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Ann Widdecombe, MP for Maidstone and the Weald, visited Benenden Hospital to open a £2m project which includes fully refurbished operating theatre and 13 single en suite rooms for patients (Friday May 1).
Ms Widdecombe, former Shadow Health Secretary, was invited to Benenden Hospital, near Cranbrook, to formally cut the ribbon on the newly refurbished Garland Suite. A former communal ward at the hospital has been converted to create 13 single en suite rooms for patients, while an existing theatre has been completely refurbished as part of the development.
Ms Widdecombe was welcomed to the hospital by newly appointed Hospital Director Jane Abbott and the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Eryl Williams. During her tour of the Garland Suite, Ms Widdecombe met nursing staff, patients and the project team.
She said: “It gives me tremendous pleasure to be here and to open the Garland Suite. I have been talking to the patients and they all seem very happy. Benenden Hospital does terrific work.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has helped create the new rooms and theatre, from the architects through to the contractors, and to the staff.”
Benenden was founded in 1907 as a TB sanatorium for postal workers but, more than a century later, it provides healthcare for Benenden Healthcare Society members, private patients and NHS patients who can elect to have surgery there through the NHS GPs’ Book and Choose scheme.
The hospital prides itself on providing high quality diagnostic, surgical and medical services. Great emphasis is placed on providing comfortable, clean and infection-free accommodation and a range of clinical services, which have led to an impressive array of industry awards.
Jane Abbott, Benenden’s Hospital Director, said of the visit: “Ann has been a supporter of the hospital and its work over the years. She joined in our centenary celebrations in 2007 and we were honoured and delighted that she agreed to open the Garland Suite.”
Benenden Healthcare Society is a not for profit organisation which works for the benefit of its members, offering them medical care at 12 hospitals, including Benenden in Kent. The group had no cases at all of MRSA infection during the last monitored period, 2006 to 2008.
Picture: Ann Widdecombe opening the new Garland Suite at Benenden Hospital.
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