By Dave GooderhamA HOSPITAL has moved to defend any criticism over staffing levels with the appointment of four new consultants. Following concerns about the number of staff at the West Suffolk Hospitals Trust, chief executive John Parkes hoped the appointments would go someway to easing any perceived problems.
By Dave Gooderham
A HOSPITAL has moved to defend any criticism over staffing levels with the appointment of four new consultants.
Following concerns about the number of staff at the West Suffolk Hospitals Trust, chief executive John Parkes hoped the appointments would go someway to easing any perceived problems.
Mr Parkes said: “I want to extend a warm welcome to all four new consultants and am confident they will help us to improve the level of care we provide to our patients.
“They are joining the trust as we are engaged in a major drive to modernise and improve the services we offer.
“We are rarely faced with a better opportunity to build a truly world-class health care service for the community we serve and I know that all four consultants will welcome the chance to be part of this.”
Last month David Ruffley, the Conservative MP for Bury St Edmunds, described staffing levels at the trust as “alarming”, citing figures which revealed it had the lowest ratio of staff per beds among local acute hospitals.
Dr Paul Molyneux's appointment as the trust's second consultant neurologist is seen as a coup for the hospital.
He is described as being at the cutting edge of multiple sclerosis care, having spent three years studying the effects of Beta-interferon at a hospital in London.
“It is good to be working at a dynamic forward-thinking trust which attracts top consultants from throughout the country. My wife and I are enjoying the quality of life which Suffolk offers compared to London,” he said.
Dr Molyneux will spend three days at the hospital and two days working at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
Dr David Ross joins the trust in a new post as a consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology, the trust's sixth consultant obstetrician.
Dr Nicholas Levy has transferred to West Suffolk Hospital from Addenbrooke's and Papworth Hospital. The consultant anaesthetist has a strong interest in critical care and will replace Dr Kwee Matheson on June 30.
New Zealand-born Ms Alessandra Canal also joins the trust as a consultant plastic surgeon with an interest in breast and skin cancer.
dave.gooderham@eadt.co.uk
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