PATIENT CARE at St George’s Hospital received a boost last week following the news that the trust has appointed three leading consultants to form a new team of medical directors.

Consultants Mike Bailey, Patricia Hamilton and Chris Streather – each of whom used to be clinical directors at the hospital – have all been made medical directors to develop and watch over the quality of care given to patients at the Tooting-based trust.

They succeed the former medical director Paul Jones who returns to his previous post as Professor of Respiratory Medicine at St George’s Hospital Medical School.

Announcing the appointments, the hospital’s chief executive, Peter Homa, said:
‘St George’s has a national and international reputation for the quality of its care.

‘Mike Bailey, Pat Hamilton and Chris Streather are all highly experienced and highly respected clinicians. Under their clinical leadership, I am confident the care and treatment offered by St George’s will go from strength to strength.’

The new medical directors will share responsibility for individual clinical areas at the hospital, which treats over half a million patients every year.

Mike Bailey will be the new medical director in charge of surgery, cancer treatment, neurosciences and cardiothoracic medicine. He will also have responsibility for medical issues such as patient safety and clinical governance.

Patricia Hamilton will oversee the care of children and women, as well as scientific services such as radiology and breast screening. Among her many other duties, she will be responsible for child protection arrangements at the trust, equality issues and the training of medical staff.

Chris Streather will be the new director for medicine – a post which will include responsibility for the hospital’s A&E department, diabetes care, sexual health and care of the elderly. He will also oversee the stringent measures being taken by the trust to reduce infections, and ensure the hospital is fully prepared to deal with major incidents affecting the capital, such as terrorist attacks and environmental disasters.

Together, the three directors will form part of the senior management team at St George’s, which is led by chief executive Peter Homa, and have seats on the trust board.

The appointment of three people to the post of medical director is unusual in a hospital, Mr Homa explains, but is not unheard of:
‘A medical director has a broad array of responsibilities and in a large teaching hospital those responsibilities are sometimes shared between senior medical leaders.

‘The appointment of three people to the post of medical director reflects just how huge the job at St George’s has become.

‘But it also signifies our commitment to make the care we give our patients even better, safer and faster.’

‘To do that we need strong clinical leadership. In Mike, Pat and Chris, we have it.’

Mr Homa also paid tribute to their predecessor Professor Paul Jones who leaves after six years in the post.

“Professor Jones contributed a huge amount to St George’s during the two terms he served as Medical Director.

‘He has many achievements to his name but the two that spring most immediately to mind are his unswerving commitment to reduce infections in the hospital and his single-minded determination to improve standards of care.

‘In the six years that he has been medical director, Paul has built a strong and firm foundation for our future clinical success.

‘And I am sure everyone at St George’s will join me in wishing him a long and successful career as he returns to his former post at the Medical School.’

2. Ms Patricia Hamilton has been Clinical Director of Children’s and Women’s Services at St George’s Hospital for the past six years.
Born in Croydon, she qualified in medicine at Bristol University Medical School. She trained in paediatrics at Birmingham, Oxford and Great Ormand Street, and specialised in neonatology in Vancouver, Canada and University College Hospital, London.
She joined St George’s as a consultant and senior lecturer in neonatology in 1987.
She is Vice President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

3. Dr Chris Streather has been Clinical Director for Medicine at St George’s Hospital since 2003. He is a renal consultant at both St George’s and Kingston Hospitals, and an honorary senior lecturer at St George’s Hospital Medical School. He joined St George’s as a consultant in 1997.
Before that he trained at St Thomas’ Medical School, London and held registrar posts at hospitals in Cambridge, King’s College Hospital, and Brighton.
He is a member of the British Medical Association’s London Regional Consultants and Specialists Committee, an Associate of the NHS Modernisation Agency and sits on The Health Foundation’s Healthcare Leaders Panel.

4. Mr Mike Bailey has been Service Centre Chair for Surgery at St George’s Hospital since 2001.
A consultant urologist at both St George’s Hospital and Epsom and St Helier Hospitals, he is also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College Hospital and St George’s Hospital Medical School.
His career began at Brighton Hospital in 1974, from where he went on to hold several registrar and senior registrar positions, at both St George’s Hospital, the Royal Marsden, and the Institute of Urology.
In 1987, he joined Epsom General Hospital in as its only urologist. Five years later, he became medical director of Epsom Hospital – a post he held until 1995.
One year later, Mike returned to St George’s Hospital as Service Delivery Unit (SDU) leader for urology. Since then he has developed an interest in treating cancers of the bladder and the prostate.
He is a Council member of the British Association of Urological Surgeons.