Queen Victoria Hospital
| Queen Victoria Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | |
| File:Queen Victoria Hospital East Grinstead sign.JPG | |
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | East Grinstead, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°08′06″N 0°00′02″E / 51.134972°N 0.000494°E |
| Organisation | |
| Care system | Public NHS |
| Type | Specialist and Foundation Trust |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Minor Injuries Unit |
| Beds | 130 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1863 |
| Links | |
| Website | http://www.qvh.nhs.uk/ |
| Lists | Hospitals in England |
- For the former Queen Victoria Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria, now partly demolished and converted into a women's centre see Queen Victoria Hospital, Melbourne
The Queen Victoria Hospital, located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world famous for its pioneering burns and plastic surgery. The hospital was named after Queen Victoria. The Princess Royal is the current patron of the hospital.
History
Founded as a cottage hospital in 1863, the Queen Victoria Hospital was built on its current site in the 1930s and developed as a specialist burns unit by Sir Archibald McIndoe during World War II, when it became world famous for pioneering treatment of RAF and allied aircrew who were badly burned or crushed and required reconstructive plastic surgery. Most famously, it was where the Guinea Pig Club was formed in 1941, as a club which then became a support network for the aircrew and their family members. The club still provides assistance for Guinea Pigs, and meets regularly in East Grinstead. The Duke of Edinburgh is the current President of the club. The Queen Victoria Hospital remains at the forefront of specialist care today, and is renowned for its burns treatment facilities and expertise throughout England. [1]
Services
QVH is the regional centre of excellence for burns and for reconstructive surgery - the use of specialist techniques such as tissue transplant and microvascular surgery in the restoration of people who have suffered disfigurement or destructive damage from disease, trauma, major surgery, or congenitally.
Burns
The QVH Burns Centre provides specialist burns care treatment for people living in the South East of England. The centre incorporates a five bedded Intensive Care Unit, six minor burn beds, an outpatients clinic and an operating theatre, with a team including specialist burns nurses, consultant plastic surgeons, physiotherapists and anaesthetists.
The pioneering burns unit has championed new treatments for burns patients, including the use of Wii consoles for physiotherapy. [2] The hospital was involved in controversy in August 2007 when it turned away an 8 month old burn victim arriving by air ambulance.[3] The row was finally resolved with both sides agreeing to disagree over the issue.[4]
Corneo Plastics
The Corneo Plastic Unit was established by Sir Benjamin Rycroft in the 1940s. The unit specialises in corneal transplantation surgery and oculoplastics. The Eye Bank, previously named the National Eye Bank at the Queen Victoria Hospital, was established formally in 1952. Sir Benjamin Rycroft was instrumental in the passage of the Tissue Procurement Act, a key piece of legislation with respect to all transplant surgery in the UK.
Today, the Corneo Plastic and Opthalmology unit performs corneal transplantation, lamellar grafts, and stem cell transplantation for occular surface rehabilitation. [5][6][7] Raman Malhotra, consultant ophthalmologist at the hospital, discovered a method of treating Blepharospasm using filters. [8]
Plastic Surgery
The hospital is a major centre for patients undergoing either immediate or delayed breast reconstruction, and is linked to surrounding cancer networks. There is an on site team containing consultant plastic surgeons and specialist breast care nurses. Breast reduction and surgery to correct asymmetry are also offered.
Hand surgery is also performed at the hospital. Videos of complex hand operations have been shared on YouTube by Mr Harry Belcher, a consultant hand surgeon at the hospital.[9]
A man had his arm successfully reattached in a 14-hour operation by surgeons at the Queen Victoria Hospital, after he accidentally cut it off with a 'chainsaw'. [10] The operation has lead to regained use of his fingers.[11][12]
Maxillofacial surgery
The Maxillofacial unit has an international reputation as a training and teaching unit, with staff specialising in oral surgery, orthodontics, facial trauma, head and neck cancer, orthognathic surgery, salivary gland disease, face and jaw reconstruction, and developmental facial deformity. The unit performed major reconstructive surgery on a Crawley woman who was savaged by her own dog. [13]
Sleep Clinic
The East Grinstead Sleep Disorder Centre treats a wide range of problems concerned with sleep, including obstructive sleep apnoea, insomnia, narcolepsy and snoring.
