While everyone at Kingston Hospital is proud that the quality of care is currently rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, there is always more that we can be doing to ensure all our patients receive the best care possible. At the moment, we need your help to raise the monies needed for the following:
Working with our Patient Experience & Involvement team, we are committed to being able to ensure appropriate forms of entertainment are available to patients who are unable to access their own. These are often our most vulnerable patients. Offering different entertainment options will help people-in-need to cope in hospital and to remain calm by moving their focus away from immediate concerns which may be pain, fear and/or loneliness. We need your help to purchase six TVs on wheels for communal use within side rooms or bays, 15 radios for patients who need an audio experience with headphones and 40 book readers offering a variety of content.
Funding is being sought to purchase bathroom falls alarms and stealth falls mats to add to the other preventative measures that our colleagues have already put in place to mitigate the risks and reduce the number of falls while in hospital. Recent data indicates about 13% of falls occur whilst in the toilet, or coming out of it, without calling or waiting for assistance, while approximately 33% are from the bed or chair.
By acquiring bathroom falls alarms and stealth mats for the beds and chairs, staff will be alerted when the patient moves so that they can provide assistance to those most at risk. By doing so, we can further mitigate the risks of our elderly and frail patients from taking a fall, as no one wants to be in hospital any longer than is necessary.
We would like to purchase 130 bathroom falls alarms and 74 stealth falls mats for the adult inpatient wards and emergency department at a cost of £20,000. Each bathroom alarms costs £70 while a stealth chair mat costs £130 and a stealth bed mat £160.
With the support of our community, we have been able to improve the quality of experience for some of our patients who benefit from being cared for in one of the side rooms on our surgical and care of the elderly wards. These are often patients who have advanced dementia or who are dying.
The aim is to use the senses of sight, smell and sound to create a calming natural sanctuary, which is far removed from the clinical hospital environment. Each room is to incorporate softer lighting and a skylight above each bed. They will also include artwork to create a more homely feel, along with a notice board so that patients or family members can place pictures and cards on the wall which are special to the patient. These rooms would also incorporate more comfortable furniture and an aroma diffuser, as well as a Bluetooth speaker, so that patients and their loved ones can listen to something that is special to them.
We are now focused on enhancing the environment and quality of experience on the six side rooms on our orthopaedic ward. The cost of incorporating these features into each room equates to approximately £3,000.
If you would like to support one of these projects, please use the pink ‘Donate’ button at the top of the page. Remember to include the name of the project you would like your gift to be directed towards in the comment box. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Tracey Shaw on:
