Patients across Canterbury and East Kent will benefit from a £460,000 investment into a new endoscopy facility that has opened at BMI The Chaucer Hospital.
The unit was officially opened by Julian Brazier, MP for Canterbury and Whitstable, who carried out the ribbon-cutting on 3 October 2014.
During his visit Brazier met with the hospital team and was shown the new unit’s specialist equipment that will allow clinicians to carry out detailed examinations of the entire digestive system.
The team behind the design of the new unit looked at the environment from a patient’s perspective and streamlined the journey across the unit. The new facility was redesigned to make sure that a patient experience is as smooth and comfortable as possible and meets the highest levels of dignity and privacy. It will also improve the clinical excellence and working environment for the hospital’s specialist consultants and endoscopy team.
“I was delighted to officially open the hospital’s new endoscopy unit and meet with the clinical and non-clinical teams who will be working from the unit,” Brazier said.
“Investment, such as this, is vital in improving the care of patients in in our local community and I was pleased to see how clinical excellence, patient experience and environment were considered in equal regard during the redevelopment.”
The endoscopy unit, which is located in the hospitals day surgery ward, took three months to develop with significant structural work needed. The unit replaces previous facilities with new and improved equipment, private pre-assessment rooms, procedure rooms, and a dedicated recovery area.
Improvements have been made with air conditioning in the procedure room and behind the scenes a new reverse osmosis water supply and EU compliant ‘pass through’ washer disinfectors and drying cabinet allows for the safe, clean, storage of scopes, enabling improved flexibility in the services the hospital can provide.
BMI The Chaucer Hospital’s executive director, Richard Coggings, said: “The new unit will allow our patients to have a much better experience by providing a more-comfortable environment in which they are treated and cared for. The endoscopy team, made up of specialist nurses and practitioners, is also very happy to have an improved working environment and already we have had great feedback from patients.”
