GPLink Issue 4
News from Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
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elcome to our Spring edition of GP Link, the newsletter where we keep you up-to-date with information on new services, how we are performing and where we are making improvements.
Dementia Support Workers make a difference • Helping patients and their relatives or carers in completing 'This is Me' booklets which promote understanding of the person to aid person-centred care. This is where a patient’s likes, dislikes and interests and routines can be recorded.
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hanks to the generous support of a local charity, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has been able to establish a new innovative service to provide more support for patients with dementia, their families and carers. Three new Dementia Support Workers joined the hospital in November 2013 with the aim of enhancing the experience of patients with dementia while they are in hospital, as well as offering specialist advice and support to their relatives and carers. The new posts have been funded by a charitable donation to the Trust.
The Dementia Support Workers offer extra non-clinical support, over and above that provided by clinicians, including: • Emotional support for families and carers, with signposting to services which provide advocacy, benefit advice, befriending as well as information on, carers groups, charities and voluntary organisations • 1:1 activities with patients to promote wellbeing and cognitive stimulation, such as reminiscence, reading aloud and gentle touch massage of the hands
The Dementia Support Workers have received training by the Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance, the Alzheimer's Society, MIND and Norfolk Library Services. They have also shadowed various professionals around the hospital including occupational therapists, physiotherapists and mental health liaison nurses. Dr Martyn Patel, Consultant Geriatrician and lead for Dementia, said: “Dementia or delirium affects around a third of our in-patients, so we are delighted to have this service up and running, offering extra support to this group of patients and their families. If you have dementia, being away from home and the people who usually care for you can be distressing and lonely. Not all patients with dementia will need this service but clinical teams or social services can refer patients they think could benefit from any of the areas of support the team offers.”
New treatment pathway for patients with cerebral palsy
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ospital and community health services have been working together on a new pathway which will benefit young patients with cerebral palsy.
January 2014 and children who are already being treated by local health services will gradually be transferred to the new clinic with priority being given to patients aged under five years.
Based on NICE guidance for the care of children with spasticity, patients will be assessed in a special clinic by a multi-disciplinary team, comprising a paediatrician, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, with additional input from an orthopaedic surgeon, neurologist and adult rehabilitation specialist. The new pathway started in
Dr Richard Reading, a Consultant Community Paediatrician who works for Norwich Community Health and Care and also sees patients at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, says: “The new pathway means that patients will be seen at a single clinic where we bring together all the expertise needed to improve the lives of these young
patients and minimise any long term disability.”
After the initial assessment and treatment under the new pathway, patients will receive a review at age five and again when they start the transition into adult services. Patients and their families will benefit from fewer clinic visits, clearer decision making and consistent standards of care.
A second full time Learning Disability (LD) Liaison Nurse has been appointed to help patients
for each patient on admission • Using a hospital communication booklet so that patients with learning disabilities and/or autism can communicate with doctors and nurses • Using electronic alerts on patient records • Providing extra support for patients and their carers, for example, by providing an extra member of staff or flexible visiting for carers
NNUH top rated by maternity patients in national survey Women patients have rated the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital as a top performer for care during pregnancy and birth. A national survey run by the Care Quality Commission, which asked women about their experiences, places the NNUH in the top 20 per cent of hospitals in 12 areas of care. The high ratings were for listening to patients, giving enough time to ask questions, being spoken to in a way they could understand, having enough information and being involved in decisions about their care. The hospital was also a top performer with patients who said they were treated with dignity and respect, had their concerns taken seriously during labour and birth and had confidence and trust in the staff.
Chemotherapy services now available at Cromer Hospital
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atients living in North Norfolk are now benefiting from being able to receive chemotherapy treatments closer to home at Cromer Hospital.
The initial referral process remains the same with GPs referring patients to a paediatrician when they suspect cerebral palsy in infants.
More support for patients with Learning Disabilities with learning disabilities and/ or autism at NNUH and will work clinically with in-patients and out-patients every day, ensuring staff are given advice and support so that reasonable adjustments can be made for patients with learning disabilities and/or autism. There is a legal requirement for reasonable adjustments to be made, and at NNUH these include: • Ensuring a learning disability risk assessment is completed
Urgent Care Unit makes a difference
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n Urgent Care Unit has been opened at NNUH to treat patients who have minor illnesses and injuries which do not need to be seen by hospital specialists. It is a pilot scheme which has been in the planning since the summer and which is being trialled for about three months in the wake of two successful trial weekends late in 2013.
Chemotherapy sessions are being offered on Thursday mornings in the Muriel Thoms Unit at Cromer Hospital to patients who need treatments which can be given at weekly or three weekly appointments. Patients previously had to travel to Norwich to receive this treatment.
The unit is located outside the A&E department and hosts GPs and community nurses who are working both at the unit and within the hospital to identify suitable patients who can be cared for promptly and helped to return home. Meanwhile, community nurses and therapists are working alongside A&E staff to look after people who are brought to the hospital by ambulance, but who are found to be medically fit and can be safely returned home with the right community support. They will ensure each patient is treated appropriately and that the right support is in place to return home. The unit is staffed by nurses and therapists from Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust (NCH&C), as well as primary care doctors who can call on support, as needed, from hospital colleagues. Staff involved in trial weekends in 2013 reported a really positive impact and reduced pressure on the hospital. It ensured people who did not need hospital treatment were treated safely in the community and demonstrated how the local health ‘system’ works effectively in partnership.
Consultant Oncologist Dr Daniel Epurescu has been involved in setting up the service and said: “We are delighted that our patients who live in North Norfolk now have a choice to have their simple chemotherapy closer to home. We hope to be able to eventually expand the service so that more complex chemotherapy may also be offered. All the staff have worked very hard to enable this service to be offered.” GP LINK Produced by the NNUH Communications Team. If you have any feedback on this newsletter, please contact us at: Email: gplink@nnuh.nhs.uk Telephone: 01603 287634