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Kingsbridge Private Hospital North West General Manager Anthony McKenna
Kingsbridge Private Hospital North West – One year on
Some of the nursing staff at Kingsbridge Private Hospital North West
CONNECTED recently sat down with General Manager Anthony McKenna to hear more about Kingsbridge’s first year in Ballykelly since taking ownership of the North West Independent Hospital, some of the services they provide, and their plans for future growth.
“I think everyone’s much more conscious of their and their family’s health since the pandemic, so it’s fantastic that we can provide life-changing services to people in the local area.”
Anthony McKenna is no stranger to the North West. Born in Derry, raised in Lavey, and now living in Magherafelt, he was appointed General Manager of Kingsbridge Private Hospital North West in Ballykelly. With a background in diagnostic radiography, Anthony is now in his seventh year with Kingsbridge, having previously been the group’s Diagnostics Operations Manager in Belfast.
“I’ve had a fantastic seven years with Kingsbridge but once I got the opportunity to lead our new hospital in the North West I jumped at the chance”, says Anthony. “The ability to work closer to home was, of course, a big draw, but leading our new private hospital here was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. After acquiring the Ballykelly site in June 2021, the hospital underwent a major £3m redevelopment project which
modernised wards and facilities as well as developing new out-patient services and a laminar flow theatre.
“It was crucial that we didn’t simply change the name on the front of the building”, explains Anthony. “It was important to us to stamp our mark on the hospital and ensure our patients received the best and most comfortable experience possible to them. This included refurbishing 48 rooms, complete with 50” TVs in each of them, and providing five star food made fresh on site with locally sourced and seasonal products.” Anthony is conscious of the group’s role in supporting the local North West economy and wider community and says it’s a driving force for everything the hospital does in the area. “We didn’t want to become an offshoot of the Belfast hospital. It was vital that we developed our offerings and services as much as possible to serve our local patients and enhance our reputation for world-leading healthcare. We now have serious aspirations to make the North West hospital a centre of excellence for a number of surgical specialities including ENT, paediatrics, and spinal surgery.” An increasingly significant part of Anthony’s role is to ensure Kingsbridge are fully integrated in the North West, making connections with local businesses and groups, and giving back to the local community. “We’ve been really active since we set up shop last year. Being from the area, community relations are a massive focus for me and I’m proud that we have supported schools, sports clubs, and other community organisations since 2021”, says Anthony. “For example, we’ve installed a defibrillator and provided life-saving CPR training for the local community in Ballykelly; we’ve sponsored the Limavady Grammar School rugby team; we’ve donated £800 to the local primary school in Ballykelly which has meant they can provide healthy, nutritious snacks to their pupils; and we also provided playground equipment and sensory toys to two other local primary schools.” Other businesses have also availed of the group’s outreach programmes to educate and support their staff as well.
“One of our GPs, Dr Brown, recently met with staff at the City of Derry Airport to deliver a talk on male health and wellbeing and give them some tips and techniques to stay mentally and physically healthy”, says Anthony. “This is only the start, however, and we’re always looking to do more to pay back to the community in which we’re based”, says Anthony. “It’s also why we’ve recently launched the Kingsbridge Foundation, the formal charitable arm of the group. Through the foundation, we’re aiming to support a variety of worthy community causes which are doing stellar work in their local areas across Northern Ireland.”
After a successful first year, then, what does the future hold for Kingsbridge North West?
“We’re constantly evolving and improving our patient offerings”, says Anthony. “We’re currently installing a new state-of-the-art private MRI unit, which will enable patients to be scanned while under anaesthesia, a Group first. We’re also delighted to be able to offer a new Cardiac Surgery Service and ICU for the North West through our hospital in Belfast. But we’ll still have a dedicated and skilled team of consultant cardiologists in the North West who can refer patients to Belfast for surgery, rather than having to travel across the water or to the Republic of Ireland.
“We’re also excited to be launching our corporate membership scheme, the Kingsbridge Membership Club. Employers will be able to sign their staff up and they’ll be able to avail of discounts for private medical treatment. There are flexible options for employers of all sizes and can really help set you apart in the recruitment market, at a time when securing good talent is getting harder and harder. “Improving and enhancing our own team is also an important focus for us. Our greatest asset is our highly skilled staff, so we are always looking to improve our team by getting the best people out there. We’ve been recruiting new staff very frequently over the past year and hope to continue over the coming months.” Reflecting on a successful and busy year, Anthony says he is excited for the future. “As a Group, we’re immensely proud of the progress we’ve made this year. The team in Kingsbridge Private Hospital North West have embraced the KHG culture with both hands and should be congratulated for that. Our CEO, Mark Regan, and Operations Director, Sarah Marks, are always there to support us for whatever is needed, both clinically and personally. “As long as our patients continue to trust us to provide world-class healthcare in their local community, I have no doubt that Kingsbridge North West will continue to grow, expand, and improve.”
The team at Kingsbridge Private Hospital North West
To find out more about Kingsbridge Private Hospital please visit kingsbridgeprivatehospital.com.
Could workplaces hold the key to men’s health?
