KEEPING PATIENTS CONNECTED DURING LOCKDOWN
LETTERS, PICTURES AND PHOTOS CAN BE DELIVERED VIA EMAIL
FRIENDS and family can ‘virtually’ keep in touch with loved ones admitted to Hillingdon Hospital under a new creative scheme set up by hospital bosses.
Visitors are banned from the Pield Heath Road hub during the pandemic to stop the spread of coronavirus, but NHS staff have come up with a plan to stop patients being cut off from their support networks during their time in hospital.
A novel scheme will now allow relatives to send a letter, picture or photograph to a dedicated email address at the hospital, where items will be printed out and delivered to patients on the ward.
A spokesperson said: “Since we locked down our hospitals and stopped patient visits in order to help stop the spread of coronavirus, our patients have been the ones who have borne the brunt. The normal rhythm of hospital visits, of items delivered and news and gossip passed on from family has been severely disrupted.
“A new scheme will help put a stop to that. All their relatives need to do is include the patient’s full name, date of birth and the ward, if known - and we will do the delivering. All messages will be managed in the strictest confidence.
“This service is particularly appropriate for patients who might not use technology very readily in order to keep in touch with family. ‘Old school’ but effective.”
The mailbox will be checked Monday to Friday. The hospital’s IT team is also making an iPad and iPhone available on every ward in the building so patients without the technology can be helped to make calls from their beds.
The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the site, also pledged that families of patients will receive at least one call per day to update them on their loved one’s condition.
This is promised to go ahead on every ward at Hillingdon Hospital, and more frequent calls will be made to families of patients who are very ill and in a deteriorating state.
To send in correspondence to a relative at the hospital, email: thh.lovedonescommunication@nhs.net.