Living and Working in Kent
The five Trust hospitals are in the county of Kent in the south east corner of England. Kent has excellent links to both central London, via a high-speed rail line taking less than an hour to reach the capital, and to the rest of Europe and beyond via the Channel Tunnel which means fast and easy travel between England to France and beyond via train or road.
As England’s oldest county, Kent’s rich history has furnished it with stunning castles, gardens and stately homes; Rochester Cathedral dates from 604; Hever Castle and Gardens were the childhood home to King Henry VIII’s wife Anne Boleyn, and the 650-year old Penshurst Place and Gardens has seen generations of royalty entertained over the centuries.
Kent’s variety means a huge choice of activities – its ancient woodlands, beaches and famous chalk White Cliffs of Dover offer beautiful places to walk, relax and enjoy nature, while its towns and cities provide excellent shopping. Its independent shops have everything from antiques through to designer labels, as well as the Bluewater shopping centre in Greenhithe which boasts more than 330 shops,restaurants to suit all tastes and a multiplex cinema.
East Kent has excellent educational provision and a range of good and outstanding schools.
The cathedral city of Canterbury is a centre of educational excellence. It is home to the University of Kent and also to Canterbury Christ Church University, which provides training for many of our nurses. Canterbury also has three well regarded grammar schools, and three independent schools including The King’s School, a historic organisation founded in 597 AD, which shares a central precinct with the cathedral.
The arts scene thrives in Kent’s galleries and theatres; Margate’s Turner Contemporary art gallery has world- class exhibitions of both contemporary and historical art, plus events and activities with free admission to the gallery. The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury is fast becoming the south east’s top stage. Kent also boasts two areas designated of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Kent Downs and High Weald, and the county’s leisure centres, golf clubs and gyms mean it is easy to stay healthy and relax.
Key Achievements
Our award-winning approach to research and innovation has been recognised as making an outstanding contribution to the world of clinical research.
In 2016 Kent and Canterbury Hospital was chosen as a centre of expertise in robotic surgery for doctor training.
The William Harvey Hospital’s surgical emergency assessment unit opened in October 2014. The surgical extension to the A&E department, enhances the experience of adult emergency surgical patients by providing a dedicated unit separate from A&E where patients are assessed by an experienced surgeon.
The hospital has a level two trauma unit which provides a lifesaving service to patients with serious injuries, and a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) laboratory which serves the whole of Kent, providing gold-standard specialist treatment to reopen arteries in heart attack patients.
The new Buckland Hospital in Dover opened in June 2015 to offer patients a wide range of improved outpatient services. A new procedure suite means one-stop clinics ensure patients can have their consultation, diagnosis, treatment and any pre- assessment during a single visit.
Our new £7.7million state-of-the-art, purpose built endoscopy centre at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, now sees about 8,000 patients each year after opening in August 2014. Its extended opening hours allows the service to see patients for longer days and at weekends.
Our leading-edge technology gives instant alerts about patients’ conditions to healthcare staff and allows the staff to communicate about the patient’s condition and discuss what actions to take on a secure social network. It has transformed how teams work and significantly improved patient care, as shown by a trial involving acute kidney injury patients, which showed faster decision making, enhanced patient care and improved overall efficiency within East Kent Hospitals’ renal department.
We held our first telemedicine appointment in March 2017, so for the first time, a patient was able to have a follow-up appointment with a specialist without needing to leave their home.
We launched our BESTT (Birthing Excellence Success Through Teamwork) maternity transformation programme in 2017, to reduce stillbirths, admissions to neonatal intensive care, and skin tears.
The first cohort of trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioners in Acute Care began in the last year.
This three-year programme, delivered in partnership with Canterbury Christ Church University and supported by Health Education England Kent, Surrey and Sussex, will provide both career progression for these senior staff who are further developing their skills and competencies, and the huge benefit of an innovative, new role in acute care that will further strengthen the EKHUFT team.
We have established a dedicated unit for PET-CT scanning at William Harvey Hospital and two new MRI scanners have been installed at Kent & Canterbury Hospital in 2017.
In 2018 our staff were the face of the largest nurse recruitment campaign in the NHS’ history. We also brought 850 private sector staff into a new NHS- owned organisation to improve efficiency and standards for patients.