The work of staff in ‘maximising the use of data to get patients the care they need faster’ was commended by NHS England Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard during a visit to Maidstone Hospital on Friday 27 January. Ms Pritchard was able to hear about the innovative ways of working at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW) which enable the Trust to meet emergency, surgery and cancer standards and deliver some of the fastest patient care in the country.

Ms Pritchard’s visit included the busy Emergency Department, which in recent months has seen some of its busiest ever days, and MTW’s Care Coordination Centre (CCC). The centre uses real time data to constantly monitor the Trust’s 700 beds to improve the movement of patients through its hospitals. This has significantly reduced the amount of time a bed is empty, the time a patient spends in the Trust’s emergency departments before they are moved to a bed and ensures patients arriving by ambulance are quickly moved into the EDs.

Tweeting after the visit, Ms Pritchard said: “I had an excellent day yesterday at @MTWnhs speaking to clinicians and staff from across @NHSKentMedway about how they are maximising the use of data to get patients the care they need faster.

“Harnessing the potential of technology – to support our continued recovery from COVID-19 and improve services for patients and staff – will be front of mind as @NHSDigital and @NHSEngland come together as one organisation from next week.”

In 2022, MTW treated 900,126 patients (14% increase on 2021/ and a 13% rise from pre-pandemic) and admitted 2,192 COVID patients (37% increase on 2021) while seeing 200,833 patients (17% increase on 2021/ and a 20% rise from pre-pandemic) in our very busy ED’s. MTW also carried out 25,105 surgeries (15% increase on 2021/with similar levels for pre-pandemic), processed 98,068 CT and MRI scans (12% increase on 2021/ and a 22% rise from pre-pandemic)