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14 November 2011 02:43
Healthcare
Transforming services in Lincolnshire's hospitals
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust is transforming the way services are run to ensure they are as efficient as possible with patients always receiving good experiences of care and treatment.
The Transformation Programme aims to enhance the patient experience in many ways such as: carrying out diagnostic tests at the weekend instead of just Monday to Friday; providing alternatives to A&E for conditions that are not life-threatening; planning each patient’s care right down to the day they can expect to leave hospital and improving the use of theatres therefore reducing waiting times.
Work has been on-going behind the scenes over the last few months and results of the Transformation Programme are starting to be seen.
Many patients can now expect to have tests carried out in the endoscopy unit over the weekend or in the evening. So if they are admitted on a Friday they may no longer have to wait until Monday for a test. To enable this to happen, three new endoscopy nurses and a GP have been recruited to extend the hours the service can be offered and provide weekend appointments.
Patients at Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Grantham and District Hospital and Louth County Hospital will start to see a difference as the service begins to expand.
Patients will be able to return home more quickly, waiting times will be reduced and more beds will become free for those in need of care and treatment on the wards.
Endoscopy nurses Danni Whitehouse, Chloe Holly and Amanda Stewart-Stamp have been undergoing further training at Hull University, with practical training in the Trust’s departments. Following this they will be able to carry out certain procedures themselves. Endoscopy is an internal examination using a camera on a flexible tube that looks for abnormalities within the digestive system.
Trainee Nurse Endoscopist Chloe Holly said; “This is a really exciting development for the department. I previously worked as an endoscopy nurse at Boston but to be able to develop my skills in this way is fantastic. The extra resource we will be bringing means we can provide an even more improved service for our patients.”
A GP who currently works within the team is set increase her work to enable the department to offer appointments over the weekend.
Heather Carter, Associate Director of Transformation, said: “Extending the department opening times, and providing a more flexible service will hopefully encourage more local people to use our hospital services. We offer a high standard of patient care and treatments in endoscopy throughout the Trust, as well as having a professional team of dedicated staff in each of our units. We are excited about the developments that are happening as part of the Transformation Programme and believe they will benefit current patients as well as many other people in the future.”
Major works are also taking place to develop the endoscopy units across the Trust. A new unit will open at Pilgrim hospital, Boston in January 2012 costing £2.5million. A new endoscopy unit is also due to open at Louth in May 2012. The endoscopy unit at Grantham will be refurbished over the Christmas period and in Lincoln works have been proposed to enhance the current unit.
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