A focus on Harvest View – reablement for patients PRIMARY

CARE, COMMUNITY AND THERAPIES

It’s Sandwell’s newest flagship social care and health facility which is already proving to be delivering successful support to patients.

Offering specialist help from both Sandwell Council and our NHS staff –thanks to a partnership between the two organisations – residents arriving at the venue in Rowley Regis can expect focused care to help them get back up on their feet and build their confidence.

Patient Annette McDonald, aged 63, arrived at the reablement centre two weeks after having a hip operation following a fall at home and praised her experience.

“I’ve had so much help and support since I’ve been here,” she explained. “I cannot fault it. The carers have been assisting with my exercises and building my confidence so that I’ll be back on my feet and able to return home.

“These regular exercise sessions are really helping. The nursing staff have also been providing excellent care – nothing is too much trouble for them and they’re very quick to respond. I’ve been made to feel very welcome and at home.”

Annette added: “The facilities here are excellent, from the food cooked by the chef to the comfortable communal area where I’ll sit and chat to the other residents.

“It’s nice to have some company.” All residents wear watch alarms so they can buzz for any assistance should they need it. On hand to help are carers and senior carers, like Andrea Eddy, Shelley Ann Hurd and Rita Green (pictured) who are employed by Sandwell Council.

Julie Hunter and Emma Bytheway are both assistant managers, again council employees.

“The facilities here are excellent,” said Emma, who previously worked in a private care home setting. “I haven’t seen anything like this before and the patients who are coming through are very happy with the care they receive and their surroundings.”

It’s no wonder they are happy – each patient is placed in a room with an ensuite and have access to lovely outdoor spaces on the ground floor.

They can relax in bright lounge areas with cosy seating and views over the Rowley hills. And they can even tuck into delicious meals freshly prepared by an onsite chef.

The focus is on maintaining and improving independent living rather than specifically treating the medical condition. However, each of the two floors, which house 32 rooms, has a ward manager and two nurses to tend to any health needs a patient may have.

Beth Hill, ward manager, added: “This facility is about getting patients home safely with the right package of care. They may have come to us from hospital as a ‘step down’ or from the community as a ‘step up’ referred by iCARES.

We’ve had patients of all ages, from their 20s right through to their late 90s.”

Councillor Suzanne Hartwell, Sandwell Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults, Social Care and Health, said: “This is such an innovative and collaborative project. Harvest View is a magnificent building. For Sandwell residents who will be using this facility, for their families and for the staff who will be working there, this is an amazing personcentred place.

“Harvest View offers residents choice and control over their care and also promotes independence, helping us with our ambition for Sandwell people to live well and age well.”