Visit Western Community Hospital

Good evening everybody!

This was a very interesting, exciting and diversified day! In the morning we went to the Western Community Hospital by bus where we met Sheila Brook and Ellen McNicholas who is the Unscheduled Care Service Manager of the Hospital.

First of all Mrs. Brook gave us a brief insight in the 3 major working parts which the Southampton City Primary Care Trust (SCPCT) concentrates on.

1) Provider Services
Adult and Elderly Care
Child and Familiy Services
Primary Care
Community Hospitals
First Response
Public Health promotion


2) Commissioned Services
From Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust(SUHT) - acute, secondary and tertiary services
From Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust (HPT) - mental health services
From other organisations and independendent sector

3) Corporate Services
Finance, Business Planning, IT, Quality,...

We also discussed general issues like obesity and teenage pregnancy in whole Britain and what the government attempts to get those problems under control. For example within education at schools.



After a short break Ellen McNicholas gave a very interesting and informative speach to our group. The main points she presented to us were:

1)NHS Walk-in Centres

NHS Walk-in Centres are the classic example for what the NHS does to change the situation in the country.
The NHS Walk-in Centres offer healthcare advice, information and treatment from specially-trained nurses 365 days a year, with no appointment necessary. They can offer:

- treatment for minor injuries and illnesses
- minor infections and rashes
- superficial cuts and bruises
- strains and sprains
- stomach upsets
- coughs, colds and flu-like symptoms
- ... and much more.

A NHS Walk-in Centre has about 3,500 clients a month. In Southampton there are 3 of them: The Southampton (Central) NHS Walk-in Centre, the Shirley Walk-in Centre and the Bitterne Walk-in Centre.

In the NHS Walk-in Centres there are no docotors - there are 3 specially trained nurses, one health care supporter and one receptionist.

2)Out of Hours Service

With this service the NHS is able to cover 780,000 people with health service outside their General Practicener's surgery opening times. When somebody is calling this service he will be asked about his\her problem. After answering some questions a decision will be taken: Maybe no health service is necessary at the time and the patient can wait until his\her Gerneral Practicioner is available or the patient will come to a meeting-point to see the doctor or if it's essential the GP comes at the patient's home.
All in all 26 % of the phone calls end up with an home visit of the doctor, which is a really high rate.

3)Rapid Response Team

This is a team existing of 44 people who provide a very important service.

"A swift response to the prevention and management of health and social care crises by providing short-term, intensive, frequent support treatment and care in collaboration with existing services." (Southampton City PCT, 2007)

For example: They try to keep people at home so they don't have to go to hospital or that they can go home from hospital as soon as possible. Sometimes there is only the support from the family missing and then the Rapid Response Team fill in for so.

They are not just providing short-term solutions for the people but also long-term solutions.

The Rapid Response Team is working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. It is composed of nurses, social workers, physiotherapists and doctors.

After that very interesting insight in those topics we had a tour through Western Community Hospital.