From Board to Ward – July 2024 | Latest News

From Board to Ward – July 2024

Some positive progress to report on the way we have started to improve care for patients who arrive as emergencies as well as some really moving stories from patients in this month’s edition. Please be aware that this contains personal information about baby loss which some readers may find upsetting. Also - an update to public car parking charges.
 

Highlights from July’s Board

In July’s Board to Ward we share three key highlights to demonstrate key progress on projects, decisions made and share in an open and transparent way some key developments. Our 3 for June:

 

The experience of people using our maternity services

Kate Vincent came along to talk to our Board on the same day that we shared our Maternity Services Annual Report. Kate is a proud Trustee of Luna’s Fund, a charity which offers a lifeline after loss for bereaved parents, after losing her own daughter in 2020. She came to talk to the Trust Board about the difference the Snowdrop Suite has made for families who suffer the loss of a baby. The Snowdrop Suite is a designated bereavement suite which opened in October 2023. It came about after Jen and Greg Phillips lost their baby Jasmine and they started a fundraising appeal to create a suite where those going through the loss of a baby could have a dedicated and separate space away from the main maternity unit.

As Kate eloquently described: “The Snowdrop Suite is a place no-one wants to have to go, but it is just the most beautifully calming place that allows families to feel like they are in a bubble.” Kate explained in a very moving way the difference the suite being in use had made to families. She shared quotes from people who had lost a baby before the suite was opened, including her own family and compared their experiences to those families who have been able to use the suite.

This table shows patient feedback before the Snowdrop Suite was built and in use and after

The experiences of families who experienced a baby loss BEFORE the Snowdrop Suite was opened

The experiences of families who experienced a baby loss SINCE the Snowdrop Suite was opened

“Hearing crying babies and women in labour whilst my room was deafeningly silent was the most torturous moment of my life”

“I never knew a hospital room could be so peaceful. We felt a million miles away from everyone and everything. Our own little bubble.”
“Walking through the labour ward corridor numerous times in order to get a decent hot drink was so unfair.”

“Having a dedicated entrance and exit which is private and welcoming gave us reassurance we are entering a safe space and gave us control to come and go freely.”

“I covered my head with a jumper as I was wheeled through the delivery suite to hide my shame and embarrassment. I don’t want people to see me like this.”

“Our hospital stay has been more like a hotel stay, in our own private suite. We can’t thank everyone enough for funding this for families like us.”

“All I wanted to do was curl into my husband’s arms and for him to tell me everything would be okay. Instead he was a foot off the floor on a camp bed and I was 3 feet in the air on a hospital bed. I just wanted a cuddle. I just wanted to be held.”

“I can’t even imagine what previous families did without a cuddle from their partner. Falling asleep in his arms made me feel safe. It made me feel like we can get through this together.”

“I struggled to find the space and felt awkward trying to dress my baby in the moses basket. I had such limited space to do this. The moment of dressing her in her first outfit was made even harder than I could have imagined.”

“We loved the addition of the nursery area where we could look at the outfits available,have the space to change our baby and bath her freely. It was at this point where we saw the pram and decided to show her sunlight.”

Apart from the Snowdrop Suite, the Maternity Services Annual Report highlighted some key successes over the past 12 months which include:

  • successful recruitment to the midwifery, maternity support worker and medical staff workforce
  • successful recruitment into the Midwife Consultant role
  • implementation of the Birmingham Symptom Specific Obstetric Triage System (BSOTS) in maternity triage
  • opening of a designated bereavement suite and additional bereavement midwife posts to support cover outside of the Monday-Friday working week


A  continued focus on Urgent and Emergency Care

  • More patients are being seen and treated in our emergency facilities within the 4 hour target. In April, May and June, 64% of patients were seen and treated within this time, a 10% improvement on the previous 3 months.
  • We have reduced ambulance handover delays by 1,600 hours since April – but we know we still have further improvement to make so that we bring patients into the Emergency Department from ambulances as soon as possible.
  • We are treating more patients as Same Day Emergency Care cases, with 9% more people being streamed to same day pathways so they attend as emergencies but can go home the same day following assessment and, if needed, treatment.

We have a ‘One Plan’ approach – this is a single plan for improvement for Urgent and Emergency Care which works across 3 pillars: Admission Avoidance; Dynamic Flow and Timely Discharge. The image above shows some of the many changes we are making including with more direct pathways so more patients who arrive as emergencies can go straight to specialist areas – for example, people who arrive with gynaecological problems now go straight to our gynae care team and those patients who have broken a hip can go direct to our specialist orthopaedic beds.

Our Chief Executive explains our approach to the One Plan in this video: 

This week we have been right-sizing our Same Day Emergency Care and Medical Assessment Units – and the teams are delighted to have moved into new areas which offer more space to assess and treat patients.

 

Staff from the Same Day Emergency Care team in their new environment

Our Same Day Emergency Care team (pictured above) are delighted to have now moved into a bigger space which has increased the number of patient treatment couches from 8 to 13. We have repurposed their old ward, Tamar Ward, to be a Medical Receiving Unit with 22 more beds, able to receive patients coming in as emergencies. Two of our senior nurses explain how we are making more space for people needing urgent and emergency care.

 

Changes to parking for patients and visitors

We will be increasing parking charges at Derriford Hospital to align with the other hospitals in Devon from 12 August 2024. Parking arrangements at community sites will remain unchanged. This is the first time we have increased car parking charges for nearly a decade, with the last rise being in 2015.

We have made significant improvements to parking for patients and visitors, including making the multi-storey car park a dedicated public car park, which mean patients and visitors shouldn’t have to queue to get a space. Our rates continue to be less than public car parks in Plymouth city centre and we will continue to promote the free parking available for some patients and families and the discounted parking available for frequent attendees, as outlined in the information below and on our travel and parking information page

We continue to promote green travel and, as a major transport hub in the city, work with local bus companies and sustainable travel partners to this end.

The standardised tariff will continue to offer the first 15 minutes of parking for free. Two hours parking will be £2.70, 3 hours will be £3.90, 4 hours £4.80, 5 hours £6.50, 6 hours £8.50 and 7 to 24 hours will be £15.

Free parking is available for:

  • Blue badge holders.
  • Trust volunteers.
  • Resident parents of children in hospital or parents whose babies are being cared for in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 
  • Relatives of patients who are critically ill. The Intensive Care Unit will contact the Parking Desk. 
  • Oncology patients attending for treatment. 
  • Relatives of patients being cared for on the End-of-Life Care Pathway. 
  • Those who are visiting the bereavement office or collecting a death certificate. 
  • Members of the public donating blood if parked in the dedicated spaces in the multistorey car park (visit the Plymouth Blood Donor Centre website for more information). 
  • All patients who are undergoing a course of treatment who are required to attend the hospital for at least 3 days a week (Must supply an appointment card or letter).
  • Some patients in receipt of certain state benefits may be entitled to a refund of their parking costs and travel expenses. Find out more about travel expenses 
  • Free car parking is available for carers who have agreed to contribute to the care of the patient (cared for person) whilst in hospital and should be offered by the ward manager or deputy as part of the agreement with the carer. One car parking pass per day is available per patient, which can be shared between carers. The Carers Card must be shown to the Parking Desk on level 6 to obtain free car parking.

 

And finally

Every month our Board leaders meet in public to assess how we’re doing for the patients and communities we serve, how we’re doing for our staff, our achievements, our challenges with a big focus on what we’re doing to address them and what our plans are for the future.

You can see who makes up our Board at University Hospitals Plymouth on our Trust Board page

 

Do you want to get involved?

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