‘It’s more like being at home than in hospital’

The Aconbury wing at Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester, now standing empty, was used to help rehabilitate some of the most vulnerable people in the county. In its wards were stroke patients, the elderly who had suffered falls or were recovering from orthopaedic surgery such as hip replacements, those recovering from chest infections and long term recurrent illnesses and those with problems caused by diabetes. Some had dementia which only added to the challenges of providing care, compounding their physical frailty.

Alarm bells began to ring. Where would these people go? How would their families cope? It was all well and good for the top brass saying hospitals were not the best places for these patients to recover, but what was the alternative?

But, having seen the Timberdine Nursing and Rehabilitation Unit in Worcester’s Timberdine Close with my own eyes, spoken to its staff and its patients, I feel able to return a large measure of reassurance to an anxious and expectant public.

Set in leafy surroundings with its own courtyard gardens, the unit lacks the frenetic hustle and bustle of Worcester’s hospital, which can sometimes feels like it’s bursting at the seams. The wail of sirens, the loud diesel engines of the buses crawling sluggishly around the Royal’s one-way system, the visitors frantically trawling the car park for a space all helped to create an atmosphere of regimented mayhem.

Here at Timberdine the only sound is the occasional trilling of a bird or a ripple on the surface of the courtyard pond by one of the ornamental fish. The sound of traffic is reduced to a muffled and distant drone.

Once Timberdine is operating at its full capacity there will be five units, each opening via a lounge onto a garden.

The services at Aconbury will be replaced not only by the Timberdine unit but a hospital-athome service offering eight beds and 10 step-down beds at nursing homes before people are returned to their own homes. There will also be 30 “virtual beds” in people’s homes for those who need less intensive care.

Aconbury was scheduled to close on August 1 but the move was completed ahead of schedule.

Timberdine will provide 24-hour nursing care for 36 patients once it is at capacity at a cost of £2 million a year.

It is estimated that 625 people will come through the doors each year and each patient will stay an average of three weeks. The unit itself is staffed by four senior healthcare assistants, four sisters and eight staff nurses under Gill Pratt, the registered manager.

The money comes from NHS Worcestershire, the soon-to-be defunct primary care trust, but the work itself is carried out by Worcestershire County Council.

The two organisations have been enjoying closer links in this age of austerity which bosses hope will be better for the patient – sharing skills and knowledge about healthcare – but also more efficient, preventing the overlap and duplication which can prove to be an unnecessary drain on public resources.

Nisha Sankey, programme lead clinical development, said the aim of the project had been to create a halfway house or home from home where patients could recover more swiftly. She said: “The people here are not acutely ill. If they are, they need to be in the right place, which is an acute hospital. Part of the reason for wanting to provide this service away from the acute hospital is to focus on that.

Fundamentally, our strategy locally is to give people the best opportunity to recover and all the evidence suggests that is not in an acute [hospital] environment.”

The centre focuses on basic care for patients – being able to get to the toilet, managing such as own care, regaining skills like preparing meals and outdoor mobility.

The team consists of nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, speech and language therapists and a registered mental health nurse.

Some of the patients, as well as their physical problems, may suffer from dementia or be battling depression or anxiety after a diagnosis.

A GP comes every day of the week from the walk-in centre in Farrier Street in Worcester and a consultant geriatrician attends the unit six hours a week.

Coun Philip Gretton, cabinet member for adult social care, said: “If you can be rehabilitated in your own home that’s ideal. The last place you need to be is a hospital if you’re just needing rehabilitation.

This is why this sort of environment is perfect for people who can’t be at home but don’t need to be in hospital.”

Matron Julie Hooper said: “Patients are reacting very positively to the new environment.

I had a patient who had been in hospital four months, seriously ill and very disabled from her illness and could only walk four steps without having to sit down. Within a week she was walking the length of the unit.”

‘SOMETIMES THEY DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOU IN HOSPITAL’

A DISABLED man who spent five weeks in hospital feels more at home in a rehabilitation unit than on a ward.

Tony Fallan, aged 46, of Westlands, Droitwich, has only been in the unit two days but said he already felt better after he was admitted to recover from bed sores after spending five weeks at various wards at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Mr Fallan, who has been a paraplegic from the chest down for 30 years, said: “It’s fantastic – much better. It’s more like being at home than in a hospital and the nurses are more like family.

It’s wonderful to be able to go out into the garden and lovely to be able to look at the fish.

“In hospital I could spend hours in bed but here they get you up pretty quickly. Sometimes they don’t have time for you in hospital. I was extremely depressed in hospital. There was no end in sight. I feel much happier here.”

In the unit Mr Fallan has his own room rather than spending his time on a ward with up to 20 other people. He also has a television that he can watch free of charge. He says he would spend £50 a week for the privilege of watching TV in hospital. He says the unit is also more tranquil and he sleeps better at nights.

He said: “The rooms I have stayed at in hotels are not as good. I hope my stay here is putting me back on the road to recovery. The food here is also very good.”

Mr Fallan needs a high-protein diet which helps him recover from his bed sores more quickly.