News


MS sufferer wins award

A WOMAN from St George’s Hospital who has battled with multiple sclerosis for more than 20 years has won a major disability award. Margaret Morrison, Head of Facilities at the South London hospital, won the regional Remploy disability award last Wednesday (7 September) after being nominated by friends and colleagues …
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15 Sep 2005


First Touch Garden

Gorgeous George’s gardens win contest

AS SPORTING contests go, the competitors are more, well, flora than Paula. But the flower beds of one South London hospital were hailed as champions last week when the green-fingered groundsmen that tend them won first prize in a London-wide competition for the best-kept hospital gardens. Gardeners from St George’s …
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15 Sep 2005


St George’s is first hospital to publish all mortality rates

The NHS Trust which runs St George’s Hospital in South London has become the first in the UK, and possibly the world to publish all its death rates by individual clinical specialty. The death rates are published in the form of graphs on the Trust website. The graphs, for a …
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25 Aug 2005


Work starts on hospital family hotel

WORK has begun at St George’s Hospital on a family ‘hotel’ that will offer free accommodation to parents of children needing inpatient medical care. The centre, which is described as a ‘home away from home’, will cost over ?750k to build and is due to be completed by the end …
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28 Jun 2005


MRSA infections fall by a third

BLOODSTREAM INFECTIONS of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria MRSA fell by a third at St George’s Hospital last year, according to new figures published by the Department of Health. There were 63 infections of MRSA between April 2004 and March 2005, compared to 93 cases in 2003/04. Dr Aodhan Breathnach, infection control …
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21 Jun 2005


Hospital improves heart attack care

VICTIMS of heart attacks are receiving rapid access to life-saving medication at St George’s Hospital, according to a new report published by the Royal College of Physicians. Figures from the Fourth Public Report of the Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project (MINAP) show 93 per cent of patients were given clot-busting …
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16 Jun 2005


Hospital Director awarded OBE

A DIRECTOR of St George’s Hospital has been awarded the OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list. Karen Castille, Director of Service Improvement and Strategy for the hospital, received the Order of the British Empire for ‘services to the NHS’, according to St James’ Palace which announced the honours on …
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14 Jun 2005


First keyhole kidney transplant performed by hospital

SURGEONS from St George’s Hospital performed a landmark operation on Wednesday 26 May to remove a kidney from a live donor using keyhole surgery. The laparoscopic procedure, which was first developed fourteen years ago, makes St George’s only the fifth hospital in the country to offer the less invasive form …
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28 May 2005


“Renewing St George’s:” A Plan for Financial Recovery

THE ST GEORGE’S Healthcare NHS Trust has launched its plan to tackle an overspend of around ?20 million by changing the way it works. The plan focuses on improving patient services by changing the way the hospital works, based on ideas provided by staff. Much of the plan, entitled Renewing …
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26 May 2005


Hospital thanks nurses

ST GEORGE’S Hospital has paid tribute to the expertise of its 2,300 nurses. Speaking at an event to mark International Nurses Day (Thursday 12 May), which is held every year on the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth, the hospital’s Director of Nursing Geraldine Walters praised nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants …
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12 May 2005


Exposed: The new hospital gown that is less revealing

WORN by patients up and down the country, the traditional hospital gown often leaves wearers quite literally exposed. Now nurses from South West London have designed a new robe that promises to be less revealing. The gown, which is similar in style to a Japanese kimono, is being piloted by …
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11 May 2005


Hospital fracture unit given million pound makeover

ST GEORGE’S Hospital has flung open the doors of its fracture unit again after a £1m refurbishment. The project, which was funded by the NHS Modernisation Agency as part of the Action on Orthopaedics scheme, has taken five months to complete. The unit has been completely refurbished and its layout …
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11 May 2005


St George’s to be friendlier to the learning disabled

Staff at St George’s who wanted to find out what coming to was like for people with learning disabilities have done the obvious thing. They’ve asked them. St George’s have been working with a local organisation Generate, which supports people with learning disabilities, to try to make the hospital friendlier …
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5 May 2005


St George’s named ‘top performing hospital’

ST GEORGE’S Healthcare NHS Trust has been named a “top performing hospital” by a company that measures clinical performance. Not only that, the Trust was named the most improved hospital for clinical care. The CHKS awards, now in their fifth year, were held on Tuesday 26th April in Birmingham and …
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28 Apr 2005


Medical Director elected president of Royal College

A MEDICAL DIRECTOR from St George’s Hospital has been elected President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Dr Patricia Hamilton, one of the country’s leading experts in the care of premature babies, will hold the title of President Elect until April 2006 when her three-year term of …
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11 Apr 2005