WIREDGOV

The Health Minister Mark Drakeford visited two projects which are helping to reduce unnecessary admissions to hospitals across North Wales and providing care closer to people’s homes 

He visited a pilot project which aims to improve and maintain the health of people living in residential homes in Conwy. The residential home liaison nurse scheme is one of only nine in the UK and trains home care staff in continence, nutrition and skin care and introduces new ways to monitor the health of care home residents.

The scheme aims to provide healthcare for care home residents where they live while improving the knowledge and skills of staff.

Mark Drakeford also toured the assessment and therapy unit at Llandudno Hospital, which provides nurse-led day care for people with chronic conditions.

The unit provides a range of early treatment to patients, such as day case blood transfusion and intravenous therapies, avoiding the need for prolonged stays in the hospital.

Professor Drakeford said:

“These projects are good examples of how the Welsh NHs is adapting to meet the needs of patients. They aim to provide the care patients need where they need it, which isn’t always in a hospital.

“When it comes to care homes, residents often benefit from having their health looked after in their familiar surroundings. I want to congratulate the residential home liaison nurse pilot project for winning the Queen’s Nursing Institute Fund for Innovation and Leadership.

“I will be watching the results of this pilot closely to see if it can be shared across Wales.”

Sister Corinne Hocking, from the Assessment and Therapy Unit at Llandudno Hospital said:

“This project is all about developing care pathways with primary and secondary care to reduce hospital admissions and enable patients to be discharged home from hospital.

“Patients who need treatment for chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis or Chron’s disease can come to our nurse-led unit as day cases rather than being admitted to hospital for treatment. We offer a range of treatments including blood transfusions and intravenous antibiotics, along with a number of clinics.”

Residential Home Liaison Nurse Gill Jones said:

“Networking with other agencies, the project’s overall aim is to enhance patient health and wellbeing by improving the range of care that residential home staff are trained to provide.

“My role is to support residential home care staff with training and development, empowering them to develop their roles.

“The team have had training in a number of areas including catheter care, wound care and nutritional needs. This has led to an improvement in standards of care and has reduced the risk of infection, thereby reducing the likelihood of hospital admission.”