Rochdale Infirmary shortlisted in Student Nursing Times 2019 Awards

Lynette Cook, activity coordinator on the Wolstenholme Intermediate Care Unit at Rochdale Infirmary, with patient

The Wolstenholme Intermediate Care Unit at Rochdale Infirmary has been shortlisted for a national award in the Student Nursing Times 2019 Awards.

The unit has been shortlisted in the ‘Student Placement of the Year: Community’ category and is up against six other healthcare providers, including other Trusts, a university, a hospice and a private healthcare provider.

Wolstenholme Intermediate Care Unit is a 24 single bedded purpose-built facility which allows patients from the Rochdale borough to receive enhanced nursing care and therapy care with medical cover tailored to their specific needs.

Patients can be referred to the unit via the Urgent Care Centre Team and Transfer of Care Team either from hospital or from their own homes.

An integrated therapy care plan supports the patient to achieve their goals and priorities, enabling them to gain or retain their independence. Social care staff work on the unit to enable a supported discharge home.  

Sister Jennie Curran, Interim Unit Manager, Wolstenholme Intermediate Care Centre at Rochdale Infirmary said: “I am so proud of the unit and all the staff for being nominated for such an award.

“The Wolstenholme unit is a great place to work, we have an amazing team spirit, with a caring ‘can do’ attitude, and it is fantastic that we have been recognised as a great place to study and learn about nursing.”

The Student Nursing Times Awards 2019 celebrate and support the achievements of the student nursing community. The awards final takes place on Friday 26 April 2019 at the Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London.

Wolstenholme Intermediate Care Unit is part of an ‘Intermediate Care Tier Service’, which launched in September 2015, and aims to reduce unnecessary admissions to hospital and ensure that people can leave hospital more quickly by making care more easily available in the community and people’s homes.

People can be referred to the service via local health and care professionals including local GPs, nursing and care homes, local hospitals and community health care providers. Treatment and care is provided either in the home, a community setting, or at one of two specially commissioned enhanced bed units – Tudor Court in Heywood and the Wolstenholme Unit at Rochdale Infirmary.

Providing support and care from GPs, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, social and support workers and pharmacy technicians, these units enable people to avoid hospital and access more intensive treatment closer to home, with the aim of reducing lengths of stay and enabling faster recovery and discharge. They can also be accessed by patients who have been treated in hospital but still require nursing or therapy to maintain rehabilitation or recovery.

The service is provided by a joint venture between Age UK Metro Rochdale (Age UK), BARDOC (Bury and Rochdale Doctors on Call), Big Life Group, GP Care Services Limited, The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (part of the Northern Care Alliance NHS Group), Pennine Care Foundation Trust and Rochdale Borough Council.