Double celebration for local hospital trust as the NHS turns 70

The Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospital Trust has been celebrating the NHS turning 70 and King George Hospital’s 25th birthday.

A breakfast for staff is taking place at Queens Hospital in Romford today, with a lunch and picnic at King George Hospital in Goodmayes.

Loose Women star Stacey Solomon judged a special bake-off at King George yesterday.

She gave birth to her children at the Redbridge-based site.

Former I’m A Celebrity winner Stacey said: “The NHS means a lot to me, it has been there for me for both of my pregnancies, my sister works for the NHS she’s a paediatric nurse, my family have been cared for at the NHS and I think it’s a real privilege to have such services in this country that are free and available to everyone.

“The people that work here, I know first hand how hard they work and how dedicated they are to the job and I will do anything I can to support them.

“I gave birth in King George Hospital and a lot of my friends and family have been in and out of King George and Queens. I have a huge connection to these hospitals. I think the care is incredible, there are some things that could be better, but there is huge amounts of funding that needs to go in, more staff, trying to encourage people to become nurses but essentially most people I have come into contact with at this hospital have been incredible.”

Matthew Hopkins is Chief Executive of BHRUT, which has recently received a positive report from the Care Quality Commission.

He says a lot has changed over the last 25 years.

“It’s a great celebration to recognise the great care that has been given to patients over that time and to recognise the staff and their hard work.

“A lot has changed over the 25 years; patients stay in less time now after their operations, the quality of care has improved, the access and waiting times have improved, so our plan is to continue to meet patient needs as best we can and make their experience as good as it can be.

“The recent care quality commision report on our hospital was very good, I’d be expecting your listeners to be able to access facilities more quickly and also the care their experiencing to be better than during previous years, that is something we want to build on.

“The NHS is something the public really treasures and values. Having worked in the NHS for the last 33 years it has been a massive part of my life. Continuing to make sure people get the best experience with the current resources is the main aim for staff across King George and Queens Hospitals.”

(PHOTO: @BHR_Hospital via Twitter)

Our celebrity Bake Off judge @StaceySolomon full of praise for @BHR_hospitals : pic.twitter.com/ALalX4aY2b

— BHR HOSPITALS (@BHR_hospitals) July 4, 2018