OUR TRUST
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is a large acute hospital Trust. We provide a full
range of general hospital services to around 500,000 people living in the south of west Kent
and parts of north east Sussex. Many of the people we serve live in Maidstone and
Tunbridge Wells area.
In addition, the Trust provides cancer services (through its cancer centre at Maidstone and
Canterbury Hospitals) for the whole of Kent and Hastings and Rother, about 1.8 million
people. We also provide ophthalmology services to the people of Medway.
OUR HOSPITALS
The Trust primarily works from four clinical sites. Maidstone Hospital (Trust Headquarters),
Kent & Sussex Hospital (Tunbridge Wells), Pembury Hospital and Preston Hall (Aylesford,
near Maidstone). We also provide cancer services at Kent Oncology Centre at Kent &
Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury.
LOCATION
Our Trust is located in rural Kent, with easy access to the M25, M20 and Kent coast.
Central London rail stations are less than an hour from Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone
stations.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE – PRIVATE FINANCE INITIATIVE
Building work on the country’s first large NHS hospital to have all inpatient single rooms
with en-suite facilities has now commenced. The new Pembury Hospital will set a new
standard in NHS care.
The 512-bedded circa £225 million PFI hospital is being designed and built by Equion. It will
have state of the art facilities throughout when it opens in 2011, and has been uniquely
designed to maximise patient safety and effective infection control. Design elements include
separate planned and emergency areas to reduce the risk of infection, inpatient bedrooms
designed to minimise falls and the separation of inpatient and outpatient facilities to address
issues of privacy and dignity. The new hospital has also been developed to blend into the
beautiful rural setting, with patient accommodation placed to take advantage of woodland views.
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHSTrust are committed to Equal Opportunities
and representing the diversity of the community we serve. We offer a range of flexible working arrangements
and are continually striving to improve the working lives of our staff.
Plans to provide new and enhanced services at Maidstone Hospital are also underway to ensure
the area served by the hospitals Trust has two vibrant, modern hospitals. Over £70 million has
been spent on new services and hospital improvements at Maidstone in the past three years
alone and that investment is set to continue.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The Trust’s research and development team supports existing and encourages new
research ensuring that all projects and clinical trials, whether NHS driven or externally
sponsored are conducted to the highest standards. Findings from research are shared
within the Trust and we participate in many multi-site research projects conducted
nationally, chiefly in the field of cancer treatments.
IMPROVING WORKING LIVES
The Trust has been awarded `Practice Plus Status’ for the Improving Working Lives
standard. The standard states that all staff working for the NHS are entitled to work in an
organisation that can prove it is investing in more flexible, supportive and family friendly
working arrangements to improve diversity, tackle discrimination and harassment and
develop staff skills to improve patient services.
The Trust demonstrates this in such areas as
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Supporting and promoting a range of flexible working practices
Improving childcare provision
Investing more in training and development of staff
Making the working lives of staff safer by protecting them from violence, harassment
and bullying.
Staff are encouraged to put forward ideas for change through a variety of routes. We have
staff forums and a staff involvement policy.
Induction
Attendance at the Trust induction programme is mandatory for all new starters, and will be
co-coordinated by the Learning and Development Team. The induction includes statutory
training such as fire, moving & handling and resuscitation.
Occupational Health
The Trust has an Occupational Health Department providing pre-employment screening,
medical examinations, health supervision and a counselling service.
Pension Scheme
Membership of the NHS Pension Scheme is offered to all employees on a voluntary basis.
Public Transport
Local bus companies run services to and from the front of the three main hospital sites.
Car Parking
A small monthly charge is payable for on-site staff car parking permits (deducted direct
from salary).
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHSTrust are committed to Equal Opportunities
and representing the diversity of the community we serve. We offer a range of flexible working arrangements
and are continually striving to improve the working lives of our staff.
Accommodation
Residential accommodation can be arranged for some posts.
Library Services
All employees are encouraged to make use of the extensive library services offered in our
Education Centres on each of the hospital sites.
Benefits
Wide ranges of benefits are available – these include discounts in local stores and
restaurants and a low cost staff restaurant on each site. Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS
staff are also eligible to register with www.bringme.co.uk accessing discounted prices from
a range of retail outlets.
Developing your career
We offer a wide range of in-house training. We enjoy close working relationships with
higher education institutions, including strong links with the University of Brighton, and
Christchurch University, Canterbury, our higher education providers. These relationships
enable our staff to easily access opportunities at the Universities Schools of Health,
Sciences, Education and Business. We actively support opportunities for our staff to
pursue flexible modes of study with rotational programmes for newly qualified nurses who
wish to develop their expertise.
Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHSTrust are committed to Equal Opportunities
and representing the diversity of the community we serve. We offer a range of flexible working arrangements
and are continually striving to improve the working lives of our staff.