University Hospital Hairmyres recently welcomed our Director of Acute and a Non-Executive Board member for its latest walkround.
Arwel Williams was the lead for the visit, accompanied by Director of Hospital Services Stuart Gaw, giving non-exec Phillip Couser the chance to see three different departments of the East Kilbride hospital at close quarters.
Phillip’s visit began in the boardroom, when he attended the morning site safety huddle and daily debrief, led by Chief Nurse Lise Axford. Here, he learned how things had been in the various hospital departments over the previous 24 hours, including the number of patients who had arrived, and those who were discharged, as well as hearing each team’s reports.
Following this, he was taken to the emergency department and emergency assessment unit. Here, he was shown the ambulance entrance and the process of how patients are admitted was demonstrated, and some imminent changes to how the system currently operates were also explained.
After posing some questions, the group moved to ophthalmology outpatient department, where they were welcomed by service manager Al Myers, Jamie Masson, and Senior Charge Nurse Lindsay Galbraith.
The team explained how they see around 1,000 patients per week, and how their numbers compared favourably with other neighbouring health boards which have larger teams.
They also spoke about the challenges they face when recruiting staff, and facing competition from other boards, as well as how Hairmyres is the leading centre for ophthalmology in Lanarkshire.
The final visit of the tour saw a visit to medical records, where Lorraine Taggart, Deputy Director Digital & Information, with staff Kristoffer Goldie, Michelle Drever and Yvonne Tennant, gave an overview of health record services, including scanning, ophthalmology clinic preparation and legal services.
They explained about their work on digitising medical records, and the challenges they face. They said that they try to have a 24-hour turnaround on their records work, and discussed how AI could possibly help in the future.
After this, the group had a short walk to see the physical records store of older paperwork, which includes medical records and notes from the former Bellshill Maternity, Law Hospital and Hartwood Hospitals.
Returning to the boardroom to discuss his visit, Phil said: “I was delighted by my visit to University Hospital Hairmyres, having the chance to meet staff, and see the different departments. The staff all spoke passionately about their work, and their desire for improvement was loud and clear.
“I was particularly interested to see the data and digital use, which was really good. It’s important to me to have a seamless transfer in the sharing of information.
“I found this visit to be very valuable. When you’re no longer working in the system, to have the opportunity to wander around and hear the issues which are affecting staff. I’m sure a lot of the issues I’ve picked up will be fed back during Board meetings.”
