Rita Crompton from the Discharge Team at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Physiotherapist Jo Emery, Karen Easter from Trauma Services, and physiotherapists Louise Neal, Emily Newton and Amy Barrow in the new Orthopaedic Hub which has been funded through Blue Skies Hospitals Fund.
The way orthopaedic patients are cared for at Blackpool Victoria Hospital has become more streamlined thanks to funding from hospital charity, Blue Skies Hospitals Fund.
A former seminar room has been transformed into an orthopaedic hub, where medical teams from different departments can join together in one place at one time to discuss a patient’s care.
Previously, medical teams from across the hospital would meet in various locations to discuss treatment for a patient, often meaning theatre visits were delayed and time was spent discussing the same case with different departments.
Now, thanks to Blue Skies – the charity for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – there is a dedicated space on one of the orthopaedic wards where staff from different departments come together to view test results and x-rays, and discuss each patient’s progress.
Karen Easter, Lead Nurse for Trauma Services, said: “Before we had this we had to use the Orthopaedic Seminar Room to view x-rays and we’d have to come into the ward to see the patients. We were disconnected from our area.
“Now we’re in here, it’s a more integrated team and we’re able to work a lot more closely with the Anaesthetics Team – they can be a lot closer to the patients they are operating on. It’s a much more streamlined service.”
The hub, which has been created thanks to Blue Skies funding of £13,182 boasts a large screen which will aid diagnostics as test results and x-rays can be viewed and analysed in great detail.
The Trust’s IT department is also working on a computer system which will allow medical teams to track a patient from their admission through to discharge. It will have a traffic light system to ensure standards are maintained and will allow the teams to review each step of a patient’s journey through their care.
Karen added: “We’re still learning how to use this equipment, but it has multiple purposes which will really help us to enhance the level of care we give to our patients.
“We are so grateful to Blue Skies Hospitals Fund for agreeing this funding.”