Workplace health checks don’t save lives. Measuring blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose and emotional wellbeing might prompt one or two employees to make a necessary trip to the doctor. They might give employers a clearer picture of health challenges in their workforce, reduce absences and increase productivity over the medium term, but workplace health checks don’t save lives.
Except when they do. “We’ve had a nurse carrying out basic health checks who picked up seriously high blood pressure in one man, too high to let him go back to work,” explains Health@Work NI project manager Sabrina Moore. An ambulance was called, and the man ended up being fitted for stents. It is no coincidence that it was a man who came this close to crisis. Men are famously more reluctant than women to seek help for their emotional or physical health, and not wanting to take time off work to go to the doctor is a familiar excuse.
Physical health checks have been part of Health@Work NI’s portfolio of services for years, but after witnessing the impact of the pandemic on mental wellbeing, the social enterprise wanted to develop a simple way for employers to identify mental health challenges in their workforce using a range of recognised screening tools. Sabrina adds, “Last year 17.9 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in the UK, according to the Health and Safety Executive. Our health checks are supposed to pick up concerns, whether they are emotional or physical, before they become a crisis, refer individuals to relevant services, and give employers the anonymised data they need to manage trends in the health and wellbeing of their employees.” So, workplace health checks don’t save lives, but they can save money, and at least give people the nudge they need to take their emotional and physical health more seriously. In the North West, Developing Healthy Communities, the charity that manages Derry City and Strabane’s membership of
Health@Work NI Project Manager Sabrina Moore
A Health@Work NI nurse conducting health checks at MDE Installations
the European Healthy Cities Network, have been leading on wider work to improve the health and wellbeing of our city region. Earlier this year saw Derry and Strabane being recognised as one of WHO’s Healthy Cities and Districts for the third time, a historic accolade that is a testament to hard work done across Derry~Londonderry. “Being a WHO Healthy City and District doesn’t mean that we are perfect, but it does mean that we are committed to tackling the very real challenges to health and wellbeing that we face locally”, says Developing Healthy Communities Chief Executive, Erin McFeely. “As tough as those challenges are, the Council, the community and voluntary sector, our educational institutions, and our local businesses are committed to the process of making it easier for anyone to live a healthier life.” For more information on the work undertaken by Developing Healthy Communities and their programme Health@Work NI, visit: www.dhcni.com.
Why London-born ChallengeCurve now calls Derry home
Specialist software Quality Assurance and Testing consultancy ChallengeCurve was established in London in 2015. Led by Chris Bean and Derry born Paul Nelis, the company works with a range of UK and international clients including Nationwide, Prudential, Tandem Bank and the NHS.
At its core, ChallengeCurve helps businesses achieve their ambitions by quality assuring and testing critical applications such as smartphone banking apps and backend payment systems. The company works with the likes of start-ups, FinTechs and established organisations to get their applications ‘launch ready’ by making sure that the systems are robust, performant and scalable. In June 2021, Chris and Paul sought to open a remote office to serve their multinational clients. After evaluating several destinations across the UK and Ireland, they chose Derry and the North West. “The pandemic had a massive impact on the ways of working and one of the better outcomes has been the acceptance of remote working within the financial services sector in particular”, Paul explains. “Setting up in the North West was a no-brainer. It is an area with a youthful, educated, and energetic population, the perfect place to be the centre of our new Quality Assurance and Test Centre of Excellence.”
Combining technical skills with FinTech domain knowledge, ChallengeCurve are a trusted partner to their growing client base. One of their most recent additions includes a London based FinTech responsible for some of the most innovative banking solutions in the Middle East. “We have deep-rooted skills and experience, but we are also young, dynamic and innovative”, says Chris, who has spent over 25 years in the industry. “We do not shy away from challenging our customers to ensure they achieve their business goals.” Above all else Chris, Paul and the team are determined to become an active and collaborative member of the city’s vibrant business sector. “Since our inception we have had a ‘Derry First’ approach”, Paul says. “This means we have transferred our suppliers from London to businesses based in Derry. This includes legal, HR, accountancy and recruitment. We have also engaged a local web design agency to help with our launch in the city and to revamp our website for July this year.” The company are supporting and contributing socially and economically to the North West with regular team nights out and by making donations to five local charities, which were nominated by employees.
One of the highlights of the company’s journey so far has been their Gala event held in March this year. This was to celebrate the launch of the company’s Quality Assurance and Testing Centre of Excellence, based in the AMP Incubator in Ebrington Square. Hosted by the Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council Alderman Graham Warke, the Guildhall event featured other local dignitaries and business people who came together to hear the ChallengeCurve story and ambitious plans for the future. While the company has enjoyed great success in recent years, for Chris, the best is yet to come. “We started 2021 with two employees and ended the year with eleven. In this year already, we have nearly doubled that and currently have 21 employees. We have ambitious plans for further growth and have our sights set on reaching 50 staff by 2023.” Since being in Derry, the company’s revenue has grown significantly, with 2021 seeing a staggering 400% yearon-year increase. The only dedicated Quality Assurance and Testing Consultancy in the city, ChallengeCurve is looking forward to growing their Derry operation to fulfil their ambition of the city being recognised as an international FinTech hub.
