FLO team creates patient and family link

MANY elderly patients taken to hospital via an ambulance do not have anything with them – no clothes or any way of contacting their relatives, according to Hywel Dda University Health Board.

With patients not able to have visitors due to Covid19 restrictions, Hywel Dda University Health Board has created a team of family liaison officers (FLO) to be that link between the patient and their family and friends.

Owain Davies, a family liaison officer at Glangwili Hospital, said: “Out of the 30 patients I liaised with when I first started, 15 of them didn’t have any clothes with them or a way of contacting their relatives. They have come in via an ambulance and only have the clothes they are wearing and that could be their pyjamas. Others have no way of contacting their loved ones with no phone or devices with them.”

Although the FLO team are there to help those patients that do come in with nothing, Hywel Dda University Health Board are keen for us to think about how we can ‘help us to help you’ as they enter the busiest time of year for hospital admissions.

If you, or a relative/ loved one, are admitted into hospital as an emergency take a moment to consider what the patient needs to bring in with them.

A small bag is all that is needed which has in it - toiletries, a small towel, a change of clothes, nightwear, slippers or shoes, maybe a good book to pass the time and their phone or device to keep in touch.

Sister Nia Jones and Ocupational Therapist, Hannah Moses agree that the introduction of the FLO team has meant they have more time to spend with the patients to do more of the things they need to do to get them better.

Owain added: “Having your own belongings and wearing your own clothes can make a huge difference to the patients and being able to keep in touch with their family and friends helps them down the road to recovery quicker.”