Pick Me Up project launched to free up beds in NHS Grampian hospitals
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BUSINESSES have been urged to play their part in freeing up hospital beds in the NHS Grampian area.
The health board has launched the Pick Me Up Project, which is aimed at improving patient flow in its hospitals.
It is asking businesses to commit to allowing flexibility to staff, where possible, to collect loved-ones and friends from hospital, when they are ready to go home.
Interim deputy chief officer acute services, Cameron Matthew said: “One issue facing the health board is getting those ready for discharge home.
“Currently we see a peak in discharges at around 6pm as patients, well enough to go home, are collected by friends and loved-ones following their work – whereas discharges should ideally be completed by noon.
“These delays impact NHS Grampian’s ability to admit acutely ill patients to the hospital, leading to waits and delays in its emergency department and in some instances delays for ambulances at the front door.
Acute director for nursing and midwifery, Jenny McNicol added: “Through the Pick Me Up Project, we are asking businesses and organisations to help us to get patients who are ready for discharge home from hospital more quickly, by allowing their employees to collect relatives or friends during the day.
“This will free-up bed space to help us treat more acutely ill patients, more quickly. Joe Bloggs collecting his mother at 10am rather than 6pm might well free-up space at the emergency department and an ambulance to potentially be available to support another lifesaving emergency later that day.”
Mr Matthew added: “This is the first scheme in the country like this, and, as well as asking businesses to sign-up, we’d ask members of the public to come and collect their loved-ones, as quickly as they can, once they are ready to be discharged.
“If businesses and the public get on board through this project and we are able to free up three extra beds a day, that’s almost 1100 each year; free up five or six a day and you’re at 2000 beds each year. The difference that would make to the every day running of the hospital and the pressure on staff can’t be under estimated.”
Mr Matthew said the health board is aware that many businesses are already very flexible on this issue.
“If businesses are able to be flexible to allow employees to take their lunch hour at a different time, take a hour lieu, or simply give an employee a hour off, to bring relatives or friends home it would be of immense benefit to NHS Grampian, its frontline workers and, ultimately, its patients.
“The cumulative impact, on our NHS locally, of businesses signing-up would be great and ultimately have the potential to save lives and let us treat more acutely ill patients more quickly.”
Added Ms McNicol: “We recognise that not all businesses will be able to accommodate all requests all of the time. Instead, businesses willing to sign-up to support the Pick Me Up Project are simply asked to do so wherever possible, to promote their support for the initiative to staff and encourage line managers to accommodate what will hopefully be a limited number of such requests from their teams.
“Any business or organisation large or small can pledge its support. It doesn’t matter if you have 5000, 500 or five staff, signing-up and being flexible where you can be will help us save lives.”
For more information or to sign-up get in touch with gram.communications@nhs.scot using the subject line “Pick Me Up Project”.
