Special unit aims to help ease the winter pressure
A medical assessment unit at University Hospital Hairmyres looks set to ease pressure in wards and A&E this winter.
That’s the view of Joanne Edwards, the director of hospital services.
The unit – which opened at the beginning of the year – focuses on rapid assessment of patients presenting following referral from GPS, and is open 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday.
Patients receive diagnostic testing, senior clinical review, prompt decisionmaking and discharge back home where appropriate, or transfer to an inpatient area within the hospital.
Around 85 per cent of patients are discharged directly from the unit, which helps ease any backlogs – vital during busy periods.
“The board has invested in additional nursing staff for Hairmyres which has enabled us to open the medical assessment unit,”ms Edwards said.
“The activity used to be done on the ward, in terms of assessing before admission. But we found as it was in a ward area, we usually ended up with inpatients, so couldn’t have a dedicated area for this.
“We also found that patients quite often ended up being admitted into the system, adding pressure.
“The unit has been working well and we hope it will continue do so over the busier winter period.”
Ms Edwards says Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were exceptionally busy last year.
“We usually have a 50 per cent occupancy at that time but last year it was sitting at 85 per cent,”she said.
“The acuity of illness, particularly with respiratory conditions, flu and pneumonia and breaks among elderly due to falling on black ice was particularly high.”
Hairmyres senior nurse Kirsty Mcmillan added:“we have not only started planning for this winter but are already thinking ahead to the next – it’s an ongoing process.
“We have just recruited an extra 10 registered nurses to help support us during the winter period and that’s really to help back-fill specialised nursing posts such as those who work with care of elderly patients.
“We also have an initiative just now, and plan to run it through the winter, whereby at the weekend and particularly on night shift, we have extra support staff in place.
“We can’t always anticipate what’s going to happen, although we can predict, so just having the extra staff available allows us to manage things really very well.”