A recently-opened unit at Poole Hospital – which provides an outpatient alternative to inpatient care – has helped improve patient service in the seven months since it opened.
The purpose-built Treatment & Investigation Unit (TIU) is a nurse-led outpatient unit as opposed to a more conventional consultant-led inpatient unit. It is a service for both urgent and routine care and one of the few of its kind in the UK.
It is led entirely by specially-trained nurses with advanced practice qualifications, and, by offering day case care and procedures, it ensures that patients only stay in hospital if absolutely necessary.
The unit opened in December 2018 and its opening hours are 7.30am-7.30pm Monday to Friday and 7.30-3.30pm on Saturday and Sunday. These off-peak times provide extra out of hours care.
TIU patients are treated by one nurse from the beginning to the end of their care in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Staff have the ability to transfer inpatients from elsewhere in the hospital to the TIU to help free up beds for the sickest patients and ease pressure on services.
There has been much positive feedback about this system from both patients and staff. “Without Joy (Peeke, TIU ward sister) and the girls, I don’t know where I’d be,” said Naid Baxter, a current TIU patient.
“Joy has saved my life several times and I’m overwhelmed by the care I’ve received. I know whichever issues I have, they will be able to resolve. The role of TIU is crucial to myself and other chronically ill patients with various complex medical needs.”
Naid, from Bournemouth, has chronic bronchiolitis. She has recurring chest infections which require daily antibiotics. Rather than being admitted as an inpatient, she comes into TIU for treatment before returning home. This allows Naid to still live a life out of hospital and to be more comfortable in her own bed.
Geoffrey Walker, matron for specialist medicine and ambulatory care, applauded how the unit will “challenge and change previously accepted practices.”
“The TIU puts the idea of ‘admission is a last resort’ to the forefront,” said Geoffrey. “It will challenge and change previously accepted practices for admission and I really believe this is the way forward for hospital care.”
West Middlesex, Ipswich and Princess Alexandria hospitals have visited Poole to see the unit and how it works since it opened. A team of staff will visit the Berkshire County Hospital in July to help with the introduction of a similar unit.
The unit is part of a £952,000 funding scheme from NHS Improvement to help flow through the hospital. This initiative also includes the refurbishment of the Harbourside ambulatory gynaecology centre, the opening of a minor injuries unit and the construction of a new outpatients treatment centre.
