Throughout week commencing 21 – 25 September, we are holding a special staff Recognition Week to say thank you to our fabulous staff for everything they have done over the past few difficult months and continue to do during the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Recognition Week will showcase and celebrate the amazing work of our staff and how they have been innovative in adapting their practices to ensure that our patients and service users have continued to get the very best care and treatment possible throughout this time. The commitment of our staff to making a difference in these unprecedented times is truly inspiring. You can read about our inspiring staff and how they have adapted during the pandemic below.
Patients accessing the Trust’s Community Pulmonary Rehabilitation service are a particularly vulnerable and high-risk group for Covid-19, so the teams faced a real challenge in continuing to provide a pulmonary rehabilitation programme.
They shared ideas and work on developing new processes across the county, and with management support the Rushcliffe and Nottingham North East area teams developed a new virtual pulmonary rehab offer for patients living in Gedling, Hucknall and Rushcliffe.
The new pathways include telephone and video consultations, web and
paper based programmes, weekly telephone support and patient information
leaflets.
Continuing to deliver
high quality rehabilitation
Claire Ellis, Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapist, Rushcliffe
Cardiorespiratory team, said that the teams were determined to create an innovative
approach during the pandemic to continue to deliver high quality rehabilitation
“Previously all our support was delivered face-to-face, so the
Covid lockdown was a completely new situation for us,” she said. “The British
Thoracic Society provided guidance and resources for moving services to digital
provision including the free www.SpaceforCOPD.co.uk web
platform and MyCOPD phone app.
“We moved our patients to phone and video assessments and took
part in the Trust’s pilot of the Microsoft Teams platform for online
consultation, which has worked well.”
The teams also had to assess the digital literacy of their patients
to see if the online pathways were suitable for them, with a paper-based option
available so that no one was left out.
This enthusiasm, along with their hard work and commitment, resulted in continuing
high levels of engagement in the six-week rehabilitation programme. The team
have also stayed connected by using Microsoft Teams as their virtual
communication tool for handovers and meetings, enabling them all to keep
updated.
Supporting mental
and physical health
The teams have tried to support people’s mental health as well as
their physical wellbeing, reinforcing the government’s guidance on how to keep
well during the lockdown as well as encouraging them to be active and prevent
the deconditioning that could come with inactivity.
“Where possible a healthcare assistant goes out in full personal
protective equipment (PPE) to assess whether it’s safe for individuals to
exercise on their own,” said Claire. “Those who are shielding can also be
assessed virtually if they have the right IT and medical equipment at home such
as a BP and pulse oximeter.”
Patients receiving pulmonary rehabilitation are all given an
initial assessment followed by six weeks of support, then reassessment and a
plan developed to help them exercise independently and add activity to their
daily life.
Offering the best care
in challenging times
As of early September 2020, the Rushcliffe team had been in touch with
95 potential new patients since lockdown and while some chose to defer their
treatment until face-to-face classes were available again, many took advantage
of the virtual support on offer.
Annabelle, 58, from Calverton said: "I found it really
helpful, particularly in the current situation. It has given me something
to aim for, especially with having to write it down. It has been really
good being able to help myself and has given me structure around the GP’s
advice to ‘do something’.”
The patient feedback has been positive, with many people pleased
to be supported in lockdown while everything felt so insular, with someone available
to answer questions and encouraging them to do more.
“We hope that these new ways of working have been a good new
intervention in these extremely challenging circumstances,” added Claire, “offering
patients a way to optimise their activity safely, and prevent the problems that
can be caused by inactivity.”
The teams have also been linking with colleagues in Bassetlaw and
Mid-Notts, sharing ideas and developing new processes for patient care.
A shining
example
Rebecca Beale, Community Respiratory Physiotherapist, added: “I
would like to give recognition to the assistant practitioners who stepped up
and supported the pulmonary rehabilitation service during lockdown and the
months that have followed. As with many services both pulmonary
rehabilitation and the community therapy service have changed beyond
recognition over the past six months.
“Despite never working within respiratory services before, the
wonderful assistant practitioners in Nottingham North and East embraced the
service and worked fantastically within the team. With their help we
reduced our waiting time by more than half, a feat that would not have been
possible without them.
“As they start to return to their usual roles the respiratory team
in Nottingham North and East would like to take a moment and give special
thanks to these individuals and acknowledge their dedication to patient care
and recognise this shining example of true integrated working.”
An extremely
positive experience
Karen Chambers, Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapist, Pulmonary
Rehabilitation Team Rushcliffe added: “It has
been an extremely positive experience to be involved in a team that has
embraced different ways of working and adopted new skill sets and in such a
short time. This would also not be possible without the support and flexibility
of the administration team who have willingly agreed to assist the change in
process in any way they can.
While the team
and patients recognise that there is nothing like face-to-face contact, Karen
says that patients have been grateful for the ongoing contact. “Following the
programme, markers assessing exercise capacity and health-related quality of
life have shown improvements,” she said, “with one patient from reporting “I
can now walk to the GP surgery without getting short of breath”.
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