Ref. 26574-9Swindon's Great Western Hospital is a year old. It's been twelve months of ups and downs as TAMASH LAL reveals in a report on its first anniversary.

IT'S BEEN a rocky first year of life for the Great West-ern Hospital.

There have been bed-shortages, complaints about treatment, a viral outbreak and financial problems, but health bosses have come out fighting.

In spite of the teething problems, they maintain that the giant white building which dominates the skyline at Commonhead is a marvel of modern medical technology of which the town should be rightly proud.

It was at exactly 7.01am on December 3, 2002, that the lights first flickered in the wards and corridors of the £170m hospital.

At the same time, a few miles across town, a chapter in the history of Swindon came to an end with the closure of the old Princess Margaret Hospital.

With its spacious, modern design, artwork and heli-pad, the new hospital was a world away from the cramped, outdated conditions at the PMH.

But within weeks, problems began to surface at the new 559-bed building.

A surge in emergency admissions, combined with a high level of delayed discharges, soon meant all beds and even trolleys were full.

In a desperate attempt to control the situation, bosses at the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, faxed GPs across town, calling on them not to admit any more emergency patients.

It looked as if earlier fears about the size of the building had been well-founded.

The hospital also hit the headlines when a pensioner went missing in the building, and was eventually found in a dark store cupboard, where she had been without food or water for 24 hours. But speaking to the Evening Advertiser this week, Paul Bentley, the hospital's acting chief executive, gave an assurance that things will improve, and vowed to slash waiting lists.

He stressed that the number of beds is steadily increasing.

September saw the opening of the new 36-bed Woodpecker orthopaedic ward.

In addition, a new 26-bed temporary ward will open on Boxing Day.

The Clover ward will be an interim measure until a 128-bed treatment and diagnostic centre opens in April 2005.

Mr Bentley wants to see waiting times cut to an average of six months within two years.

On average, patients currently wait nine months for non-emergency surgery, which is an improvement on this time last year, when the figure was 12 months.

He said: "Swindon is growing by 10,000 homes a year, so yes we do need more beds.

"We are getting more. The problem is that as soon as you get new beds, they tend to fill up.

"We need to be more efficient at using them."

And he mounted a strong defence against the hospital's critics.

"Inevitably, there are going to be some complaints, but out of the 308,000 patients we have seen in the last year, the number of complaints was 0.1 per cent.

"We have also had many letters and comments from patients thanking staff for their care and hard work."

He also pointed to the fact that the hospital received two out of three stars for its performance from the Commission for Health Improvement in the summer.

One of the first wards to move to the new site last year was the children's unit.

Liz Slater, senior play assistant, worked at the PMH for 15 years.

She said: "The facilities here are so much better.

"The children have a bigger play area, and they can also play outside.

"Parents also get an adaptable chair, which can be turned into a bed, so they can stay with their child.

"And each bed has a TV and telephone, which we never had before."

Mum Penny Huntley agrees. Her son Jordan, 11, was born with brain damage and has been in and out of hospital all his life.

He is currently suffering from pneumonia.

Penny, 43, of Bowleymead, Eldene, said: "The play facilities here are so much better, and makes life easier for the children.

"Jordan also enjoys having his own phone.

"I find it easier to park here. It was so difficult at the PMH that I sometimes missed appointments because I couldn't park."

Rob Turner, a specialist registrar in trauma and orthopaedics, started work at the PMH three months before the move.

He said: "Considering we were moving one hospital to another site, it all went smoothly.

"It's nice to have more space to work in, and it's a lot cleaner than the old building."

Jacquie Marshall, 40, is one of the sisters working on the new Woodpecker ward. She said: "The great thing about this hospital is that the site has been carefully planned to make things easier.

"It's a more pleasant environment to work in, the PMH was very cramped.

"There is also a much better support network for staff."

One of Jacquie's patients, Geraldine Spearing, who is undergoing a hip-replacement, was also full of support for the hospital.

Geraldine, 64, of Queensfield, Upper Stratton, said: "I can't praise it enough.

"It's something wonderful, of which the people of Swindon should be proud."

Tamash Lal