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Spotlight on cancer services
Here at Kingston Hospital, we are proud to have continued our cancer services as normal, during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that cancer patients have continued to receive the best possible care. Our cancer services are run in partnership with the Royal Marsden Hospital, a world-leading provider of cancer care and St George’s Hospital, a fellow NHS South West London Trust, and we consistently achieve the national target of cancer diagnosis and treatment within 62 days of referral.
Celebrating our outstanding cancer services on World Cancer Day
To mark World Cancer Day on 4 February, we created a short film to celebrate our outstanding cancer services at Kingston Hospital and to share some feedback from patients and comments from our staff: https://youtu.be/bGorx50NjPY
Macmillan volunteer support service for cancer patients
If you have been diagnosed with cancer and would like support, our team of Macmillan support volunteers are here to help.
Call 0208 934 6900 on Mondays (11am-1pm), Wednesdays (11am-1pm) or Fridays (3pm-5pm).
Find out more.
Kingston Hospital ward transformed for marriage of couple together for 25 years
Benny Khaw and Julia Cox met and fell in love playing badminton, 25 years ago. At 11.30pm on Friday 8 January, the Acute Assessment Unit at Kingston Hospital was transformed by staff to allow the couple to get married.
Benny was unexpectedly rushed to Kingston Hospital on 2 January with COVID-19. He became acutely unwell and was cared for at the hospital until he sadly died on Sunday 17 January, aged 85.
Read more.
Introducing our Patient First Strategy
We have worked with patients, staff, governors, health and care partners to develop our strategy for 2020-2025.
Find out more and watch a film about our Patient First Strategy and our five year objectives.
Charity donations support staff health and wellbeing
Thanks to funding from Kingston Hospital Charity and in partnership with local restaurants, staff working nights were provided with free hot meals during January and February while the hospital was extremely busy managing the second wave of coronavirus.
To continue to support the health and wellbeing of our staff, Kingston Hospital Charity is also using funds donated and raised by the local community to provide regular access to healthy snacks for frontline staff, refreshments for staff and patients, and ongoing mental health support for staff.
To make a donation to Kingston Hospital Charity visit www.khc.org.uk. We are extremely grateful to all who have supported Kingston Hospital during this time.
Kingston Hospital Charity and HelpForce fund community-based physiotherapy project
We are delighted that Kingston Hospital Charity has joined with HelpForce to fund a new community-based physiotherapy project supported by volunteers. Rehabilitation post discharge is a vital part of a patient’s recovery. This project will provide up to eight weeks of rehabilitation-focused exercise to our frail and elderly patients who are going home alone after hospital discharge. The funding enables us to build on an existing ‘Gentle Movement’ project whereby volunteers meet patients at their bedside and more recently, via tablet computer to run through exercises prescribed by the physiotherapy team and encourage patients to get moving whilst still in hospital. The project has shown strong results, reducing patients’ levels of stress and their perception of pain after sessions with volunteers.
We are delighted that eight Gentle Movement volunteers have stayed with us for the digital project during the COVID-19 pandemic and we will be recruiting over the Summer for volunteers to get active in their communities. This will involve visiting patients discharged from hospital in their homes and running a structured movement programme that is tailored by the hospital’s physiotherapy team for each patient.
To register your interest in volunteering with Gentle Movement in the community, contact Kingston Hospital’s Volunteering team by emailing [email protected]
Meet the governor: Cathy Maker
Cathy Maker is an elected public governor for the borough of Richmond and is Kingston Hospital’s Deputy Lead Governor. We spoke to Cathy about her time as a governor.
When were you first elected as a governor?
I was elected as a governor in 2017 and was re-elected in 2020 for a second term. I became Deputy Lead Governor in May 2020.
Why did you decide that you would like to be a governor at Kingston Hospital?
Having lived in the area for 18 years, my experience of Kingston Hospital has centred on major life events and injuries involving my family and friends. I have always been so impressed by the compassion and care with which the hospital executed its duty. Further to this, I run a disability charity based in Richmond and over the years we have supported many disabled and elderly clients as they transition from hospital care to home support. I know that better integration between hospital and community services would make a huge difference to our clients. I was motivated to join the team at Kingston to gain a better understanding of the hospital processes and to bring my experience of the voluntary sector to aid greater integration between hospital and community services.
How does your role as a governor support the hospital, patients and members?
I see the governor’s role as a kind of “check and balance”. We meet and talk to patients and take their feedback to the right people to action. We attend sub-committee meetings, read reports and ask questions. One of our roles is to make sure that the non-executive directors are doing their job well. We do this by observing them in action, listening to presentations and asking questions. We keep the jargon down and the patient to the fore. We also represent the hospital at events, talk to community organisations, and encourage residents to join as a member or fundraise for the hospital.
What do you think have been the biggest successes of the hospital over the last few years?
Winning awards particularly for their work with patients with dementia; being rated as ‘outstanding’ by the CQC - this is a high performing hospital. But for me, the biggest success of this hospital is the way it has responded to COVID. To rally as quickly as it has; the flexibility of staff to learn new skills and work in different departments; the high performing maternity team… but most importantly being one of the few hospitals that has continued to meet its cancer treatment targets throughout the pandemic. That, to me, is outstanding.
What do you enjoy the most about being a governor?
As governors we go on what is called a “walkabout”. A governor and a non-executive director and a senior member of the executive team visit an area of the hospital and talk to staff and patients. I love this. This is where I really see how the hospital works. Over the years I have visited a number of wards, but I have also been to the HR department, the Information team and even the mortuary. It is humbling to talk to staff and see their passion and enthusiasm for their work. It is also very reassuring to see how the executives and non-executive directors interact with the staff. There is a genuine interest in what staff and patients have to say and mutual respect between all levels of the staff team at the hospital.
We would love to hear from you
Are there any particular areas you would like to hear more about in future bulletins? Please do let us know.
We would also love to hear your ideas for topics and themes for future talks for members. Send your comments and suggestions to us at [email protected]
Keep in touch
Twitter - @KingstonHospNHS
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From time to time, the Trust may send you some information about the work of the Kingston Hospital Charity, which helps to raise vital funds for the Trust. This may include its ‘Our News’ newsletter. If you would prefer not to receive information about our charity please contact the Communications Team on [email protected]
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