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Luton and Dunstable University Hospital

Luton & Dunstable NHS
Written by Roma Publications

Luton & Dunstable NHS

Luton and Dunstable University Hospital provides an array of services to patients in and around the Luton and Dunstable areas.

Services include Anaesthetics and Critical Care, Breast Screening, Cancer Services, Cardiology, Community Services, Dementia Care, General Surgery, Neonatal Unit, Neurology, Obesity Services, Nutrition and Diabetes, Stroke Service, Urology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics and Trauma, Pathology, Pharmacy Services and Ear, Nose and Throat services.

Most patients attending the hospital require medication and it is the responsibility of the pharmacy department to ensure that medicines are available when required and to assure the quality of medicines. Pharmacists are also key experts on the use of medicines and advise on medicine use for individual patients. Making sure all aspects of medicine use are as safe as possible for patients and staff is L & D’s fundamental objective.

In order to fight infection and control its spread the hospital introduced a policy of MRSA Screening for every in-patient undergoing either elective or emergency surgery or treatment. MRSA are bacteria that are not affected by some common antibiotics and can cause serious infection in sick patients in hospital if they get into the body through a cut and into the blood stream. The hospital is attacking the causes and incidence of infection in the hospital to achieve ‘no avoidable infection’ status.

The Luton and Dunstable University Hospital are committed to the provision of high quality healthcare. The L&D’s commitment to patient safety at a national level was reinforced when the previous Chief Executive was appointed as NHS Patient Safety Campaign Director.  The L&D continue to build on this success and in 2012 Dr Mark Patten was appointed as the Trust’s Medical Director, Patient Safety.

Staff in the hospital are working to protect patients from harm during your healthcare experience and are keen to ensure that the systems in place keep patients safe, particularly as medical practice is becoming ever more complex. By working together with doctors, nurses and other hospital staff patients can help to keep each other safe while in the hospital’s care.

The hospital team is also passionate about making sustainable development an integral part of their day-to-day activities. The team prides itself on being at the forefront of innovation and achievement and is a leader in patient safety initiatives. Their focus is now to become one of the sustainability and low carbon leaders within the NHS. L& D are committed to improving their energy efficiency, minimising waste, reducing water consumption and reducing the environmental impact of travel.

Within the The Luton & Dunstable University Hospital lies Cobham Clinic, a 13-bed purpose built private patient unit, providing services for those with private medical insurance. The hospital has agreements with all the major insurance companies including BUPA, Aviva, and AXA PPP.

One of the cornerstones of the Cobham Clinic service is that the income provided by patients stays at The Cobham Clinic and is invested directly back into NHS patient services throughout the hospital, to the benefit of the community.

A full complement of surgical services provided by the Trust can be accessed as a private patient, including some specialist services such as weight loss surgery and corneal grafting, as well as some of the more minor procedures which improve quality of life. Patients who do not have private medical insurance, or who do not necessarily wish to pay for the full cost of care can benefit too from the amenity bed scheme.

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Roma Publications