to prevent unnecessary trips to hospital by developing primary and community care systems.
She said: "We would be concerned to understand how another general hospital in the Bracknell area could attract staff and patient numbers to make it safe, effective and not drain away from other local community nursing and doctor services."
The borough council will now write to the Prime Minister, stating the need for a new hospital.
Councillors hope this will attract the attention of Berkshire Health Authority, the body which would allocate funds for such a scheme.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell Times & Wokingham Times 28/07/1999

 

Doctors Slam Hospitals on NHS Delays

By Alison Hepworth Bracknell reporter
Hospitals have been slammed by Bracknell doctors, saying patients wait too long for appointments.
At a Primary Care Group meeting last Thursday, doctors agreed that waiting more than a year for an outpatient appointment was far too long and complaints from patients were high.
Dr Gordon Weir, of Boundary House Surgery, Bracknell, said: "The level of hospital provision we are getting is deteriorating to a dreadful level.
"If you fax an urgent request, three to four days later we still have not heard anything."
Dr Steve Thomas, chairman of the PCG, said: "We are probably all getting a patient complaining at least once a day who is experiencing a huge delay
Practices in Bracknell refer their patients Heatherwood and Wexham Park hospitals in Ascot and Patients are waiting 'far too long' for treatment Slough, Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading and Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey.
Jackie Lawson, spokesman for Heatherwood Hospital, said: "Outpatient waiting times have gone up nationally.
"What we would like to do is adhere to the Patients Charter which says waiting times should be at the same level as they were in March 1997. But she said: "If anyone has been waiting over a year then it is clear that it is too long and we would urge anyone to contact us if this was the case."
She added they try to liaise with the PCG and the Health Panel, which consists of councillors and officers, detailing current waiting times.
David Rowson, its spokesman for Berkshire Health Authority, said target for year ending March 2000 was to reduce the number of people waiting in excess of thirteen weeks for an outpatient appointment to 3,450 compared with the target for March 1999 of 4,500.
He said: "The number of people waiting for outpatient standard for care as a large appointments sets the percentage of these patients will then require in-patientcare."
But he added: "This year the number of GP referrals has increased." The statistics on this are still being collated by the BHA.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell Times 25/08/1999

 

'Give Patients Better Transport'

Health workers in Bracknell have stressed again the need to give residents better information about and transport for health services.
The call came at last Thursday's meeting of Bracknell Primary Care Group, which is responsible for commissioning health services in the town.
The PCG was reporting the results of further research into the possible siting of a hospital in the town.
Last month the PCG decided it was not feasible for Bracknell to have its own hospital, and instead the focus would be put on expanding or improving existing services.
Sue Hann, chief officer for East Berkshire Community Health Council, said: "What is needed now is access and transport rather than acute services."
PCG chief executive Diane Hedges said later: "We are looking to expand or introduce other facilities where suitable."
She explained that the PCG was supporting the future of Heatherwood Hospital and continued use of Wexham Park Hospital and the Royal Berkshire 24 Hospital as acute centres.
Extract Bracknell Times 27/10/1999

 

Community News, Ascot

The Ascot Community Millennium Concert a performance of Haydn's The Creation-kicks off at 7.30pm on Wednesday, December 1, at the Pavilion, Ascot Racecourse.
All tickets are £7.50.
The event is in aid of the Children's Centre at Heatherwood Hospital and the Paul Bevan Day Hospice for Cancer Relief.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 24/11/1999

 

What's On, Music

Wednesday, December 1 Ascot Community Millennium Concert Haydn's The Creation at Ascot Racecourse, 7.30pm.
Tickets £7.50 at gate, in aid of the Children's Centre at Heatherwood Hospital and the Paul Bevan Day Hospice for Cancer relief.
Extract Ascot & Bracknell & Wokingham Times 1/12/1999