One of Wales’ largest hospitals has launched a new “discharge lounge” to help patients get any medication or services they need before they leave hospital – without them taking-up much needed beds. Morriston Hospital in Swansea says the discharge lounge is a patient’s “last stop” before they leave the hospital and works as a “check-out service” for the patients whilst freeing up beds for others to use.
The lounge allows patients to wait in comfort and with suitable care while take-home medication or transport is arranged, Swansea Bay NHS says, while making their ward bed available for other patients. The new lounge comes just a fortnight after hospital staff urged people to avoid the hospital’s A&E department unless they had “the most serious and life-threatening illnesses and injuries”.
Explaining the premise behind the discharge lounge, senior matron Rebecca Davies said: “If they can’t go straight home from the ward for whatever reason, they can wait safely with qualified staff, enjoying a cup of tea and a chat, maybe have a sandwich or a meal, until they are ready to leave. It might be that they are waiting for family or patient transport or for their take-home medication to be dispensed by the pharmacy. Ideally, we’d like to see around 50 patients coming through here each day. This can literally keep the hospital moving.”
“There is no ward in Morriston which cannot send patients to the discharge lounge,” added lead clinical site matron, Katie Morgan. “They can have one-to-one care here because it’s a smaller environment. Everything is taken care of.” You can get the biggest Swansea news stories straight to your inbox with our newsletter.
Read more: ‘My tonsillitis turned out to be cancer so I made a bucket list and I’m ticking them off’
Whilst it’s not an entirely new concept, the discharge lounge has been set-up as a permanent fixture next to the main hospital entrance and is already helping improve patient flow. Essentially, every bed that is freed up thanks to the discharge lounge is a bed that’s now available for someone waiting in A&E or in the back of an ambulance, hospital staff say.
Qualified nurses and healthcare support workers (also known as HCSWs) are ready to welcome and support patients in the lounge on Mondays to Fridays from 8am to 6pm, as soon as a patient’s take-home medication has been ordered.
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One of Wales’ largest hospitals has launched a new “discharge lounge” to help patients get any medication or services they need before they leave hospital – without them taking-up much needed beds. Morriston Hospital in Swansea says the discharge lounge is a patient’s “last stop” before they leave the hospital and works as a “check-out service” for the patients whilst freeing up beds for others to use.
The lounge allows patients to wait in comfort and with suitable care while take-home medication or transport is arranged, Swansea Bay NHS says, while making their ward bed available for other patients. The new lounge comes just a fortnight after hospital staff urged people to avoid the hospital’s A&E department unless they had “the most serious and life-threatening illnesses and injuries”.
Explaining the premise behind the discharge lounge, senior matron Rebecca Davies said: “If they can’t go straight home from the ward for whatever reason, they can wait safely with qualified staff, enjoying a cup of tea and a chat, maybe have a sandwich or a meal, until they are ready to leave. It might be that they are waiting for family or patient transport or for their take-home medication to be dispensed by the pharmacy. Ideally, we’d like to see around 50 patients coming through here each day. This can literally keep the hospital moving.”
“There is no ward in Morriston which cannot send patients to the discharge lounge,” added lead clinical site matron, Katie Morgan. “They can have one-to-one care here because it’s a smaller environment. Everything is taken care of.” You can get the biggest Swansea news stories straight to your inbox with our newsletter.
Read more: ‘My tonsillitis turned out to be cancer so I made a bucket list and I’m ticking them off’
Whilst it’s not an entirely new concept, the discharge lounge has been set-up as a permanent fixture next to the main hospital entrance and is already helping improve patient flow. Essentially, every bed that is freed up thanks to the discharge lounge is a bed that’s now available for someone waiting in A&E or in the back of an ambulance, hospital staff say.
Qualified nurses and healthcare support workers (also known as HCSWs) are ready to welcome and support patients in the lounge on Mondays to Fridays from 8am to 6pm, as soon as a patient’s take-home medication has been ordered.
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You can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.
