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NUH asks public for help getting patients home for Christmas
- NUH has issued a plea to families and carers to help get patients home for Christmas.
- People can speed up the discharge process by arranging travel home and making sure patients have somewhere safe and warm to stay.
- The Trust is doing all it can to mitigate winter pressures, increasing capacity in admissions areas, opening new wards and working with partners to improve flow out of the hospital.
As Christmas nears, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH), has issued a plea to families and carers to help get patients home for Christmas.
NUH is urging people to support their relatives by organising travel, having essential supplies ready, suitable clothing available and making sure they are going to a warm and safe place.
Dr Nav Bhandal, Deputy Medical Director at NUH, said: “As a Trust, we are doing all we can to alleviate pressures on our hospitals this winter and to support patients in being seen quickly and getting home.
“We know that patients would rather recover at home than in hospital, and studies show that it has a positive impact on recovery.
“There are some really simple things that people can do to speed up the discharge process, such as arranging travel home and making sure that they have somewhere safe and warm to stay.”
The drive for increased discharges from hospitals comes as flu cases have increased by more than 50% across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire hospitals in the last two months, compared to the same period last year, with more than 200 patients testing positive in the last week at NUH.
Doreen Richards, 68, who was a nurse at NUH for 25 years, was brought to City Hospital by the ambulance service on Sunday after feeling unwell with flu. She said: “I had shortness of breath, I really wasn’t feeling great. My temperature was 39 [degrees] and so they got me straight to RAU [Respiratory Assessment Unit]. They started my treatment straight away, the staff have been brilliant, and I couldn’t fault them at all."
After spending two days in hospital, Doreen is now feeling better and is well enough to go home for Christmas. Doreen said: “I’m happy, really happy, that I can recover at home. I know how I felt on Sunday night, not eating or drinking, but when I came in and had oxygen, the Tamiflu and medication, I woke up yesterday morning and felt like a different person.”
NUH is doing all it can to improve flow through the hospitals, getting patients home for Christmas and freeing up beds for those most in need.
Dr Bhandal said: “Winter is always a difficult period where pressures increase due to viruses and bugs, like flu and norovirus. This winter we are seeing a significantly high number of flu patients already, and we are doing all we can to mitigate the impact on both our patients and our staff.
“We are increasing capacity in our Same Day Emergency Care Unit, opening new wards and increasing the use of our virtual wards to free up space and improve flow through our hospitals. We are also working closely with our partners at the Nottingham Emergency Medical Services (NEMS) to support flow out of our A&E - getting patients seen quicker and allowing A&E staff to focus on those needing emergency care.
“We are acutely aware of the impact that delayed ambulance handovers can have on those patients waiting for care in the community. That’s why we have worked with the East Midlands Ambulance Service to make changes to handovers, getting patients into A&E within 30 minutes and ambulance crews back out into the community within 45.
“Our staff are working incredibly hard to support patients, to care for them, to treat them and to get them home as soon as they possible can. I want to say thank you to each and every one of them for the work they have done so far this winter and for those who are working throughout the festive period.”
