NHS and independent hospital partnerships one year on from the pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has tested the health service, and indeed the country as a whole, like never before. But this last year has also been a time when healthcare providers have truly stepped up to the plate, with staff showing an extraordinary commitment and determination to ensure patients can continue to get the treatment they need in the most challenging of circumstances.
From the end of March 2020, The One Healthcare Group immediately made their resources available to the NHS to ensure urgent surgical care could continue, enabling NHS hospitals to manage the surge in COVID-19 patients. It has been an extremely challenging time for both the independent sector and the local Trust hospitals, but we have managed to carry out in excess of 11,000 NHS procedures during this time.
One Ashford Hospital has housed East Kent Hospital Trusts’ mobile CT unit and for the month of March 2021 is housing their Mammography Mobile unit on site as the NHS breast screening service starts up again. The hospital is also supporting the delivery of Cardioversions (a medical procedure that restores a normal heart rhythm in people with certain types of abnormal heartbeats). EKHUFT were struggling to find space during the pandemic for their regular Cardioversion theatre sessions in their Trust, and using One Ashford’s Endoscopy suite they held biweekly cardioversion sessions, providing their own theatre and ward staff to support the Trust’s cardioversion nursing and clinical teams.
Whilst we are now seeing some light at the end of the tunnel with the ongoing vaccination programme, the NHS now has the enormous task ahead in trying to clear the backlog of patients requiring treatment since last March. Therefore, the One Healthcare Group, along with many other independent hospitals will continue to provide their support, ensuring patients can receive the treatment they need.
To read the full article by IHPN (Independent Healthcare Provider Network) click here:
IHPN NHS Partnerships One Year On
One Ashford
One Hatfield