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PRESS RELEASE
Friday, 20 August 2010
Have your say on county health services
Hospital bosses are urging local residents to have their say on what they believe is “the most important decision affecting Worcestershire health services this century”.
The Government has said the way that community health services are managed has to change by April 2011 and residents are being invited to give feedback on what they think the best option is for future delivery of these services in the county.
Community services are currently run by Worcestershire PCT Provider Services and include Worcestershire’s five community hospitals in Tenbury, Pershore, Evesham, Malvern and Bromsgrove, and services including district nursing, health visiting and specialist nursing.
One of the options for the future is for all of the services to be transferred to Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which currently runs the Alexandra, Kidderminster and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals.
John Rostill, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “The benefits of transferring community services to our Trust is it gives us a real opportunity to create even more and even better services for local patients.
“We already provide a wide range of high quality services from community hospitals, seeing and treating more than 21,000 patients a year, and we want to extend this work even further. We have ambitious plans and would like to see emergency assessment units in some of the community hospitals and more outpatient clinics available within the community hospitals and GP surgeries, making it easier for patients to be treated closer to home.
“We would also want the Acute and Community Hospital teams to work together on the development of specialist services such as dementia and stroke rehabilitation in order to improve patient outcomes.
“For us, bringing all hospital and community services are together is the obvious way forward. The services will be working together, creating a smoother, more ‘streamlined’ pathway of care, from beginning to end of treatment and working towards a common cause – high quality care for each individual patient.”
Mr Rostill said transferring community services to the Acute Trust would also benefit staff, providing them with a secure future, training and development, high quality clinical supervision, opportunities for innovation and the opportunity to remain within the NHS.
Other options up for debate include transferring community services to Worcestershire Mental Health Partnership Trust, splitting them up and integrating them into other non NHS organisations, or setting up social enterprises where staff run them as a not for profit organisation.
Mr Rostill added: “This is the most important decision affecting Worcestershire health services this century and we only have one chance to choose the best option – it has to be the right one.
“I would urge everyone to read the engagement document and send their views to NHS Worcestershire. I would be delighted to explain our proposals in more detail to anyone who wishes to find out more, and would welcome anyone getting in touch with me by calling 01562 513420 or emailing communications@worcsacute.nhs.uk.”
The engagement document can be found on NHS Worcestershire’s website at www.worcestershire.nhs.uk
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For more information please contact:
Rebecca Bourne on 01905 760453 or 07789 176193 or via email
Rebecca.Bourne@worcsacute.nhs.uk
or
Janet Marie Clark on 01905 760551 or 07733 111361 or via email
Janet.Clark@worcsacute.nhs.uk
PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Nurses outline their pledges to patients
Nurses across the Alexandra, Kidderminster and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals have laid out their vision for achieving excellent patient care over the next three years and have made a series of pledges to patients.
Now patients and the public are being asked to give their feedback on Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust’s proposed Strategy for Nurses and Nursing 2010 – 2013 which describes the five priorities that all nursing and health care support workers have signed up to.
These are: offering a better patient experience, improving patient safety, enhancing professionalism and traditional values, educating and developing the workforce and leading in the clinical areas.
The strategy also contains nine pledges that nurses have made to all patients.
The pledges include:
· Providing the highest standards of care at all times;
· Treating colleagues, patients and visitors how we would want to be treated ourselves;
· Being champions for customer care and professionalism;
· Being an advocate for patients, supporting their dignity.
Helen Blanchard, Director of Nursing and Midwifery at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of our nurses towards this strategy. The vision and values it sets out represent the views of nurses from across the Trust who have wholeheartedly committed to this and are keen to move it forward. Our central aim is to achieve a positive patient experience.
“Nursing care requires us to balance advanced clinical skills with empathy, compassion and understanding of each patient and their family members’ individual needs.
“All nursing and health care support workers have a part to play in delivering this strategy and they are all invited to share their thoughts and ideas to contribute to its development before its launch in the Autumn.”
Patients and members of the public are now also being asked for their thoughts on the document in a period of informal consultation which extends until Friday, August 13.
A three-year action plan will then be developed and reshaped and reviewed as appropriate over the period with progress reported to the Trust Board.
The draft strategy is included in July’s Trust Board Papers (Item F) which are available to read online at www.worcsacute.nhs.uk. Comments can be sent to communications@worcsacute.nhs.uk
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For more information contact:
Rebecca Bourne, Head of Communications, on 01905 760453 or 07789 176193 or via email Rebecca.Bourne@worcsacute.nhs.uk
PRESS RELEASE
Monday, August 1, 2010
More hospital beds to be opened to improve emergency care for county patients.
Patients across the county will benefit from an improved and more efficient accident and emergency experience thanks to the provision of 26 extra beds at the Alexandra Hospital.
Hospital chiefs agreed on Thursday to invest around £1 million towards the project which will help to reduce waiting times for patients during the winter months when demand for A&E services at both the Alexandra and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals is at its highest.
The number of patients who visit A&E and require admission at both hospitals during the winter months increases dramatically. Statistics show that where 760 beds are needed across both hospitals in August, 840 will be needed in January. When there are an insufficient number of beds available to cope with the extra pressures delays can occur.
Phil Milligan, the Trust’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “The management of beds directly impacts on the quality of care we can offer our patients. The Trust’s experience during spring and summer of 2009 showed that when there are sufficient beds available, then the A&E department will flow and patient waits are minimal.
“We’re focusing on the Alexandra as it is the most practical and affordable option. A number of proposals to increase the number of beds on the Worcestershire Royal site have been explored but, due to logistical, planning or financial implications, those proposals have proven unviable for winter 2010/11.”
