Posted: Mon 28th Nov 2022

Can you help to improve contact between hospital patients and their loved ones in north Wales?

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Monday, Nov 28th, 2022

Can you help to improve contact between relatives of hospital patients in north Wales?

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been awarded £330,000 of Welsh Government funding to help tackle the leading cause of dissatisfaction reported by friends and relatives of hospital patients in North Wales.

The health board is now appealing to business and academia to come up with innovative solution to help improve communication between relatives and their loved ones in hospital.

The challenge is is the latest of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s Small Business Research Initiatives (SBRI).

Hosted by the Health Board, The SBRI Centre of Excellence brings together the healthcare sector and businesses to solve challenges facing the NHS.

Previous SBRI initiatives include a project which helped the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust significantly reduce the time and cost associated with cleaning ambulances, allowing paramedics to support more patients during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Up to £330,000 has been set aside to develop the winning project.

Professor Tracey Williamson, Nurse Consultant for Dementia with BCUHB, who led the successful SBRI application said: “We know that relatives can suffer considerable stress and anxiety at not knowing what is going on when their loved one is admitted to hospital and this can also be worrying for patients.

“This situation particularly affects those patients who may not have or be able to use their own phones, or those who have cognitive limitations such as dementia or mental health needs.

“Due to the pressures they are under, our hard working staff can often struggle to keep patients’ relatives updated by telephone.

“Add to this the burden of removing and replacing protective clothing (PPE) and hand-washing to answer the phone, and the result is an environment of inadequate communication.”

“The current system of telephoning isn’t always effective and we know that relatives can spend long periods of time on hold before they get an answer, and then do not necessarily get any information that is relevant to their loved one’s current condition.

“We’re really looking forward to working with the business community and SBRI team to develop innovative solutions that will improve access to information for patients’ relatives while reducing the demand on frontline staff.”

Businesses are invited to attend a briefing event on 30 November, and they will have until 14 December to apply for the SBRI challenge, working to a final deadline in March 2024 to deliver potential solutions. To find out more, please visit the SBRI Centre of Excellence website.



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