Paediatrics
Peanut Ward is a 16-bed paediatric unit providing specialist plastic surgical, burns, maxillofacial and corneo plastic care for 0-16 year olds. The ward provides separate areas for teenagers, children and babies; facilities for one parent to stay with every child and a separate parents' area. All trained staff on the ward have a paediatric nursing qualification and many have additional qualifications such as child protection, advanced life suppport, burns and plastics. The ward also contains a play specialist, a teacher, separate baby and child play areas and an outdoor play area.
Community Care
In addition to its specialist reconstructive services, QVH provides clinically excellent community healthcare to local people in and around East Grinstead, with two elderly care wards, a rehabilitation unit and a minor injuries unit (an alternative to A&E).
Telemedicine
Queen Victoria Hospital has a unique system of telemedicine, enabling badly injured patients in England’s south east to receive immediate care from top specialist burns & plastic, maxillofacial and corneoplastic surgeons. The system involves A&E departments in 30 referring hospitals in the area, allowing them to send images and clinical information in an encrypted format to specialists at the QVH.
The QVH telemedicine system has been chosen to form part of the Institute of Engineering & Technology's 2008 Faraday Lecture on the overall theme of engineering in health, and has been included in a documentary. [14]
Ratings
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was rated "Double Excellent" by the Healthcare Commission for two years in a row (2007 and 2008). [15]
Nursing Times named the hospital "Top organisation providing secondary and hospital care" for 2008. [16]
Transport Links
The hospital is served by several Metrobus services.
- Route 280 - operates an hourly service which links QVH to the town centre and station, plus Herontye Estate.
- Route 281 - operates an hourly service which links QVH to the town centre and station, Worsted Farm, Imberhorne, Felbridge, Crawley Down, Copthorne, Three Bridges and Crawley.
- Route 409 - provides an hourly direct link to QVH from the town centre and station, Worsted Farm, Dormansland, Lingfield, Godstone, Caterham, Warlingham and Croydon.
East Grinstead railway station and Gatwick Airport are a short taxi-ride away from the hospital.
References
- ^ E.J. Dennison (1996-06-30). A Cottage Hospital Grows Up. ISBN 0952093391.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ BBC Staff (2008-02-25). "Games therapy for burns victims" (html). BBC News. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ BBC Staff (2007-08-08). "Row after burn unit refuses baby" (html). BBC News. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ BBC Staff (2007-08-30). "Health trusts settle baby dispute" (html). BBC News. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Stem cells used for eye disorder". BBC News. 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Pioneering stem-cell surgery restores sight". The Times. 2005-04-29. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Sheraz M. Daya; et al. (2005). "Outcomes and DNA analysis of ex vivo expanded stem cell allograft for ocular surface reconstruction". Ophthalmology. 112 (3): 470–477.
{{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Nigel Hawkes (2008-05-19). "Filters prevent blindness of eyes that won't open" (html). The Times. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Mr Harry Belcher. "'Harry the Hand' surgery videos" (video). Youtube. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
- ^ BBC Staff (2008-09-30). "Man lost arm in chainsaw accident" (html). BBC News. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ BBC Staff (2008-12-29). "Chopped arm man can use fingers" (html). BBC News. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ BBC Staff (2009-02-09). "'I want to tie my own shoelaces'" (html). BBC News. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Crawley dog attack survivor meets Dog Borstal expert" (html). Crawley Observer. 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Remote Operations" (html). 2007-10-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Annual Health Check 2008" (html). Healthcare Commission. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Top 100 Nurse Employers 2008" (html). Nursing Times. 2008-04-14. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
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