BRADFORD Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has set up a new telephone information line to provide basic details to relatives concerned about their loved ones, while they are in hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The telephone line is manned by clinical staff and is available seven days a week, from 9:30am to 5:30pm (including bank holidays). The number for relatives to call is: 01274 272747. The line is currently only taking calls for relatives of inpatients on Ward 4, 20, 31 and A&E.
Relatives are being asked to identify one family person to be a point of contact for sharing information within the family, who can ring the relatives’ line once a day for an update.
Dedicated line
Chief Nurse, Karen Dawber said: “We know that this is a very worrying time for families, who have a loved one in hospital so we have set up this dedicated line for them to speak to hospital staff and be able to get an update and reassurance about their relative.
“By using the line, they will be able to get a condition status on their relative, such as have they had a comfortable night, are pain free and so on. We can also give information, to patients who have been discharged or not admitted, on COVID-19 status such as their COVID-19 test if they have had a swab performed plus guidance if the test is positive.
“This dedicated line also means that our staff on the wards will be able to continue to care for patients without getting interrupted to answer telephone calls.
“We would like to take the opportunity to thank all of our community in the support they are showing BTHFT and the NHS at this time. Please remember that the best way to protect and keep everyone safe is to maintain social distancing and frequently washing hands.”
ENDS
For further media information, please contact communications@bthft.nhs.uk or call 01274 383901
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/