On Friday I was delighted to visit the Princess Royal University Hospital (PRUH) in Orpington to meet with senior and frontline staff and to discuss developments at the Hospital since the King’s College Trust acquired responsibility for the site just over thirteen months ago.
It was incredibly useful to hear from Chief Executive, Tim Smart (pictured above), about the challenges the Trust has faced since taking over at the PRUH, as well as the difficulties that Dr Hobart and Nicola Wilcox have encountered in the Emergency Department (ED). It is needless to say that it has been a difficult time for hospitals around Britain, yet the PRUH has performed remarkably well given the circumstances, and its brilliant staff in the ED still see to around 118,000 patients every year. As part of the tour, I was also pleased to meet and chat with Dr Laszlo Sztnha and Morag Ainge in the Hospital’s Stroke Unit – one of eight specialist stroke centres across London – and to look in on the Hospital’s contingency Ebola Unit.
The visit not only offered me a valuable opportunity to see first-hand both the success stories of the Hospital and the problems it faces on a day-to-day basis, but to also raise with senior management the important issues that constituents have contacted me about over recent months. I was genuinely struck by the enthusiasm and commitment of all the staff I met on Friday. Their hard work is integral to our community, and I will continue to work with the Hospital to not only address the needs and concerns of its dedicated staff, but to also represent those put forward by the residents of Bromley and Chislehurst.