Enter and view: Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Ward 27 - general medicine and supported discharge
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On the 5th August, Healthwatch Shropshire conducted an Enter and View visit to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Ward 27 (for general medicine and supported discharge).
The Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) told Healthwatch Shropshire that Ward 27 at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital was being used as a ‘temporary’ ward during busy periods to reduce winter pressures on beds. Due to patient numbers it had not closed after the winter period this year and is now a permanent ward.
The Sister later gave Healthwatch an introductory tour of the ward. They were told which patients they should not talk to, for medical reasons. Healthwatch spoke to two staff, six patients and three visitors/relatives. There was a written questionnaire available for those respondents who may have been more comfortable writing a response. Two were completed, one by a patient and one by a visitor.
Our observations were that the overall environment was conducive to patient comfort. The majority of visitors and patients were very positive about their experiences of Ward 27. They all said staff on the ward were friendly. There was a busy and purposeful atmosphere. The ward was clean, tidy and light. The Ward Manager said the high usage of temporary staff made it difficult to successfully embed practice/processes. As a result relatives look to the Ward Managers for information and support rather than to other staff.
Healthwatch made several recommendations about encouraging staff for good practice and improving the ward atmosphere by reducing noise and increasing entertainment for patients.