Hinchingbrooke Hospital get share of £4.5m to 'improve care'
North West Anglia Foundation Trust, that oversees Hinchingbrooke Hospital, has been awarded almost £4.5 million to fund improvements to care. - Credit: HUNTS POST
Hinchingbrooke Hospital will get a share of £4.5m to "reduce waiting times, treat more patients and upgrade diagnostic equipment".
North West Anglia Foundation Trust (NWAFT) will see X-ray rooms across its sites converted to digital radiography in a bid to “improve quality, patients' safety and save time”.
It comes as part of a £700 million investment announced by the Government on December 3 to help improve care for patients and reduce waiting times.
NWAFT oversee Hinchingbrooke Hospital, alongside Peterborough City Hospital and Stamford.
Trust bosses say the funding – one of the most sizeable awards in the region –will help “level-up the digital infrastructure” in readiness to work more closely with health and social care organisations.
More space will be created for outpatient appointments at Peterborough City Hospital for trauma and orthopaedic patients, while extended hours for the Emergency Gynaecological Assessment Unit (EGAU), will help to reduce demand on the Emergency Department.
Dr Kanchan Rege, chief medical officer at NWAFT, said: “This funding allows us to upgrade to digital radiography at Hinchingbrooke, Stamford and Doddington Hospitals, plus The Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely.
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“Combined with the improvements to outpatients and EGAU at Peterborough City Hospital will mean we can see more patients and reduce the time some people are having to wait.”
The award includes £3.4 million to “strengthen digital foundations to enable clinicians to work more efficiently, freeing up time to focus on patient care”.
This includes implementing more secure and easy-to-use technology to allow reliable remote and flexible working, greater use of mobile devices to support care delivery and more consistent ways of working across sites.
Geraldine Wingfield-Hill, chief digital and information officer, said: “The way we work now is digital.
“This funding allows us to replace equipment and implement new ways of working that will create more flexibility and capacity to treat and care for more patients across our Trust.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to improve experience of care for our communities and to lay the foundations for smart digital care innovations to come.”
