Thank you to relatives who are helping loved ones to leave hospital
On behalf of University Hospitals Dorset and Dorset Clinical Comissioning Group
A huge thank you is being sent to relatives who are playing a critical role in helping loved ones to leave hospital.
As health and social care services continue to be stretched due to the exceptional pressures of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and seasonal impact of winter, the role of relatives in supporting patients is increasingly vital.
Relatives play a key role in enabling patients who are medically ready to leave hospital to do so, helping them to recover more quickly in the comfort of their own home and better help the NHS manage pressures on their services.
This could include providing some personal care for their relatives in their home, including looking after them during the initial period after they have left hospital.
People are making a real difference by supporting with shopping, administering medication, changing dressings, meal preparation, checking on their welfare and wellbeing and having regular contact with them particularly following discharge from hospital.
Dr Forbes Watson, a Dorset GP and Chair of NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “Relatives who care for their loved ones in helping them to leave hospital when they are medically able play such an important and valued role.
“We’d like to thank all of those relatives who are caring for their family members in this way – it’s helping them to recover at home more quickly than remaining in hospital.
“As well as relatives, the support and kindness of friends and neighbours to help people recover in their own community is also incredibly valuable. Thank you.”
Reflecting on the pressures on hospitals over the winter period, Dr Tristan Richardson, medical director for medicine at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, added: “We need to work with families to help support their loved ones when they leave our hospitals. We thank everyone involved with the ongoing care of our patients as we know what a difference it makes for their recovery and health to be able to safely leave our hospitals when ready.”
Cllr Peter Wharf, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for adult social care, said: “When residents are well enough to leave hospital and cannot leave, it can have such a detrimental effect on their wellbeing.
“This is compared to recovering in their own homes where with a little help from family and friends, they can feel so much better and it can lead to a successful recovery.
“Residents have done amazing things for each other over the last few years and such help is invaluable, not only to those coming out of hospital but it then allows a bed to be used by the next patient for treatment, which helps everyone.”
Councillor Karen Rampton, Portfolio Holder for People and Homes, BCP Council, said: “We welcome the continued support offered by friends and families in helping their loved ones to settle back home following a hospital admission.
“It’s a great help when they can recover in their own home in familiar surroundings with family, friend and neighbour networks close by. Pressures continue in the health and social care system and any ongoing support that can be offered is very welcome.”
Relatives are being signposted to resources to help assist them if they are supporting loved ones once they have been discharged from hospital. These include:
Dorset Council area:
BCP Council area:
Supporting our patients to support our ward teams
For some inpatients, going without cigarettes in hospital is a necessary inconvenience. But for others, it can lead to anxiety and agitation, which can lead to disruptive behaviour on wards.
A new team is aiming to support these patients – and busy ward staff – by providing personalised expert support to inpatients admission wards who smoke.
The tobacco dependency team consists of a specialist acute nurse, advisor and mental health nurse, supported by a team of three healthcare assistants. Their role is to identify patients who might benefit from professional support beyond that which ward staff may be able to offer. This includes everything from prescribing nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for free while in hospital, to offering behavioural support , information and guidance on ways to quit and lead healthier lives after leaving our care.
Patients are identified on admission through the electronic nursing assessment (eNA) tool, and then a member of the team is allocated to visit them at their bedside.
Alex Szymanska is a tobacco dependency nurse specialist dedicated to UHD patients, and joined the team after two years nursing on the acute medical unit (AMU) at Royal Bournemouth.
“It’s really helpful to have experienced inpatient care here before I joined the team as I understand the frustrations and challenges that caring for someone with a tobacco dependency can cause.
“I also understand it from the other side, that smoking is addictive and that being without cigarettes can prompt a range of reactions from patients, some of which are hard to manage.
“Our job is to support our colleagues on the acute wards by providing expert support and advice to help patients struggling without their usual nicotine products to feel more settled while in hospital.”
Alex, who covers both Poole and Royal Bournemouth hospitals, is passionate about the benefits of a smoke-free lifestyle, and hopes that an enforced period of abstinence while in hospital could be the kickstart many patients need.
“While on AMU I trained as a stop smoking champion, and thought it was a really important issue.
“It’s something that people have the power to change themselves, and improve their health outcome.
“I would say that half of all patients I speak to really don’t know the full extent of the damage that smoking is doing to them.”
Around 14 per cent of the population in England smokes, reducing life expectancy and increasing the risk of chronic health issues. But there is practical support available.
“NRT doubles the chances of quitting successfully, and we can prescribe this free of charge while in hospital and organise two weeks’ supply for after they leave. We can also put them in touch with support services like LiveWell Dorset who can provide ongoing help once they leave hospital.
“We offer training for ward staff and provide them with information to give to patients – we know how busy the hospitals are right now and our role really is to support staff by providing this service.
“If we can help to remove some of the disruptions wards experience by providing tailored support to smokers, then everyone benefits.”
It’s not just the health costs that are shocking, adds Alex.
“Smoking costs the NHS billions, through treating the health conditions caused by smoking, the complications that arise and longer hospital stays,” she said.
“People who smoke also tend to need higher levels of medication, and take longer to recover post-surgery.
“Our goal is for patients to be supported and abstinent while in hospital, and to take this new, much healthier lifestyle with them when they leave.”
