The high point of this week was undoubtedly Thursday's announcement by the Care Quality Commission. The announcement related to the CQC's Intelligent Monitoring Report, in which they band each hospital in the UK based on how high or low risk they are. We were classified in band 6, the lowest risk band, making us as one of the safest hospitals in the country.
The report, which replaces the CQC's previous approach to monitoring the risk profile of individual trusts, is based on 150 individual indicators examining a range of factors including patient experience, waiting times, death rates, staff views and leadership and governance of the Trust.
I'd like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to every single member of staff here at the Women's who work so hard to ensure that our patients get a great experience every time they touch our services. Whilst we might not get it right every single time for every single patient, this latest report from the CQC supports my belief that our staff are constantly striving to deliver the absolute best care they can. We should all be very proud of each other and the work that we do every day to make a difference to so many women, their babies and families.
On Thursday we had an internal launch of our new Catharine Medical Centre, so that staff across the Trust could have a sneak preview of the unit before we launch it to the rest of the world. Staff were very impressed with the centre, which will deliver high quality private care to patients across the region. We'll be opening the doors for members of the public to come and have a look around the centre at our public launch event on Thursday 3rd April at 5.30pm, please put that date in your diary and come along and see our fantastic facilities for yourself.
Earlier this week we met with staff on our neonatal unit as part of our regular listening sessions. These sessions are great opportunity to sit down informally with staff from various departments across the hospital on a monthly basis to find out what the issues being faced on the front line are.
Next week is National Nutrition and Hydration Week as well as National Health Care Science Week and the Trust will be marking both.
From Monday to Thursday, our catering team will be holding cooking demonstrations in our reception area, so that staff and visitors to the hospital can pick up some tips on how to cook healthy meals without breaking the bank. We'll also be handing out healthy eating information leaflets with all meals, as well as recipe guides for patients to take home with them. We'll also be taking part in the National Tea Party, which is planned for Wednesday afternoon - all patients in the hospital will get a lovely slice of cake and a hot beverage.
To mark Health Care Science Week, we'll be holding three live question and answer sessions via Twitter and Facebook. We'll be offering the public the opportunity to tweet their questions to one of our embryologists from our amazing Hewitt Fertility Centre, as well as scientists from our brilliant genetics department. These will take place from 12.30-1.30pm on Tuesday, and from 12.30-1pm on Thursday, so be sure to get involved!