Final floors of new build to help speed up patient care open at Southend Hospital
A new development is helping to speed up patients’ waiting time at Southend Hospital.
The first and second floors of the purpose-built £9.7 million Cherry Tree Wing have just started welcoming patients, after the ground floor opening in April.
This ambitious new build is helping patients get seen quicker when they come into hospital by freeing up beds so fewer people are unnecessarily admitted to a ward.
These changes also factor in greater social distancing during Covid.
Clare Panniker, chief executive of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’ve had investment in buildings across the Trust to help enhance our patient care, so it has been amazing to see how quickly this new wing has come together. It is great to see it open and it will make a huge positive difference to both our patients and the staff working in these new state-of-the-art areas.”
Seeing patients sooner for surgical assessment
The first floor is the new home for the Surgical Assessment Unit, seeing patients who have been referred by their GP or by the Emergency Department (ED).
With 18 bed spaces, the location of the unit complements the Same Day Emergency Care facilities on the ground floor, reducing the journey and wait time for those needing CT, MRI, or Ultrasound scans.
Helen Holder, matron and lead for this area, said: “It’s wonderful to have this new vibrant space, both for patients and our excellent team of staff. With us being right next to ED, patients’ turnaround times will be improved as they can be scanned en route and they will be able to see our speciality teams much faster.
“We are providing them with an improved service in a shorter time, in a much nicer setting.”
Patients ready to go home quicker thanks to new discharge unit
A brighter, more spacious discharge unit has been created on the top floor of Southend Hospital’s Cherry Tree Wing, making it a more relaxing and faster discharge experience for patients getting ready to leave the hospital.
It’s an area for patients to stay on their last day in hospital, whilst staff make the final preparations for them to be safely able to go back home.
Hot meals, snacks, books and magazines will be provided and patients will be cared for in comfortable chairs or beds.
This new space has eight reclining chairs, making it a much more relaxing area to wait, and there is also an area especially for bed-bound patients.
Although, with a dedicated pharmacy support team in place, patients shouldn’t get too comfortable. This service will mean that patients will be able to get their medications to take home much more quickly thanks to the pharmacy on wheels scheme.
Nicola Gibson, pharmacy operational lead, said: “Previously, a member of staff from the ward would have had to go to pharmacy to collect the discharge medications, but here pharmacy is brought to the patient. This means that the patients’ wait for medications is reduced to as little as 20 minutes rather than a couple of hours.
“As well as being better for patients, who get to go home sooner, it’s also better for the flow in the hospital.”
The dedicated pharmacy team won’t just be delivering medication, they’ll also be giving advice and understanding around the medicines and the importance of completing the prescribed course.
Joshua Barker, senior pharmacy technician, said: “Talking through medications with the patient is an important part of their care and discharge process. The more informed the patient is about how to take their medication, or the possible side effects that the medication may cause, the more it helps reduce medication related readmission to hospital.”
Pharmacy on wheels is currently running as a pilot scheme until December.