NEWS
Study reveals extent of COVID’s
Temporary A&E extension increases
capacity at Southmead Hospital A flexible solution for expanding A&E capacity has been installed at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. The mobile clinic is helping to increase the number of patients seen in A&E while social distancing restrictions remain in place. Towards the end of 2020, the hospital had seen a rise in the number of COVID-19 patients and, with upcoming winter pressures and continued uncertainty over the pandemic, North Bristol NHS Trust took the decision to increase its preparedness for any future surges in demand. The decision has resulted in a better way to manage patient flow and reassurance that there would be sufficient capacity to treat everyone, regardless of the COVID-19 situation, without waiting times in the A&E department increasing substantially. The new clinic is now providing additional assessment and treatment space primarily for minor injuries, seven days a week.
Situated in the car park opposite the main entrance to the A&E department, the clinic contains a reception and patient waiting area, consultation rooms for seeing patients, a plaster room, as well as clean and dirty utility rooms. The layout of the mobile clinic is designed with efficient patient flow in mind and maximises available space. Having a stand-alone facility next to A&E for assessing patients and treating minor injuries has made it easier to manage patient flow while maintaining social distancing, and means patients can be treated in a timely manner, in the most suitable setting for each patient. The temporary mobile clinic was provided by Vanguard Healthcare Solutions. Their team worked in close collaboration with clinical staff, as well as estates personnel from Bouygues E&S, which manages the Trust’s estate at the Southmead Hospital site. The facility will be on site for an initial period of six months.
lasting impacts The majority of survivors who left hospital following COVID-19 did not fully recover five months after discharge and continued to experience negative impacts on their physical and mental health, as well as their ability to work, according to results from the PHOSP-COVID (Post- Hospital COVID-19) study in which UCLH played a major role. Furthermore, one in five participants reached the threshold for a new disability, according to the study which took place across 57 NHS hospitals, and analysed 1,077 patients who were discharged from hospital between March and November 2020. Each participant had an average of nine persistent symptoms. The ten most common were: muscle pain, fatigue, physical slowing down, impaired sleep quality, joint pain or swelling, limb weakness, breathlessness, pain, short- term memory loss, and slowed thinking. In addition, 25% of participants had clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and depression and 12% had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at their five-month follow-up. Of the 67.5% of participants who were working before COVID, 17.8% were no longer working, and nearly 20% experienced a health-related change in their occupational status. Visit:
medRxiv.org
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