Everyone wants to have access to it, and yet for the most part, no-one wants to have to visit. But we will all make use of its services and expertise during our lifetime. With the new city’s rapidly expanding population, Milton Keynes University Hospital is serving more and more people. Pulse’s Sammy Jones looked at […] The post Our hospital’s healthy outlook appeared first on MK Pulse.
Everyone wants to have access to it, and yet for the most part, no-one wants to have to visit. But we will all make use of its services and expertise during our lifetime. With the new city’s rapidly expanding population, Milton Keynes University Hospital is serving more and more people. Pulse’s Sammy Jones looked at its history, and spoke with chief executive Joe Harrison CBE about its future.
In the early days of the new town, residents had to make the journey to Northampton or Stoke Mandeville for their treatment needs.
In 1979, a four-ward community hospital opened, but it didn’t take long to realise that demand far exceeded what was available.
‘Milton Keynes is dying for a hospital’ was the campaign leading slogan in the late 70s and early 80s, and the call was answered in 1984, when the foundation of the hospital we know today opened its doors to the first patients.
Back then, the hospital had just less than 300 beds to serve a population of 115,000. The build and equipment, offering the very latest in technology, had cost £20million.
Less than a decade later, Phase 2 of the hospital launched, with a further six 28-bed wards, four more operating theatres, a new MRI unit and a refurbished Accident and Emergency Department among the welcome additions.
In 2005, the Macmillan Unit opened with support from the national charity, and a substantial donation from Marshall Amplification founder, Jim Marshall. The locally-based businessman with the international reputation contributed £750,000 to Macmillan Cancer Relief, which enabled the opening of the Macmillan unit.
The £12million treatment centre had four theatres and 60 beds.
Two years later the hospital received NHS Foundation Trust status.
The former main entrance to the building was replaced by a new facility near to the Outpatients area during the 2010s, and under the direction of Joe Harrison CBE, the hospital has continued to expand on its early promises.
Joe has been at the heart of the health hub since his arrival in 2013.
“It does not feel like 12 years ago!” he told Pulse, “A lot has changed, in particular the number of patients we are treating every day alongside the number of clinicians that we employ here.
“In addition, the size of the hospital estate and the range of healthcare services we offer has also significantly grown. During this time we also became a University Teaching Hospital, training the next generation of NHS professionals.”
Today those students, and staff, have state-of-the-art simulation suites where they can get to grips with ‘real life’ situations, practicing skills and learning; a lecture theatre and seminar rooms make education all the easier.
In 2020 the hospital opened its new Cancer Centre, and all cancer services were able to be provided in one building.
And then the pandemic hit. Covid thrust healthcare systems the world-over into uncharted territory. As the leader of the hospital, Joe was a familiar spokesman during those dark days.
Away from the spotlight, Joe was personally affected, too.
“Like others, I felt a combination of sadness for those affected, who included my mum who died of Covid, and pride in the way the public and our team here at MKUH responded,” he remembered, “We witnessed masses of innovation from NHS staff who had to respond to unprecedented circumstances, and that still influences us today.
“The same positive, can-do attitude helps us respond to current challenges,” he said.
Aside from your role at MKUH, you are a board member, chair and vice chair of various health-sector companies. How do you juggle so much comfortably?
“I have a lot of support from a brilliant team!” he says, with no hesitation, “My other work is an opportunity to look outside MKUH and access people or ideas to feed into our local plans. For instance, leading on the development of the NHS App puts me at the centre of conversations about how digital innovation can improve patient experience. I am thrilled that many people in MK have embraced the App and would encourage everyone to give it a go. There is support available – search nhs.uk/nhs-app.”
In 2024, the hospital toasted its 40th anniversary – four decades spent at the very heart of the community, extending a supporting arm around us all in our times of need.
People are rightly fiercely passionate about the NHS. We all feel a sense of ownership, don’t we? But we also love to moan about waiting times as much as we like to defend it as an establishment. How does it feel to head up something that is much-loved and yet often complained about?
“Our health is our most precious asset so, understandably, patients feel strongly about getting the care that they need,” Joe reasons, “If the NHS does not meet expectations then people are, rightly, going to let us know.
“We actively invite patient feedback because we care, and we use it to shape services. The majority of patients I speak with understand that we’re facing local population growth and financial pressures which make it harder to reduce waiting times.
“I am pleased to say that we have brought down our longest waiting times significantly in the past year, and we will do our utmost to keep going in this direction.”
Today, two diagnostics centres operate from different locations in Central Milton Keynes to further improve the patient experience.
In January, Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care confirmed that plans for a new hospital building would go ahead for Milton Keynes.
Construction could start this year, with building work set to continue through to 2030.
It is another significant milestone in the history of the hospital story.
And as Joe looks to the future, what does he see?
“The hospital will expand on our current site and also further support the delivery of health and care in our community. Technology will continue to transform how we work, from how our doctors and nurses communicate with our patients through to the clinical interventions that will become available to our patients.
“In the coming years, technology and AI-powered services will feature even more prominently and be responsible for further improvements to patient care.
“What I hope will never change is the reason why people come to work in our hospital – to provide high quality care to our patients.”
Finally, given such a high-profile and, no doubt, stressful position, how does Joe look after his own health?
“A great question! Being a dad motivates me to look after my health,” he says “I aim for a balanced diet, with enough exercise and time to relax when I can.
“Working in a hospital actually helps – my step count is pretty good because I walk around a lot, and our catering team always has something nutritious to eat for lunch.
“I also take full advantage of the NHS screening on offer,” he adds, inadvertently giving us all a nudge to take up those health check invitations that we might be ignoring. The time is now.
The post Our hospital’s healthy outlook appeared first on MK Pulse.