University Hospital Monklands recently hosted a visit to the hospital by the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care, Kevin Stewart.
Mr Stewart wanted to recognise the extraordinary efforts of front line hospital staff during the pandemic and hear about the pathways in place to support older people in hospital.
Mr Stewart met senior staff including our Chair, Neena Mahal, Graham Ellis, deputy chief medical officer and Karen Goudie, chief nurse.
The Minister was introduced to Dr Andrew Russell, consultant in accident and emergency, who is also part of the rapid emergency assessment care team (REACT). REACT was introduced as a new way of treating people when they present at the emergency department to improve the waiting time for the patient to be assessed and improve the patient experience.
Dr Russell spoke at length on the triage of frail adults who are admitted to accident and emergency and the work of the REACT unit to get frail adults transferred to the frailty unit from the emergency department as quickly as possible.
Mr Stewart was interested in learning more on the introduction of specialist nurses within the emergency department for frail adults who focussing on screening and access to a comprehensive geriatric assessment, and spoke to Dr Caroline McInnes, clinical lead for the geriatric department.
The last stop was to visit the Hospital at Home team to find out more about their work and how it links in to the pathway for older people with frailty.
To view a video message from Mr Stewart on his visit, visit:
Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/600908789
YouTube – https://youtu.be/I0b8AiHQvhk
