Health

A Paddington woman has picked up an award after donating enough blood to save more than 225 lives.

Deidre Skinner, of Chilworth Street, was among 156 dedicated blood donors honoured by the National Blood Service at the Donor Awards Ceremony.

Toys brought smiles to the faces of dozens of children who are spending the festive period at a Paddington hospital.

Westminster mayor Cllr Duncan Sandys and his wife Mary Brown Sandys set up a toy drive, encouraging council employees and councillors to donate brand new toys to children at St Mary's Hospital, in Praed Street.

Thousands of patients will benefit from the opening of a £4million acute imaging centre at a Paddington hospital.

Based close to A&E, the new facility at St Mary's Hospital, in Praed Street, will house two new scanners.

The annual flu vaccination is now available from GPs and from 40 pharmacies throughout Westminster.

Everyone aged 65 and over is offered the free jab, along with younger people who have long-term conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, kidney disease and liver disease.

A vaccination protecting against a potentially deadly virus is now available free in eight Westminster pharmacies.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, which helps protect against cervical cancer, is offered at several chemists across the borough including Benson Pharmacy, in Harrow Road, North Paddington, and Warwick Pharmacy, in Warwick Way, Pimlico.

Hundreds of patients needing intravenous antibiotics are being treated at home - assisting their recovery and freeing up hospital beds at a Paddington hospital.

Recently published figures have shown that a massive 7,394 in-patient bed days were saved at St Mary's Hospital, in Praed Street, between September 2004 and April 2008 thanks to the pioneering OHPAT (outpatient and home parenteral antimicrobial therapy) service, which allows patients to be managed at home.

A world-class specialist centre for major trauma is to be based at a Paddington hospital, it was announced last night.

St Mary's Hospital, in Praed Street, was selected to provide life-saving emergency care to Londoners, following a public consultation by Healthcare for London (HfL).

A six-year-old has died of swine flu at a Paddington hospital.

Chloe Buckley tested positive for the virus, and died at St Mary's Hospital, in Praed Street, on Thursday.

The number of patients dying following surgery has reduced at a Paddington hospital.

Doctors at St Mary's Hospital, in Praed Street, say the rate of inpatient deaths fell by 40 per cent, and the rate of complications following surgery fell from 11 per cent to 7 per cent.

An exhibition of paintings produced by children from Nepal will be unveiled at a Paddington hospital tomorrow.

The children's unit at St Mary's hospital, in Praed Street, will be filled with paintings by 60 young people from children's homes in Kathmandu.