New homes for Wrexham's Critical Care and Respiratory teams
A modern new Critical Care Unit is now available for the most poorliest patients at Wrexham Maelor Hospital.
The Respiratory team have also moved to an area adjacent to the Critical Care team, and will now be able to support their acutely unwell patients in a safer environment.
Towards the end of October, the Critical Care team moved into their new spacious unit that will provide a better environment for patients who are seriously ill, and who require intensive treatment and close monitoring.
Dr Andy Campbell, Consultant in Critical Care at Wrexham Maelor Hospital, says the new unit will provide them with the facilities they need for the future.
He said: “We are delighted to have moved into our new unit and I’d like to thank the teams who were all involved in getting us to this point.
“It is not an easy process moving a Critical Care Unit, particularly during a pandemic, a lot of hard work has gone into this during a short space of time, and that is due to the hard work put in by all involved at the hospital.
“Our new unit will service us well during the COVID period and into the future.”
Consultant Anaesthetist, Dr Chris Littler, who has worked in Critical Care for over 20 years at the hospital, added: “I’ve just stood down from Critical Care practice, so it is fitting that the old unit is closing as I leave and the team move onto the new unit.
“This is a far more state of the art unit than our previous facility, for me it’s the end of an era but I wish the Critical Care team all the best.”
The new unit includes larger patient bays and a nursing station in each area so that patients can be closely monitored.
The team will also benefit from a larger staff room and offices.
Charge Nurse, Stuart Tasker, who has worked in the Critical Care Unit for 25 years, said: “This is a much bigger unit than what we have been use to – and we will continue to have two separate areas within the unit for those patients who need treatment for COVID-19 and also our non-COVID patients.
“It’s also a lot brighter which creates a much better environment, not only for our staff, but also the patients.
“We are all pleased to be moving into a new unit and the staff have really gone above and beyond in ensuring we moved in on time and even came in on their days off to help – everyone pulled together to make sure we could move in on time, it was great team work.”
Repiratory Consultant, Dr Liz Brohan, says their new unit will provide a better environment to support their regional Non-invasive Ventilation (NIV) service.
She said: “This is a fabulous development for the respiratory team here at Wrexham. We will be able to support acutely ill patients who are diagnosed with COVID or other respiratory illness throughout the winter in a much safer environment.
“Being adjacent to the Critical Care Unit means we can share skills and equipment and improve the training and experience of the staff of both units.
“We will be able to assess and transfer patients who need escalation to critical care more quickly and safely and to respond jointly and more efficiently to any surge in demand during the COVID pandemic.
“In the longer term it provides an environment to better support our regional domiciliary NIV service. We can now provide specialist care for this group in an area where staff have the skills they need to care for them.
“It will enable us to transfer patients who need the care of the NIV team, from nearby hospitals in Wales and England, care homes or their own homes to a specialist unit where they can be assessed and treated. This will reduce length of stay and improve quality of care the patients we treat.”