The Queen opens the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
Published
The Queen has opened the new Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals.
The new facility brings together two existing hospitals (Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital and Eastman Dental Hospital) with a combined history of more than 230 years.
Part of the University College London Hospitals (UCLH), the new facility is one of the biggest specialist centres in Europe for dental, ear, nose, throat, hearing and balance services.
Her Majesty saw first-hand the work being carried out across the facility’s specialties, visiting the adult dental treatment floor, the paediatric treatment floor and the auditory implant centre.
The Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals will schedule over 200,000 appointments in the next year. Her Majesty met some of the nurses and staff who care for the patients at the hospitals.
2020 is the World Health Organisation's Year of the Nurse and the Midwife.
The Princess Royal, Patron of The The Royal College of Midwives, wrote an open letter to midwives at the turn of the year, speaking of, ‘the joy on the faces of mothers and their partners and their gratitude for the support you give them,’ during her visits to maternity units around the country. Read the letter in full.
The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron of the Nursing Now campaign, spent time with midwives at Kingston Hospital in December.
She has also praised their incredible work in an open letter, writing:
You are there for women at their most vulnerable; you witness strength, pain and unimaginable joy on a daily basis.’
Read the letter in full.
Aaliyah is 11 and lives in Luton, presented The Queen with a posy. Aaliyah has had impaired hearing since birth and wore hearing aids until 2019 when she had her cochlear implant surgery.
Aaliyah said: "I can now hear many more sounds: rain drops, the wind blowing, the sound of leaves crunching under my feet, water running from the tap and a car engine running. These sounds were all new to me... But now I'm happy I can hear so much better which means I can also communicate more."
