Staff at Rochdale’s Clinical Assessment Unit celebrate first year

Staff at Rochdale's Clinical Assessment Unit celebrate first year‏

More than 5,000 patients have been treated at Rochdale Infirmary’s Clinical Assessment Unit since it opened last April.

To help celebrate the first year in operation, the unit, along with staff from the Urgent Care Centre (UCC) held a first anniversary event.

The 12-bed short stay unit provides rapid patient assessment and treats Rochdale borough patients who are referred directly from their local GP, from the community or the Urgent Care Centre.

Sister Lou Harkness-Hudson, nurse in charge of the Clinical Assessment Unit said: “The CAU is the only one of its kind and it has proved very successful because everyone in the team has had a hand in making it so. We are very proud of what we have achieved in our first year and are constantly thinking of ways to improve the service. The standards we have adopted to maintain our success are simple, we treat everyone with dignity and respect, care and compassion, knowledge and expediency, good manners and a smile.

“We have had some excellent feedback from patients, visitors and relatives and have to date seen and treated over 5000 patients. We want to maintain the continued support that we receive from the public and help them to move on from the old Rochdale Infirmary and welcome and embrace the new.

”We have just set up a direct referral pathway for the heart specialist nurse and The Royal Oldham Hospital’s A&E department to refer patients to us via the triage line, and have extended the service to receive patients from the day surgery, eye ward, endoscopy and community matrons departments.”

Simon Roberts from Castleton was referred to the unit by his GP. Undergoing tests to check if he had Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), Mr Roberts was impressed by the CAU and the care of staff on the ward. He said: “I’ve been to the unit a couple of times now. I think that it is brilliant. The staff make you feel very welcome and they ensure that you are as comfortable as possible whilst you wait to get your results. They offer a whole package of care and treat you as an individual.

“It’s great that this service is offered at Rochdale Infirmary by a very good team. They work well together and communicate exactly what is going on. This really builds your confidence as you know that you are being dealt with by a team of professionals.”

Ninety-three-year-old Edith Bradbury from Delph was admitted to the unit for two days following a fall at home. Excited at the prospect of the ward celebrating its first birthday, Edith said: “All the staff are hard workers. They work together and nothing is too much trouble for them. Everything from the clean ward, to the staff, to the meals, are very nice and I couldn’t wish for anything more.”