It is fantastic to hear of the exciting plans being put in place for our most vulnerable patients with the creation of a new critical care unit as part of the Hospitals Transformation Programme (HTP).
The unit is part of new proposed healthcare facilities at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) under HTP and will provide essential support for the most critically ill patients – it will be supported 24/7 by all the required medical and surgical specialities on one site.
Under HTP, plans will ensure care will be improved for everyone with the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) site in Telford specialising in planned care, and the RSH site specialising in emergency care. In addition to this, a 24/7 enhanced urgent care service will be available at the PRH site.
The Critical Care Unit will support the new Emergency Medicine Department, 24-hour urgent care services, and all the specialist wards, assessment area and operating theatres in our hospital specialising in emergency care. Our clinicians are confident this will improve care for these most vulnerable of patients.
Beds at the proposed new unit will increase from 25 to the predicted requirement of 32. This increased capacity will help accommodate growing demand and provide increased resilience and improved infection prevention and control.
We are always working to improve the experience of our patients and their carers and as part of the scheme there will be single occupancy rooms to provide greater privacy and dignity and a more positive environment to support their recovery with access to a new outside sky garden for long stay patients.
Relatives will also benefit from improved overnight accommodation to stay close to their loved ones.
Thank you also to those living in the vicinity of the RSH who popped along to the neighbours’ drop-in session last week to chat to the project team.
The session gave people the opportunity to get updates on the latest works, including those under the HTP, which have started at RSH and those that will be taking place in the future. It was such a positive session and good to hear your views and ideas.
We would also like to thank you for your support and understanding during the recent junior doctor industrial action.
Our services remain under pressure and we, along with other healthcare organisations, are working hard at this time to deliver the best possible care.
If you have a life-threatening emergency, our emergency departments remain open 24 hours a day, so please continue to come forward as normal.
We are encouraging people to help in any way possible and if you do not have a life-threatening emergency, please think of the other options available. For further information about Think Which Service, which aims to help you to know where to go to get the right advice, support and treatment for your health needs as quickly as possible, visit: http://thinkwhichservice.co.uk/
Finally, we really appreciate the support of charities and this week I would like to thank the SaTH Charity and the RSH League of Friends (LoF) for funding six reclining chairs for the discharge lounge.
Colleagues working in the discharge lounge contacted the charities for support after realising the chairs would significantly improve the experience for our patients. The chairs are now in place and give our patients the chance to relax more whilst they wait for medication, letters and transport to be sorted out.