Christmas is fast approaching and over the coming days the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust (QEH) is aiming to help as many patients as possible to get home safely in time for Christmas or sooner.
QEH is calling on families and friends of loved ones in hospital to help us and play a part in supporting our ‘Home for Christmas’ campaign, and at the same time supporting the efforts in creating bed capacity at QEH to assist with patient flow through the winter months.
The benefits of continuing recovery at home, in a more familiar and relaxed environment, are obvious, but at this time of year we wouldn’t want anyone unnecessarily stuck on a hospital ward if it is possible that they can be home enjoying Christmas Day with loved ones.
There are wider benefits for the community at a time when the hospital is facing extraordinary pressures on patient flow and bed capacities.
Interim Chief Operating Officer, Mark Henry said: “Home for Christmas is all about putting patients first by prioritising the services and activities that support safe and timely care and being responsive to delays and pressures in the system.
“As a Trust we’re providing support to every ward in the hospital to help identify and overcome problems and to see what support is needed to smooth the patient pathway to ensure there are no delays in getting them ‘Home for Christmas’.
“We’re asking friends and family to join us in our Home for Christmas campaign and do everything they can to assist in getting their loved one’s home for Christmas and recover in their own environment and spend quality time with their families.
“By taking these steps now we aim to increase patient flow and bed capacity to be able to provide the best possible care for our community over what is anticipated to be a busy winter.
Acting Medical Director at QEH, Dr Govindan Raghuraman said: “Once we’ve reached that moment where the hospital has done all it can in terms of medical care it means that beds are restricted so it’s harder to get patients in through our emergency department which remains very busy.
“We’re focusing on trying to get people home for Christmas by mobilising all our efforts to get patients ready to go home.
“The faster you get back to your own bed the better, there are a lot of interruptions in hospital which impact your ability to get a good night’s sleep and we know long-term sleep deprivation can slow down recovery.
“Being at home, in familiar surrounds, with support from your loved ones is also immensely important for your mental health, which is vital to a speedy recovery.”
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For further information, please contact Communications Team, media.enquiries@qehkl.nhs.uk or 01553 613216.
To download the press release, click here.
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