Health Hospital in-patient unit reopens after work
THE inpatient unit at the North Somerset Community Hospital has re-opened - after it was closed for two weeks for vital fire safety improvements.
The hospital, in Clevedon, closed earlier this month after a fire safety survey highlighted additional work that was needed.
The Minor Injury Unit, all outpatients services and the Ambulatory Care Unit situated at the hospital site in Old Street, have remained fully open as usual throughout the inpatient closure.
The fire safety work - costing £7,500 - has included installing a new fire door between two patient rooms to improve the evacuation route and improvements to the emergency sounders.
North Somerset Community Partnership (NSCP), which runs the hospital, continued to provide rehabilitation for those patients who would have been admitted to the hospital - either at home with additional support, or by securing beds in local care homes.
NSCP provides rehabilitation, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, for patients in their own homes or in the Elton Rehabilitation Unit at North Somerset Community Hospital, depending on their individual needs which area assessed prior to them being discharged from the main acute hospitals.
NSCP chief executive Judith Brown said: “We are really pleased to be able to re-open the unit as planned after only two weeks. Patient safety is at the heart of everything we do and this work was essential to improve fire safety measures at the hospital and ensure the safety of our patients and staff. We looked at the possibility of keeping the Elton Rehabilitation Unit open, but the noise, disruption and dust would not have been conducive to the rehabilitation and recovery of our patients.
“We hope the community in Clevedon and across North Somerset appreciate how important fire safety is within the hospital and understood this short closure happened because it was absolutely necessary.”
The inpatient unit re-opened before Christmas after being closed for months following a report by the Care Quality Commission which criticised the condition of the facility.
The unit has undergone a major upgrade as a result which has also seen the number of beds reduced from 17 to 11 to bring it up to 21st-century standards.