READY TO GO

New Discharge Scheme Helps Get Patients Home Safely

A new personalised scheme to help people leave hospital quickly and get settled at home is proving popular with patients ready to be discharged from Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth.

Patients who are ready to leave the hospital in Cosham but need extra support when they get home, can now use a Driving Miss Daisy service funded by Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.

On-call drivers from the scheme pick up patients as soon as they are ready, taking them home via an adapted vehicle for wheelchairs. The driver settles the patient at home, ensuring there are essential supplies such as hot drinks, food, medications and specialist equipment.

Since its launch in mid-October last year, the Driving Miss Daisy service has so far helped Queen Alexandra Hospital prevent over 34 delayed discharges - where a patient is ready in the evening, but no ambulance service is available - and 15 failed discharges - where a patient is sent home but has to be re-admitted back to the hospital, as the driver doesn’t think the home environment is safe or ready for the patient.

92 year old Alicia, pictured on the right, was admitted to Queen Alexandra Hospital on Boxing Day after suffering from flu. She was in hospital for over two weeks and after recovering was discharged home using the Driving Miss Daisy scheme.

Alicia, from Stubbington, says the service is essential for people like her:

“My husband is at home but is deaf and unable to pick me up. This service helps me to not only get home but get me settled such as making me a hot drink and sorting out any food or medications. The people are lovely.”

The scheme is part of a number of initiatives the Trust is running to help patients recover better and more quickly in their own home. We know the longer patients stay in hospital, the greater risk of deconditioning*.

Portsmouth Hospitals Charity has funded the Settling at Home project, a service provided by the Red Cross to help patients at home after discharge. The service transports patients from hospital and offers practical support to prevent re-admission such as shopping, welfare checks and support to re-build a person’s confidence.

Cathy Lake, Deputy Divisional Nurse Director at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, said: “We’ve found a huge benefit to working alongside Driving Miss Daisy. They have specially adapted vehicles, so the patients can go home in wheelchairs. It’s really reassuring for us to have our patients going home and know that the companion drivers will settle them in, make them a cup of tea and make sure they are well before they are left.”

Melissa Mabbett, Senior Matron at the Trust, added: “We have seen a real benefit from using Driving Miss Daisy in the transportation of our patients to their homes or onward facilities. We can plan the journeys in advance and allocate timings to best suit the ward, the patient and the patients’ families. We even have the ability to call Driving Miss Daisy at very short notice.

For more details on how to support patients to leave hospital when they are ready to be discharged, visit: Ready To Go (porthosp.nhs.uk)

TIPS TO HELP YOU LEAVE HOSPITAL WHEN YOU’RE READY

On admission, give the nursing staff contact details of any services which your loved one will need to have rearranged before discharge, for example, carers.

Arrange transport home from hospital

Make sure they have their medication and dressings, if applicable, before leaving the hospital.

Ask about outpatient appointments if relevant, making sure they know where they need to go, for example, a hospital or GP surgery. They will also need to know if they need to make the appointment.

Ask for a copy of their discharge letter.

Take clothes and shoes to the hospital.

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April was Stress Awareness Month and while stress is unavoidable for the vast majority of us, there are many ways to help reduce and manage it.

Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust’s Mental Health Nurse Liz Varughese shares some top tips for helping to reduce stress in your life.

The World Health Organisation defines stress as the epidemic of the 21st century. Stress has been identified to have long term devastating effects on health and can lead to type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and anxiety to name a few. While stress itself is not an illness, it can lead to physical and mental health issues if not addressed. To lead a healthy life, we need to find support networks and coping strategies to manage our stressors.

So what is stress? To answer that we need to dig a bit deeper. There are many models that explain stress. The one that is very practical and the most simple to

Personally, I am huge fan of ‘Eustress’. Eustress is a positive form of stress which has a beneficial effect on health, motivation and emotional wellbeing. It’s a driving force that encourages us to achieve and thrive. Physiologically speaking, Eustress releases feel good hormones called endorphins in our body.

‘Distress’ is the stress that negatively affects you, causing physical and mental harm. It negatively impacts our social life, finances, professional life and most importantly our relationships. Rachel Johnson, Occupational Health Manager at the Trust, said: “Remember it is not your fault, and you are not responsible for the things that happen around you.”

I think this was true for me. I am a nurse by profession and have been trained to work in environments that normally generate stress and when I would reflect on how my shift had been, I would beat up myself mentally for everything that I could have done better. We all end up doing the same. Maybe we need to be kind to ourselves if we ever plan to manage stress in our lives.

As humans we are focused on achieving more and more. We keep an eye out on what could be our next project where we can shine and thrive even before our current projects are coming to an end. We sometimes forget to pause and appreciate what we have achieved so far.

Our daily life consumes a lot of energy, it basically drains us, and we seldom recognise it. Signs like lack of sleep, loss of concentration, being angry, irritable, impatient or wound up, a sense of being over-burdened or overwhelmed are forsaken most of the time. We jump into a new job, new book, new project or basically a new day without recharging.

Self-care is not an act of selfishness, rather it plays a vital role in replenishing your very being. It enables you to take care of other aspects of your life. Fri Fon, Mental Health Nurse at the Trust, tries to practice what she preaches by focusing on self-care and selfawareness which are essential in the journey of life.

1. TAKE SOME DAILY ME TIME

Spare some time alone in the 24 hours of your day. Make sure you do things that make you happy. Daily Me Times are like small doses of heaven that you can enjoy every single day. This could be reading a book, going for a walk or simply relaxing with a hot drink.

2. ENJOY DELAYED GRATIFICATION

Choose a new hobby, sport or learning a new language. This would allow you to enjoy patience as you go along discovering new things and learning new skills.

3. DISCONNECT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA

Limiting the time spent on social media is proven to reduce stress and anxiety level. I liken this to imagining you are reducing the time you spend admiring your neighbour’s garden and in return spend some time to appreciate your own garden and make this greener.

4. DO SOME PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Focusing on your overall wellbeing by including some form of exercise as part of your daily schedule makes it more achievable and helpful in keeping stress at bay.

A beautiful line that stuck with me by Selina Graham, a Practice Nurse at Queen Alexandra Hospital, with whom I have the pleasure to work every day, was “To step back for five minutes when it becomes overwhelming and to take bite size portions when solving a problem.”

On a very practical note, a fellow colleague at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Joanne, advises: “I feel it is important to identify aspects of your life such as hobbies and friends that help you relax in order to relieve stress. Sometimes the more difficult part of stress management is recognising you are stressed and addressing it in time. I always advise people I talk to that there are services out there who can help if you are feeling particularly overwhelmed.”

I believe after reading this it is an uphill climb to master stress in one’s life but not an impossible one. There is a lot of help available where we could access professional help.

For more advice on dealing with stress, visit: www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/feelings-and-symptoms/stress