Melanie Hornett: Be patient and we'll reap the rewards of NHS pilot

Published on Monday 4 July 2011 13:12

Far from being "nursing on the cheap", creating the new role of healthcare technician will improve patient care, says Melanie Hornett

Safe, effective, patient-centred care is at the heart of our approach to providing healthcare for the people of Lothian - and the development of the new healthcare technician role is a perfect example of this in action.

I was pleased to read that 56 per cent of people who responded to Thursday's Evening News opinion poll could see that there would be benefits from introducing this role, as I am confident that the pilot project will have a positive impact on the outcomes for patients.

In my own years of nursing I have seen significant change in the way care is delivered, and we need to continue to evolve if we are to meet the needs of the changing demographics within Lothian, particularly our ageing population.

This pilot demonstrates our innovative approach to providing healthcare and our commitment to being world-class. It reflects the need, given the current financial climate, to find smarter ways of working while continuing to provide high-quality care.

The process to develop the healthcare technician role started some time ago, and this has all been achieved in collaboration with the trades unions and professional organisations, which are fully supportive of the pilot.

We selected our care of the elderly service for the pilot as we believe this area will benefit most from the skills, care and commitment of these staff. Three of our wards volunteered to take part - one at St John's, one at the Royal Victoria Hospital and one in our new Midlothian Community Hospital, which opened last year.

The pilot launched in May and training for staff who volunteered and the development of the mentoring programme is under way.

Given the existing workloads and clinical duties of our registered nurses and allied health professionals (physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, etc) the project should allow these staff to have more quality time with individual patients. Under the instruction of these registered staff, our healthcare technicians will be able to assist patients and carry out essential clinical and social aspects of care.

The role builds and expands on the current clinical support worker post, providing these staff with career development opportunities and resulting in a more flexible, sustainable workforce.

Our nurses and allied health professionals are highly skilled and I would like to reassure readers that the creation of this additional role is about supporting them in providing the best possible care for all our patients.

I'm delighted by the tremendous response from staff on the wards, and I am confident that patients and families will be able to see the difference this support makes.

You may be wondering what this actually means for patients. Let me give you an example. A patient who has suffered a stroke may need help to learn how to dress themselves again. One of our dedicated occupational therapy team will spend time assessing their needs and helping the patient initially. It will then be the healthcare technician's role to provide continuing support on a daily basis. This will have a positive impact on the time it takes for the patient to respond and improve, resulting in an earlier discharge from hospital and a greater independence in daily living once at home.

As with any project within NHS Lothian, we have a robust evaluation process in partnership with the trades unions and professional organisations. Eddie Egan, NHS Lothian's employee director, and I are personally leading this.

We are monitoring the pilot to assess the viability of the role and its impact on the reduction of incidents such as falls, patients' length of stay and their recovery.

NHS Lothian's healthcare technician pilot will run until May next year. The outcomes of the pilot will be fully assessed before any decision is made to extend the role to other areas.

&#149 Melanie Hornett is nurse director at NHS Lothian

1000 STAFF GONE

THIS is one of many schemes NHS Lothian has launched to make its workforce more efficient.

Already nearly 1000 staff have left their posts as part of cost-cutting measures since last year.

That equates to more than 700 full-time positions, although bosses have managed to avoid compulsory redundancies.

A similar number will have to depart over the next year to meet targets set down by the Scottish Government.

Moves have also been made to target sickness absence.

A total of 288 of the worst offenders were targeted after records were examined, in partnership with the unions. That led to some being sacked, with others being handed final warnings or given medical support.