Doctors and nurses lead improvement plans at Llanelli hospital
Prince Philip Hospital doctors and nurses are leading the plans to enhance and improve services provided at Llanelli’s hospital.
Following the recent announcement by the Health Minister, nurses, GPs and hospital specialists, working closely together with community teams, are creating a new “front door” for people who need emergency / urgent care and people who have minor injuries or illnesses.
Dr Robin Ghosal, Consultant Physician at Prince Philip Hospital said: “As clinicians working in Llanelli, we are very aware of the anxiety the town is feeling about changes to their local hospital. But more than anything, we want to reassure Llanelli that emergency and urgent care services will not be lost but actually enhanced and improved. We want to reassure the public that when they are ill, they can still access the services they already have at Prince Philip Hospital.
“Patient care sits at the heart of our plans, and we, the clinicians, are the leading voice in shaping these.”
Dr Dai Samuel, Clinical Leadership Fellow who has been appointed to support local clinicians to take forward these developments says: “The plan for developing emergency and urgent care services includes six crucial components: mental health; minor injuries; minor ailments; acute illnesses (such as asthma or stroke); frailty services; and alcohol and substance misuse services, which together will provide high quality, patient centred care for the people of Llanelli and neighbouring areas.
“For the clinicians this is not about losing an A&E department; it’s about gaining a modernised, more effective urgent care service. The same patients will be seen but they will be seen more quickly by the right people.
“GPs and hospital based doctors are leading each element of the project, as well as a team of senior nurses and management staff. By working together, we can ensure that patients will be able to access specialists at the ‘front door’, will be seen and treated more quickly and with better support for discharge home or into an appropriate community setting.”
Dr Granville Morris, Consultant Geriatrician said: “Most admissions to hospital involve our more elderly population, and many of these could be avoidable with good community support. The frailty team, including a number of different clinicians, can assess patients when they arrive at hospital, looking at both their medical and social and supportive needs, and arrange for this support to be in place immediately to allow patients to be discharged, hopefully that same day.”
Dr Ghosal added: “One change that we believe will make a significant improvement to how we deliver care at the front door of the hospital is ensuring patients referred by their GP or arriving by ambulance with a medical emergency are admitted directly to the Emergency Medical Assessment Unit, where doctors will be on hand during initial assessments. This will reduce time spent waiting to be assessed and avoid having to go through the emergency department. Overall, this will result in a much higher quality and more efficient service for the patient and their loved ones.”
Additionally, a crucial component of the plan is to enable GPs and specialist nurses (called Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENPs)) to work closely together during a patient’s initial assessment on arrival at hospital. Dr Samuel explains: “This works extremely effectively in other hospitals, for example in Singleton Hospital.
“All staff will be highly skilled and trained to deal with the patients we expect to see. This provides exciting opportunities for GPs to work closer to the hospital environment and for the hospital to benefit from integration with community services. We believe this will prove attractive to staff and help recruitment to Llanelli.”
Dr Sian Lewis, Associate Director for Clinical Services: “To reiterate, what is most important to those working to develop these changes, is that we can reassure the public that when they are ill, they can still access the services they already have at Prince Philip Hospital. It is also important that it is clear that services currently provided at our sister hospital Glangwili, such as surgical, orthopaedic or gynaecology assessments, or if a child becomes unwell, will continue to be provided in Carmarthen, as they are now.
“We are now looking forward to beginning the process of implementing our plans, which have been praised and endorsed by independent experts in this field. If there is one thing that the people of Llanelli can be sure about is that their care is at the heart of our plans and our clinicians are leading these changes because they want to provide the best patient care possible.”
Following the recent announcement by the Health Minister, nurses, GPs and hospital specialists, working closely together with community teams, are creating a new “front door” for people who need emergency / urgent care and people who have minor injuries or illnesses.
Dr Robin Ghosal, Consultant Physician at Prince Philip Hospital said: “As clinicians working in Llanelli, we are very aware of the anxiety the town is feeling about changes to their local hospital. But more than anything, we want to reassure Llanelli that emergency and urgent care services will not be lost but actually enhanced and improved. We want to reassure the public that when they are ill, they can still access the services they already have at Prince Philip Hospital.
“Patient care sits at the heart of our plans, and we, the clinicians, are the leading voice in shaping these.”
Dr Dai Samuel, Clinical Leadership Fellow who has been appointed to support local clinicians to take forward these developments says: “The plan for developing emergency and urgent care services includes six crucial components: mental health; minor injuries; minor ailments; acute illnesses (such as asthma or stroke); frailty services; and alcohol and substance misuse services, which together will provide high quality, patient centred care for the people of Llanelli and neighbouring areas.
“For the clinicians this is not about losing an A&E department; it’s about gaining a modernised, more effective urgent care service. The same patients will be seen but they will be seen more quickly by the right people.
“GPs and hospital based doctors are leading each element of the project, as well as a team of senior nurses and management staff. By working together, we can ensure that patients will be able to access specialists at the ‘front door’, will be seen and treated more quickly and with better support for discharge home or into an appropriate community setting.”
Dr Granville Morris, Consultant Geriatrician said: “Most admissions to hospital involve our more elderly population, and many of these could be avoidable with good community support. The frailty team, including a number of different clinicians, can assess patients when they arrive at hospital, looking at both their medical and social and supportive needs, and arrange for this support to be in place immediately to allow patients to be discharged, hopefully that same day.”
Dr Ghosal added: “One change that we believe will make a significant improvement to how we deliver care at the front door of the hospital is ensuring patients referred by their GP or arriving by ambulance with a medical emergency are admitted directly to the Emergency Medical Assessment Unit, where doctors will be on hand during initial assessments. This will reduce time spent waiting to be assessed and avoid having to go through the emergency department. Overall, this will result in a much higher quality and more efficient service for the patient and their loved ones.”
Additionally, a crucial component of the plan is to enable GPs and specialist nurses (called Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENPs)) to work closely together during a patient’s initial assessment on arrival at hospital. Dr Samuel explains: “This works extremely effectively in other hospitals, for example in Singleton Hospital.
“All staff will be highly skilled and trained to deal with the patients we expect to see. This provides exciting opportunities for GPs to work closer to the hospital environment and for the hospital to benefit from integration with community services. We believe this will prove attractive to staff and help recruitment to Llanelli.”
Dr Sian Lewis, Associate Director for Clinical Services: “To reiterate, what is most important to those working to develop these changes, is that we can reassure the public that when they are ill, they can still access the services they already have at Prince Philip Hospital. It is also important that it is clear that services currently provided at our sister hospital Glangwili, such as surgical, orthopaedic or gynaecology assessments, or if a child becomes unwell, will continue to be provided in Carmarthen, as they are now.
“We are now looking forward to beginning the process of implementing our plans, which have been praised and endorsed by independent experts in this field. If there is one thing that the people of Llanelli can be sure about is that their care is at the heart of our plans and our clinicians are leading these changes because they want to provide the best patient care possible.”
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