SW Thames Prospectus - South Thames Diabetes and Endocrinology

Opened in 1974 it is now the third largest hospital in the old South West
Thames Region, and is proud of its reputation as a friendly hospital with
excellent relationships between all
grades of staff. The Hospital became
a second-wave NHS Trust on 1 April
1992. It is a 'Best Buy' Hospital and
was originally designed to serve the
needs of a population of 170,000.
This number has since more than
doubled. In February 1996 Frimley
Park opened a Ministry of Defence
Hospital Unit integrating services
previously provided by the
Cambridge Military Hospital in
Aldershot. In the last few years the
Hospital’s workload has increased every year to 56,500 finished consultant
episodes and 215,000 OPD attendances. Major additions to the original
hospital have recently been added in the last three years including a
dedicated Medical Assessment Unit, a new Endoscopy Unit, new day case
facilities and a Treatment Centre (mainly ophthalmology). A Cardiac Catheter
laboratory opened in 2006. The radiology department has adopted the PACS
system for immediate digital imaging.
Our 'three star' hospital is the proud possessor of a Charter Mark for
excellence in public service, originally awarded in December 1997 and reawarded
in 2000 and 2004. It also has an Investors in People award, and has
achieved CNST level 3 for acute and maternity services. Foundation status
was granted in April 2005. The hospital is the first in England to gain top
marks (Level 3) in the tough new risk management standards (NHSLA).
General Medicine
FPH is a very busy acute DGH. There is a large Accident & Emergency
department with 4 Consultants. The Hospital is a designated Major
Accident receiving hospital and is a Category 2 trauma centre. Attendances
stand at 90,000+ p.a.
The medical directorate (medicine and elderly care) has a total of 275 beds.
This includes a 30 bedded Medical Assessment Unit, an 8 bedded CCU and
a newly opened 8 bedded Adult High Dependency Unit offering non-invasive
ventilation, and particularly focuses on respiratory patient care. Daily
admissions of 25-45 patients with the take split into the day (8am-6pm) and
night (6pm-8am). The medical team is divided into 4 megafirms with 3-4
consultants, 3 registrars (single 13 hour shift), 4 SHOs (full shift week of
nights) and 3 F1s per megafirm.
There are monthly audit and educational half days, weekly radiology and
journal clubs and grand round alternate weeks.
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