DRIVE-THROUGH services for cardiac patients needing to pick up test devices have become the ‘new normal’ at St Luke’s Hospital, part of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Staff set up the innovative clinic for people who needed their heartbeats or breathing assessed at the height of the pandemic in a bid to reduce the risk to these vulnerable patients attending the hospital.
Now, a portable cabin has been installed at the entrance to the Horton Wing at St Luke’s because the service has become so popular with patients.
Clinical Scientist, Joanne Ashton, said: “By allowing patients who’ve been referred for these tests to pick up their devices outside the hospital, we are reducing the risk of infection to vulnerable patients.
“We have worked really hard to create an appropriate inside so that people who have to attend hospital for heart scans or complex breathing tests are seen in a safe environment.
“By having the drive-through service for other patients outside the hospital, it means we can reduce the number of people walking through the hospital by up to 60 people per day.
Safety
“Everyone can be reassured that if we have to ask them to attend for a heart test, that it will be done with their absolute safety in mind.
“Unfortunately we have some patients who aren’t attending appointments and we’d like to reiterate that no-one should be scared to come to hospital and we are making services as safe as possible for them.”
The drive-through service is able to offer appointments between 9am-11.30am and 1pm-4pm, Monday to Friday, and can be flexible to suit patients’ needs. With the patient’s permission, a friend or a relative can also pick up the equipment subject to certain identification checks.
The team provides the service for various tests including monitors to assess sleep patterns and heart rhythms.
Associate Practitioner for Cardiology, Tracey Barker, added: “Since our launch during the pandemic, hundreds of patients have received heart and sleep monitor devices.
“The new drive-through appointments are really popular with patients as they are faster and more efficient, and patients don’t have to find a free space in the car park. Patients can literally drive up to the window, confirm their details, and then a colleague will explain how the monitor works and hand it over then off they go”.
“The drive-through clinic will be available to patients for as long as it is needed to keep them, and our staff safe during the pandemic.”
ENDS
For further media information, please contact communications@bthft.nhs.uk or call 01274 364700.
Note to Editors:
- Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust:
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is responsible for providing hospital services for the people of Bradford and communities across Yorkshire. We serve a core population of around 500,000 and provide specialist services for 1.1 million people.
Our 5,500 staff work over several sites, including Bradford Royal Infirmary, which provides the majority of inpatient services, and St Luke’s Hospital, which predominantly provides outpatient and rehabilitation services. We also manage local community hospitals at Westwood Park, Westbourne Green, and Eccleshill.
In early 2017, a new £28 million wing opened at Bradford Royal Infirmary, part of a £75m investment to improve patient care across our hospitals over a five-year period. It provides world-class facilities for elderly care, children’s services, a state-of-the-art intensive care unit with increased single-room provision and a retail concourse.
The new wing is a continuation of our work to improve patient experience after our new £2 million neonatal unit officially opened in January 2015. Our maternity services were recently shortlisted for the Royal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Midwifery Service of the Year Award, recognising excellence and innovation in the provision of maternity care.
In 2017, we also completed a £2m refurbishment of our Emergency Department (ED) as part of an ambitious vision to create a more efficient acute medicine service for the people of Bradford. It has been designed to provide a slicker and more efficient service, with faster senior clinical involvement at an early stage in the patient pathway.
As a teaching hospital, we are at the forefront of education and development in healthcare, and have an excellent reputation for research performance. We are one of the leading centres in conducting applied research in the country, particularly in quality and safety, elderly care and rehabilitation.
The Trust is home to the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) where researchers have led the development, validation and implementation of the award-winning Bradford Electronic Frailty Index (eFI) which helps calculate an elderly person’s risk of disability, impairment, falls and complications of chronic diseases, as well as their diminishing independence and capability. This is now being used by 98% of all GPs across the country.
Our award-winning Ophthalmology department is home to numerous worldwide clinical trials taking the lead in eye care research and we are one of only three sites in the United Kingdom to be enlisted in the Perioperative Enhanced Recovery Hip Fracture Care of Patients with Dementia (PERFECTED) study, which will investigate how the NHS can introduce better standards of care to improve outcomes for people with dementia.
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The Trust has its own Bradford Hospitals Charity: https://bradfordhospitalscharity.org/