Trust Chairman Michael O’Riordan, added: “As well as helping to ease winter pressures, the provision of extra beds at the Alexandra Hospital will create extra capacity all year round. This means that in the summer months, when there will be more beds available than needed, we will be also able to close some to enable ward decoration and upgrade.”
As well as helping to ease pressures at the Alexandra, the additional beds will also help to improve the flow of patients at Worcestershire Royal.
Mr Milligan added: “Currently, an average of 35 emergency patients a day are admitted to Worcestershire Royal, and 25 at the Alexandra. The proposal is to balance this out to 30 at each site.
“One of the ways we are looking at achieving this is patients from the Evesham and Broadway areas to be taken straight to the Alexandra Hospital instead of Worcestershire Royal if they need emergency treatment. We have been discussing this with local GPs who are in support of the proposal.
“Both hospitals are the same distance away from the Evesham area and the A435 to Redditch is an excellent road ensuring fast transfer of patients is available.”
Following the Board’s approval to invest in the project, work will begin immediately to create the beds so that they are available for this next winter.
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For more information contact:
Rebecca Bourne, Head of Communications, on 01905 760453 or 07789 176193 or via email Rebecca.Bourne@worcsacute.nhs.uk
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, July 30, 2010
Do you know a Hospital Hero?
Patients across the county are being asked to nominate star hospital staff for a special award.
The ‘Hospital Hero Award’ will be given to a member of staff at either the Alexandra, Kidderminster or Worcestershire Royal Hospital who has gone above and beyond their normal day to day duties to make a positive difference to a patient.
The brand new award forms part of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust’s annual Staff Achievement Awards ceremony which this year will take place in November.
Michael O’Riordan, Chairman of the Trust, said: “We know that many of our staff – whether they are our nurses, doctors, cleaners or porters - make a positive difference to patient care as we hear wonderful stories from our patients, their families and carers regularly. This prestigious award gives us the opportunity to formally recognise excellence in patient care.
“We are really looking forward to receiving some fantastic nominations from our patients and I already know that it is going to be tough for our judging panel to choose an overall winner.”
Nominating a member of hospital staff for the Hospital Hero award is easy. Patients can fill in one of the nomination postcards which are available at all three hospitals, or simply email their nomination to communications@worcsacute.nhs.uk no later than Thursday, September 30, 2010.
Patients should tell us their name and contact details, the name and job title of the member of staff they are nominating and the hospital they work at, along with their reason for nominating them.
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For more information please contact:
Rebecca Bourne on 01905 760453 or 07789 176193 or via email
Rebecca.Bourne@worcsacute.nhs.uk
Media Release – Monday 26 July 2010
Improved renal services at Kidderminster hospital
The Trust has expanded its services to include the nurse led satellite renal dialysis unit based at Kidderminster Hospital.
Patients requiring renal dialysis from across Worcestershire including those from the University Hospitals Birmingham and Dudley group of hospitals have been able to access this service at Kidderminster for some time as it has been provided by other agencies.
From July the delivery of dialysis to these patients has been transferred back to Worcestershire Acute Hospitals who are now managing the staff and environment in partnership with the patient’s own hospital trust. The unit has undergone a refurbishment which includes not only redecoration but new equipment and the latest design of dialysis chairs.
Being part of the Trust, patients will not only benefit from continuity of care but have access to and support from other clinical areas and departments within the Trust as well as support from voluntary agencies.
Over 70 patients receive dialysis three times a week at Kidderminster. Dialysis is required when a person’s kidneys are no longer functioning adequately in order to sustain life. This involves four hour sessions during which the dialysis machines perform the function of the kidneys.
Liz Wittich, matron for renal services said: This is a chronic life threatening illness and the treatment regime is demanding. Our aim is to provide a clinically sound and safe experience in a friendly and pleasant environment. We are able to offer support through chaplaincy and counselling as well as from the League of Friends and the WRVS to our patients and their families who have had to face major life style changes.”
John Rostill, chief executive adds: “Bringing the dialysis unit back into the NHS gives us an opportunity as a Trust to improve the patient’s experience and work with them to provide and develop a renal dialysis service delivered locally.
“This is the first step in developing a full autonomous renal service for Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Our plans for the future include the development of inpatient dialysis facilities for sick and acutely ill kidney patients. This would include home dialysis therapies and generally bringing renal services closer to home.”
For more information contact:
Rebecca Bourne, Head of Communications, on 01905 760453 or 07789 176193 or via email Rebecca.Bourne@worcsacute.nhs.uk
Janet Marie Clark on 01905 760551 or 07733 111361 or via email Janet.clark@worcsacute.nhs.uk
PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Hospital Trust ranked in top 20 healthcare employers
Staff working at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust have voted it one of the top 20 healthcare employers in the country.
The Trust, which runs the Alexandra, Kidderminster and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals, has been ranked 18th in the ‘Healthcare 100’ - a list of the top 100 NHS and independent healthcare employers in the Acute, Primary Care, Mental Health and Ambulance sectors.
There is only one other organisation in the West Midlands that ranked ahead of the Trust, and only six Acute Trusts in the country that are higher on the list.
The influential Healthcare 100 list is organised by the Health Service Journal and Nursing times in association with NHS Employers and the Department of Health and based on an exclusive poll of employees.
Michael O’Riordan, Chairman of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be named in the top 20 of the Healthcare 100 and I would like to thank all our staff who took part in the poll.
“This is a fantastic testimony that brings to light how staff feel about working for the Trust. These are challenging times for staff engagement but we work hard to ensure we continually involve our staff in change, and remain focused on improving patient care.”