It’s amazing how many people drive past Spalding’s Johnson Community Hospital every day but never know what actually goes on inside it.
It’s amazing how many people drive past Spalding’s Johnson Community Hospital every day but never know what actually goes on inside it.
I often speak to patients, carers and their families who live just a stones throw away who might have otherwise, for example, journeyed to Boston or Peterborough to be patched up for a cut or treated for a broken bone rather than visiting the Minor Injuries Unit here.
The hospital is home to a range of services, some of which are run by Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS).
My role working for Lincolnshire Community Health Services as the trust’s Head of Clinical Services for the South East of Lincolnshire means I oversee not just the LCHS services at the hospital, but also the teams of community nurses and therapists from Sutton Bridge through to Swineshead, and over to Whaplode Drove.
Over the coming months, I would like to give you an insight into community healthcare. Is there anything you’ve ever wanted to know about community nursing?
Do you have a burning question about the Johnson Community Hospital? I’m happy to answer as many questions as I can about your local community health service. Unfortunately I won’t be able to answer specific questions about individual patient’s health matters as part of this column.
I have worked in healthcare since starting my career as a carer in a nursing home on the old “YTS” scheme back in 1993.
I started my nurse training in 1995, graduating in 1998 and working predominantly in the acute sector until I joined LCHS in 2008 as the Assistant Matron for Spalding Hospitals (as there were two sites then).
Since then I have worked as the Matron for the Johnson Community Hospital and now as the Head of Clinical Services for the South East.
I have been proud to work for LCHS and with the teams I do. On joining LCHS I was amazed by the variety of services that we offer and the skills and dedication of the staff working within them but also by lack of knowledge about some of our services with our potential patients.
In my first column I aim to talk to you all about the services on offer at the Johnson Community Hospital and take the opportunity to enlighten you about how Spalding was lucky enough to have a new facility right on its doorstep.
*If you’d like to get in touch, please email me via spalding editor@jpress.co.uk