Sevenoaks hospital – keeping services safe
Since the decision to pause fire safety works on the Sevenoaks Hospital inpatient building, work has been continuing to move the remaining services to other buildings on the Sevenoaks site.
This means the Urgent Treatment Centre and some outpatient clinics will move into vacant space during the coming months.
We have started work in the outpatient building to allow all the services on the second floor of the inpatient building to move in. This will start on 18 November and should be complete by 22 November.
In the new year, the ground floor services, which include the Urgent Treatment Centre, will move from the main building into Darent House, with x-ray services provided by a mobile facility. We are also working with Medway Community Healthcare to support the move of its dental and x-ray services into Darent House.
Kent and Medway Social Care NHS Partnership Trust teams will be moving from Darent House to the outpatients building and Diabetic Eye Screening, will also move to the outpatient building.
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) Deputy Chief Executive Pauline Butterworth said: “Firstly, I’d like to pay tribute to our colleagues who work tirelessly to put patients first. This is a complex piece of work and we are working hard to minimise disruption for everyone who is impacted.
“On Tuesday (22 October), Kent Fire and Rescue Service returned to inspect the sites and was reassured with the progress and actions we have taken and the plans we have in place.
“We take the safety of our patients, public and staff extremely seriously. I’d like to stress that – other than the inpatient beds which have temporarily moved to West View Integrated Care Centre in Tenterden – all other services are moving to either the outpatient building or Darent House on the Sevenoaks Hospital site.
“Our aim is to have all the moves complete by early next year and we will keep people updated so people understand where they need to attend for an appointment.”
Following a planned fire evacuation exercise earlier this year, KCHFT made urgent temporary changes to move inpatient rehabilitation beds from Sevenoaks Hospital to other sites, due to a fire safety risk.
A full-scale review of the work needed to make the 100-year-old building safe to return for both patients, staff and volunteers was completed. The cost is in the region of £6million for the fire safety work and the maintenance – exceeding the funds available, at a time of unprecedented financial challenge across the NHS.
KCHFT therefore reluctantly took the decision to pause investment, until a county-wide review of community rehabilitation can be completed. This will be led by NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board.
During the pause, KCHFT is focusing on improving its out of hospital services and is committed to delivering the very best care for the people of Sevenoaks and west Kent.