The tobacco dependency team is part of a Dorset Integrated Care System initiative to tackle smoking as part of the NHSE Long Term Plan, with specialist nurses like Alex also available to inpatients at Dorset County and Dorset Healthcare hospitals
Pathology lab moves a step closer
Preparations for a new pathology laboratory at University Hospitals Dorset’s Royal Bournemouth Hospital site, including a histopathology diagnostic hub, have now been completed, bringing this cutting-edge facility a step closer to the people of Dorset.
The innovative new facility will provide a wide range of pathology and research services as well as offices, staff facilities, new access road, car parking, cycle stores and landscaping. It will include a specialist diagnostic hub which will be used to study and diagnose diseases and illnesses using the latest in medical technology to analyse anything from a simple blood test to advanced genetic screening.
Commenting on the commencement of works, Stephen Harding, Head of Service for One Dorset Pathology - a collaborative partnership between Dorset County Hospital and University Hospitals Dorset - said:
“This is a very exciting and significant project for the patients of Dorset.
“Pathology services are an essential part of the efficient and safe running of hospital and GP services, analysing the thousands of tests that are done for patients every day.
“The new facility will have the very latest in specialist technology and deliver better value, high quality diagnostic and care for patients across the region.”
Development of this new £12.7m facility, located on the Wessex Fields site adjacent to the hospital, has been supported in part by a £2.7 million Local Growth Fund investment by Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for the histopathology diagnostic hub as part of its initiatives to support Covid-19 recovery and accelerate healthcare resilience in the county.
The diagnostic hub will be operational later this year with the build fully completed in the summer of 2023, with Hurn-based Amiri Construction appointed as build contractor following a competitive tendering process. They will be working to designs developed by UHD in partnership with the team of architects from Ansell & Bailey.
More information:
· Amiri Construction join a team that includes architect, Ansell & Bailey, AKS Ward, structural and civil engineers, services consultant, Richard Stephens Partnership, and McPhersons as cost consultants.
· Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership is a business led private and public sector partnership, promoting local economic growth and prosperity. Dorset LEP deliver projects that support and develop infrastructure, housing, skills, enterprise and business growth to achieve long-term economic benefit for all in Dorset. For more information visit www.dorsetlep.co.uk.
· Local Growth Fund: Awarded by government to Local Enterprise Partnerships, over £12bn will have been invested in projects across England through the Local Growth Fund, with individual LEPs using their local knowledge to get all areas of the country firing on all cylinders. Find out more at: https://www.dorsetlep.co.uk/local-growth-fund
Some additional key facts:
· There are 38 LEPs covering the whole of England.
· The government has awarded £9.1bn in three rounds of Growth Deals to local areas to drive economic growth.
· LEPs are investing in a wide range of projects including transport, skills, business support, broadband, innovation and flood defences.
Photo caption:
· Site team photo (LtoR): Martin Davidson (UHD, Capital Projects Manager), Stephen Harding (One Dorset Pathology, Head of Service), Dr Rasaq Olufadi (Dorset County Hospital, clinical director), Jeff Kinnon (Amiri Construction, Project Manager)
· Pathology Hub artist impression (credit: Ansell & Bailey)
We did it! Lavender Garden fundraising success for UHD Charity
Following the launch of the Lavender Garden appeal in 2021, University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity has reached the £35,000 fundraising target! Thanks to the phenomenal response from the Dorset community and staff at University Hospitals Dorset, work will soon commence to bring the garden to life, providing a private space for all staff to remember, reflect, rest and recharge.
The quick success of this appeal is down to the amazing contributions from our supporters, including a wonderful anonymous donation of £25,000. This level of support for staff health and wellbeing within such a short space of time demonstrates how incredibly grateful our community is for the outstanding work carried out by staff at University Hospitals Dorset.
The project was initially proposed by the Royal Bournemouth Hospital theatres team who visualised a beautiful green space in which to remember Anna and Tom, two colleagues who they sadly lost to cancer in 2020.
Donna Bailey, surgical first assistant, said: “The day Anna died was one of the saddest days for me, I left her in the hospice the day before with a bunch of lavender from my garden. The idea of creating a space in memory of our dear friends came from this. The more we talked about the garden the more I realised that it wasn’t just for Anna, Tom and their families but for everyone who has loved and lost or is just in need of a space for wellbeing and headspace. The Lavender Garden will offer a place of calm and tranquility. The day I was told the charity had helped us raise the money is a day I will always remember. We are overwhelmed. Words cannot describe how grateful we are. To know that so many people will benefit from this space will be exactly what Anna and Tom would have wanted.”
The Lavender Garden will bring light into the hospital. It will feature a pagoda, seating and a summerhouse surrounded by beautiful raised flower beds and evergreen plants. Whether it’s a peaceful place to decompress during difficult shifts, recharge with colleagues after a long day inside or reflect upon both the difficulties of the past two years and the days filled with lovely memories, the garden will be an incredibly special and unique place within the grounds of the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.
If you are interested in finding out more about how you can support the charity and our other projects, stay up to date by following @UHDCharity on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, visiting UHDcharity.org or contacting the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Charity office on 0300 019 4060/8449.
Donna Bailey, surgical first assistant at RBH, in the space where the Lavender Garden will be created
Hear about the latest changes at your hospitals
Governors for University Hospitals Dorset (UHD) are holding a listening event on Thursday 3 February at the Sovereign Centre in Boscombe.
Members of the public are invited to come along between 10am and 4pm to hear the latest on the developments taking place across the Royal Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch hospitals. The governors will support with questions, offer out information sheets and will also have details of up and coming health events. They will also gather feedback which can help contribute to improvements at the trust.
No booking is required for this event, just drop by.
