Press release: December 24 2018

2017/076

Wye Valley NHS Trust is celebrating the arrival of something very special this Christmas time – a new ward at Hereford County Hospital.

In just six weeks, workmen have built the new 24-bedded modular ward which opened its doors to patients on Friday, December 21.

The mammoth job involved, at times, up to 60 craftsmen on site working extremely long days, and on the day itself dozens of WVT staff rolled up their sleeves and were in by 6am giving the new ward a clean before beds, furnishing, curtains and medical equipment could be brought in.

The new ward – the Acute Medical Unit – will be used to see and treat patients in need of urgent care who come to the Emergency Department.

Previously the Trust has had to use small areas on other wards and units which could be used in times of pressure on services. Now these areas are likely to be used very rarely meaning less cancellations of routine operations, which is what has happened in the past.

“The new ward opening is great news for our patients and will make a difference to the quality of care we can deliver this winter,” said Jane Ives, WVT’s Managing Director.

“We’ve been working extremely hard to ensure we are as prepared as possible for winter pressures and this new ward, alongside a new surgical assessment area and gynaecology assessment unit, will help us to provide safe and efficient care.”

On Friday last week (Fri, Dec 21) teams of staff arrived early to ensure the ward was ready as early as possible to receive its first patients. They worked alongside contractors who were adding the final touches to the new ward.

“We had an amazing response from our staff and they deserve huge thanks and credit for the way they all pulled together magnificently. It was a long day which was the culmination of a lot of hard work which began back in the summer when we first planned for the new ward. Staff also worked tirelessly last week to ensure we had capacity within the hospital to reorganise some of our wards as well as open the new ward on Friday.

“It was a great example of Team Wye Valley showing what we can do – and it’s just in time for Christmas, so a great present for our patients,” added Jane.

The opening of the ward now is very timely. This year the Trust has experienced an ongoing increase in the number of patients it sees in its Emergency Department – in 2016 the number of weekly emergency adult admissions who were admitted during the summer was 190. Last year this rose to 225 and this year the figure rose to 250.

It means the Trust has been admitting around a third more patients each week now than it was two years ago.

Ends

For further information please contact:

John Burnett, Communication and Engagement Manager, Wye Valley NHS Trust: 01432 372928 or Amanda Millichip/Fiona Gurney, Communications officer 01432 355444 ext. 5105.