Positive insight from the University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust AGM

On the evening of 26 September 2017, Kym Provan, partner and head of BL Claims’ South Coast clinical negligence team, was pleased to attend the annual general meeting of University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

The governors spoke to members of the Trust about financial performance over the past year as well as what it means to be a governor at Southampton. Fiona Dalton, chief executive, reflected on the Trust’s achievements over the past year and outlined what they were hoping to achieve over the coming year. Kym was pleased to note that this focused very firmly on patient care and safety as well as a desire to learn from past experiences and the need to look after their staff. Southampton General Hospital is a major centre for a number of disciplines and continues to enjoy an excellent reputation in research fields.

One of the fields of medicine for which Southampton is a major centre, is that of trauma. Trust members were able to enjoy a presentation made jointly by consultants from South Central Ambulance Service, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance team and the trauma centre at Southampton General Hospital. This focused on the treatment pathway of an individual injured in a motorcycle accident, from the time of the initial 999 call, through treatment at the roadside by paramedics and specialist trauma consultants, through to transfer of the patient to the trauma unit who would be ready and waiting to provide emergency life-saving treatment to the patient by the time they arrived at the hospital. This provided a fascinating insight into the important partnerships developed between the respective organisations and it was encouraging to hear from all of them that they have the opportunity to follow up on the patient’s longer term outcome. The presentation also provided an indication of the number of clinicians and support services involved in the treatment provided to just one individual.

Kym has enjoyed attending several meetings at the Trust over the years with informative presentations from various departments within the hospital and would encourage other interested parties to attend in the future.