The Friends of Crowborough Hospital have supported the Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) at the hospital with the purchase of a new Electro-Cardiogram Machine for the department.

The new machine (shown installed in the department) is a 12 lead ECG which cost just over £4000. It is a crucial piece of equipment for the department which is used to facilitate investigation into patients who present with chest pains.   The machine can rapidly identify individuals with acute cardiac conditions which require rapid treatment and transfer to A&E.

Adam Healey (Emergency Care Practitioner, SCFT) explained that after the last machine broke, the machine that has been on loan for the last 2 years was regularly failing and preventing the MIU team from providing a gold standard of care.    The new machine is also much faster for staff to use, with greater versatility, and helps to manage patient care in a much speedier way which not only improves patient care for the individual, but also helps keep waiting times shorter for others.

The Minor Injuries Unit has been busy during the pandemic, though in the early days of lockdown the natures of the injuries did change……with an increase in youngster sprained ankles (trampolining…!) and injured hands in adults (DIY projects….!).    With restrictions in place to many other health services the MIU has become more a more valued facility than ever.

The Friends have been delighted to see the MIU at Crowborough busy again …….not that we wish people to have “minor injuries”…..but you know what we mean!