FLOS link patients, family and friends
WITH patients not able to have visitors due to Covid-19 restrictions, Hywel Dda University Health Board (UHB) have created a team of family liaison officers (FLO) to be that link between patients, family and friends.
Owain Davies is one of the family liaison officers at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen.
He 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 were having to wear a hospital gown.
“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 the public to think about how they can ‘help us to help you’ as they enter the busiest time of year for hospital admissions.
A small bag is all that is needed which has in it toiletries, a small towel, a change of clothes, nightwear, slippers or shoes and maybe a good book to pass the time and their phone or device to keep in touch.
The FLOS are the link between the patient and their families during the pandemic. They are able to organise clothes as well as keeping in touch using devices and phones.
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.”
Dennis Reed, a patient at Glangwili Hospital said: “I have been in hospital for over two months and I’m exceedingly grateful for the help Owain and his colleagues have given me.”