10 June 2010
The hospital’s new emergency department is to be formally opened by the Bailiff of Jersey, Mr Michael Birt, on Friday 11 June.
During his first official visit, the Bailiff will also visit the hospital’s refurbished and expanded radiology department, which houses Jersey’s state of the art MRI and CT scanners, and where new digital x-ray equipment has recently been installed to ensure that x-rays are processed as quickly and smoothly as possible. Digital x-rays replaced the traditional wet films in February, and in the future, all x-ray records kept at the hospital will be digital. The development allows rapid access to medical images and reports through a completely secure system.
The opening of the new emergency department, which moved location earlier this year to the Parade, will be marked by the Bailiff unveiling a plaque and meeting HSSD staff and representatives from the contractors who have undertaken these projects whilst ensuring that both departments have remained open to the public.
As well as emergency department and radiology department staff, the Bailiff will meet new HSSD Chief Executive Julie Garbutt, Health and Social Services Minister Deputy Anne Pryke and her assistant ministers, Deputies Judy Martin and Eddie Noel.
Speaking about the new emergency department, hospital director Andrew McLaughlin said “The emergency department is a busy facility used by around 40,000 people every year for all kinds of accidents and emergencies. Our aim is that everyone should be seen as quickly as possible and receives appropriate, high-quality care.
“The emergency department is now bigger and brighter, with improved access for patients and clinicians with a light and welcoming reception area and larger spaces for patient care. We are very pleased that the Bailiff will take time to meet with our hard working staff and patients on this visit to the General Hospital, and hope it provides an insight into our work and the care we provide for patients as we look for new ways to make healthcare in Jersey the best that it can be.”
The new emergency department also has a waiting room and treatment room dedicated to children who come into the department.
Regarding the digital image technology which the Bailiff will see in the radiology department, Mr McLaughlin said ‘‘Patients being seen in hospital clinics no longer have to wait for films to be processed, developed and printed. Digital storage means there is no possibility of losing an image and, if needed, many doctors will be able to view the same image at the same time. Patients who need to travel to the UK for treatment are now able to have all their clinical images provided electronically, not just CT and MRI scans as was the case before.
“The move not only offers significant benefits for patients and clinicians, it also offers efficiency savings for the hospital. We will no longer have to rely on difficult to source film stocks, complex chemical processors and hard to replace traditional equipment, as well as building expensive physical archives to store traditional x-ray film and paper reports,” said Mr McLaughlin.
Since the system went ‘live’ in February, using the digital equipment has saved over £200,000.
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