In this, the third part of our Medical Services Reconfiguration series we look at the benefits for our patients with respiratory conditions who are now all cared for at CRH.

Respiratory, (CRH) elderly care (HRI)  and cardiology (CRH) were moved to single sites after the Royal College of Physicians recommendations back in December 2017.

Centralising at CRH meant we could increase our respiratory bed base to 42 and this ensures patients are admitted to a specialist bed in a timely manner. This has further allowed development of the respiratory floor model facilitating training and rotation of nursing staff, allowing exposure to different areas of respiratory medicine.

Matron Vanessa Dickinson, said the move had made a big difference to the patient care we provide. She said: " Staff report that the reconfiguration has centralised respiratory giving the patients the right care at the right time by appropriately trained staff. They also report benefits to joining two teams together increasing the knowledge, experience and skills   ".

Here Dr Purav Desai explains more.

" The creation of the respiratory floor model allows us to plan and develop an acute respiratory care unit.  This will provide specialist monitored beds to unwell respiratory patients with the ability for direct transfers from the Emergency Department. 

"This also allows us to create treatment pathways for certain serious medical conditions preventing any delay to treatment.  Such pathways would include massive pulmonary embolism requiring thrombolysis, COPD with T2RF requiring NIV etc

"Reconfiguration has also allowed us to develop a consultant of the week model where there is daily consultant led cover allowing continuity for patients.  This has also allowed us to plan workforce effectively so we can deliver cancer care and specialist investigations (EBUS, thoracoscopy) maintaining national quality standards."

Clinical lead Rob Moisey has now completed an overarching report into events and developments since we reconfigured and he has hailed all the teams involved for coming together and mastering new ways of working in a short time.