Company Milestones

January, 2006
A mobile operating theatre and ward is to be sited within the grounds of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary as part of a drive to cut waiting times. It will be the first time that a mobile theatre with an associated ward - which together are known as a Visiting Hospital - has been used in Scotland. The high-tech facility will enable a significant number of case operations to be carried out by NHS Grampian surgeons.

February 22nd, 2006
Mrs Mary Hyland, a 76-year-old lady from Eaton Wick, near Windsor, becomes the 50,000th NHS patient to have a procedure on a mobile operating theatre. Her knee replacement operation took place on a laminar-flow mobile stationed outside the day surgery unit at Heatherwood Hospital, near Ascot, on February 22nd. The UK's national fleet of 24 mobiles is operated by independent healthcare company Vanguard Healthcare. On Monday, April 24th, Vanguard Managing Director, Graeme McConnell, along with Sales and Marketing Director, Mary Smallbone, presented Mrs Hyland with an engraved antique silver rosebowl and a bouquet of flowers to mark this landmark occasion at a ceremony at the hospital attended by Evelyn Barker, Director of Clinical Services at Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Trust./p>

March, 2006
In a first for NHS Highland, a mobile operating theatre from Vanguard Healthcare has been on-site at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness being used exclusively by NHS general surgeons over a three week period to help maintain and reduce waiting times. The £1 million state-of-the-art theatre, which arrived on-site at the beginning of March, is situated next to the hospital's Day Case Unit (DCU) and has enabled three different types of surgical procedure to take place - hernias, varicose veins and vasectomies.

August, 2006
The University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay will be amongst the first Trusts in the country to use a mobile endoscopy unit to cut waiting times by treating an additional 800 patients. The fully-equipped mobile unit, provided by Vanguard Healthcare, is sited at Furness General Hospital and will be in place for approximately two months, throughout September and October, providing treatment for approximately 20 patients a day.

November, 2006
A national health and social care watchdog rates the service provided by the operator of the UK's largest fleet of mobile theatres as excellent. Vanguard Healthcare's good quality nursing, well-trained staff and robust infection prevention policy are praised in a report carried out by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI). Inspectors carried out an unannounced visit to Vanguard Healthcare's Cheltenham headquarters. Karen Rickards, Clinical Director at Vanguard Healthcare, said: "In the vast majority of areas we were awarded a maximum score and exceeded the required standard. We are also pleased to report that during the period under investigation, Vanguard Healthcare did not receive a single complaint".

November, 2006
A skilled, motivated and contented workforce earns the operator of the UK's largest fleet of mobile theatres the prestigious Investors in People (IIP) Standard. Vanguard Healthcare passes with flying colours the IIP inspection, which monitored how it trains, manages and values its employees. Maureen Neilson, Human Resources Manager at Vanguard Healthcare, said: "Staff are clearly our greatest asset, so it is important that we invest in them by focusing on their development, offering support and generally looking after them".

May, 2007
Production of the UK fleet of mobile operating theatres is being stepped up to enable more NHS patients to be treated closer to where they live. This follows the publication of a Department of Health report which recommends that 80% of all planned surgery should be done locally. In his report, Professor Sir Ara Darzi, the national advisor on surgery, explains how routine procedures that previously required long stays in hospital, such as hernia operations, can now be done as day cases in local settings. The findings have been welcomed by Vanguard Healthcare, who have ordered a new mobile operating theatre, mobile endoscopy unit and mobile ward.