Shropshire hospitals boss: Covid risks mean unnecessary time at acute hospitals should be avoided
Read the latest column from Arne Rose, medical director at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH).
There has been a lot of talk in the media over the last few days about the way we discharge patients who have tested positive for Covid-19.
At SaTH, we follow guidance which has been put in place by Public Health England and the NHS regionally.
Many hundreds of patients have had successful episodes of care with us and been discharged safely back into the community.
It is important to remember that the coronavirus pandemic brings with it added risks which mean that spending any unnecessary time in our acute hospitals should be avoided whenever possible.
Patient pathways throughout the pandemic have often been complex not just for ourselves, but also our health and care system partners and the patients themselves.
We want to make sure our care, treatment and discharge processes are right every time and for that reason we, along with our health and social care partners, have recently conducted a full review of the Integrated Discharge Hub, which is the multi-agency team that co-ordinates patients who need care in their home or other ongoing treatment and care in the community.
We have also received feedback on specific cases which we are looking into.
As always, we encourage anyone who has any comments or concerns about their care to speak to staff on the wards or to contact us through our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).
I am delighted that the number of positive Covid-19 cases at our hospitals continues to fall to nearer the numbers we saw in the first wave.
This is, of course, a huge relief, but our hospitals remain extremely busy as we continue work to restore more services which have been suspended throughout the pandemic.
Acceleration
Our vaccination programme continues at pace. With supplies increasing, vaccination centres across the country are planning for further acceleration as we head towards Easter, as well as beginning to administer the second dose of the vaccine.
While the first dose of both vaccines offers good levels of protection, to get maximum protection everyone will need to get the second dose, so I urge you to return for your second jab when you are contacted or make sure you attend if you already have an appointment booked.
We are getting closer to the Easter Bank Holiday and, as I’m sure everybody knows, in the lead up to that, we are all hoping for a further relaxing of lockdown rules, which will allow six people or two families to meet outside, including in private gardens.
This is something I’m sure everyone is looking forward to and is a strong reason why, until then, we should all continue to follow the guidance that is currently in place.
We want to see the number of Covid-19 cases in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Mid Wales continue to fall.
We want to see the number of Covid-positive patients in our hospitals fall.
We can only achieve that by working together.
