Dr Rob Thompson, Critical Care Lead for the Emergency Village and Critical Care Development
Dr Rob Thompson is a Critical Care Consultant at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and is also the Critical Care Lead in the Emergency Village and Critical Care Development.
He qualified as a doctor in 1999.
Rob is the first doctor in his family. Originally from Shropshire he studied medicine at the University of Manchester.
Rob came to Blackpool Victoria as a junior doctor and thought it was a nice place for staff and so he stayed. This is also where he met his wife, a nurse.
Through specialist training programmes, he went on to train in anaesthetics and Intensive Care, starting his current role in 2010.
He said: “I have always wanted an interesting and rewarding career and for me, that is medicine.
“I enjoy being hands on and in Critical Care; you can see immediate effects which is very satisfying.
“The job can be emotionally draining and it never gets easier although we do have a lot of coping techniques. However, it is amazing to see patients in follow up clinics once they are better – some have completely transformed.”
Rob is one of the Critical Care consultants who have overall responsibility for the care delivered across the Intensive Care Unit (ITU) and the High Dependency Unit (HDU) which make up the 16 beds of ‘critical care’.
The Emergency Village and Critical Care development will see ITU and HDU come together in a new purpose-built building alongside the current Urgent Care Centre. Currently, these wards are in separate areas of the hospital.
Rob said: “Critical care is very traumatic and the environment can aggravate families who are already distressed.
“The new location will provide more privacy and dignity by providing separate rooms which will help lessen the distress.
“There will also be more room to rehabilitate our patients to get them get back home and managing their daily routine.
“Through a focus group of former patients and their families, we asked about their experiences and suggestions. We listened to this and will now provide an enhanced relatives’ room and facilities with provision for overnight stays.
“Combining ITU and HDU will provide a much more enhanced environment for the patient to get better especially regaining the ability to look after themselves.
“The whole team are excited about the changes and are looking forward to working within a space that they all have put ideas into in order to make the patient care the best that it can be.”