Welcome to Botolphs Ward (Acute Stroke Unit)

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What is this information about?

This information is about Botolphs Ward in Worthing Hospital.  

Botolphs Ward is a specialist Stroke Unit (stroke ward) with 28 beds. The staff are expert in caring for people who have had a stroke.  

We treat people with stroke and provide rehabilitation (rehab).  

This information tells you about:

• the things that we ask your visitors to do, or not do. These help to make sure that the ward is a place where you can be cared for and recover as well as possible. 
• how we aim to give you the best care that we can (our vision for your care)
• what will happen when you are on the ward
• who will be caring for you on the ward
• what rehabilitation (rehab) is and what rehab you might have
• how long you may be in hospital
• what further treatment and support you may have and where you may go after you leave hospital (you are discharged).
• who you can contact for further information and support.

Why have I been given this information?

You (or your relatives or carers) have been given this information because you are in Botolphs Ward for treatment and rehabilitation.

Reading this information will help you to know what to expect from your stay in Botolphs and will answer many of the questions that you may have.

Visiting the Stroke Unit

Information for visitors

To:

• help patients to recover as well and as quickly as possible
• enable our team to care for patients in the best way

please follow these guidelines for visiting the Acute Stroke Unit:

• Visitors are welcome between 10:00am and 8:00pm with a maximum of 2 visitors at the same time for each patient. 
• If you need to make different arrangements for visiting do discuss this with the nurse in charge or ward manager before your visit.

When you are visiting please do:

• tell us which one person should be our first point of contact. We will give them information to pass on to other members of the family and loved ones.
• bring these things for your relative or loved one to use while they are in hospital:
  •  toiletries (including shaving things)
  •  day and night clothes
  •  and comfortable, well-fitting shoes or trainers and slippers.
• tell us if you bring any other things into hospital for your relative or loved one or take any things away. This is so we can keep the property list up to date.
• use the Visitors Room at the entrance to the ward if you would like to.

Please do not:

• visit between 5:30pm to 6:30 pm. The unit has a ‘protected mealtime’. It is important that people who have had a stroke eat well to help them to recover as well and as fast as possible. Protected mealtimes help them to do this. Please avoid visiting for this hour unless you are helping with meals or have a carer’s passport.
• sit on patients’ beds or wheelchairs. Use the blue visitors’ chairs only.   
• use the patients’ toilets.
• visit if you feel unwell or have any symptoms of covid or other infections. This could be dangerous to your loved one and other patients.

Our Vision

How do you aim to care for people who are staying in the Stroke Ward (Acute Stroke Unit)?

Staff on the Stroke Ward recognise that each patient is a unique individual with complex needs.

Our aim is to create a warm, friendly environment in which to support, respect and care for all patients, colleagues, and visitors.

The whole team of professionals who will be looking after you are committed to providing the best treatment and care to you during your stay on the stroke unit.

The team will do their best to make sure that we tell you everything about your condition. This includes speaking with you about the treatments and investigations (such as blood tests or scans) that you have. We will also tell you how your treatment and recovery are going.

What should I do if I have any questions or concerns about my condition or my care?

The whole team including doctors, nurses and therapists are skilled and able to answer your questions. Please ask them and they will be happy to answer any questions that you or your relatives or loved ones have and to respond to any concerns.

If you have any questions it can help to write them down (or ask someone to do it for you). Do this when you think of them so that you remember to ask them.

If you feel you need further information, our Consultants are happy to speak with you or your family members. Please ask the nurse in charge or ward doctor if you would like to speak with a Consultant.

What should I do if I am unhappy with any part of my care?

• Do discuss this with the Ward Sister or Deputy Sisters as soon as possible. 

Ward Sister: Amanda Collingwood-prince.

Deputy Sisters: Melissa Pre, Gemma Catibog, May Panelo, Christos Ballas, Michelle Reyes and Frances Edwards.

Who are the Consultants on the ward?

Our Consultants are Dr Patel and Dr Sengupta.

Who else might I see on the Ward?

Physician Associate (Medically trained to help with your care): Elz Deane

Senior Stroke Nurse: Carol Simmons

What happens while I am on the Stroke Ward?

• You will receive specialist medical, nursing and therapy care for your stroke and for any other medical problems you have. This will help you to:
  • become medically stable (your condition is under control and not getting any worse)
  • reach your full potential (as far as possible you are able to do the things that you did before you had your stroke and achieve your goals for your life after your stroke)
  • avoid secondary complications (conditions that you might get because you have had a stroke and are in hospital).
• While you are on the unit you may have further investigations, such as brain scans or cardiac (heart) tests.
• A goal-setting meeting is usually held with you, your family or both as soon as possible after you come into hospital if it is right for you. This helps to make sure that you and your therapists understand and have agreed on what you will be working on. It also helps the team to see how well you are recovering.
• We will give you lots of information. We will give you some of this information when we are speaking with you (take notes if it helps) and you will also get things including:
  • Stroke Association booklets
  • therapy exercise sheets
  • goal-setting sheets.

Who will be looking after me?

You will be looked after by a large team of people. This includes:

• Consultants 
• Doctors 
• Nurses 
• Healthcare assistants (HCAs) 
• Physiotherapists (Physios) 
• Occupational Therapists (OTs) 
• Speech and Language Therapists (SALT) 
• Dietitians 
• Discharge coordinators 
• Social Workers

Together they make up the ‘multidisciplinary team’ (MDT) which will care for you. Each specialist in the team is dedicated and experienced in caring for people who have had a stroke. They all have special skills in different areas of your care.

What do the different members of the MDT do to care for me?

Nursing Staff:

• will make sure that you are always as comfortable as possible
• help you with washing and dressing, if you need help
• give you emotional, psychological, and physical support. Talk to them if, for example, you are worried, sad or depressed.
• help you with your continence needs. For example, it may not be easy for you to get to the toilet. Nurses will work out the best alternative for you and create retraining programmes if you need them.
• help you with eating and drinking. If you are not able to eat and drink in the same way as you did before your stroke, they will help to make sure that you get enough nutrition and fluid.
• attend to all your nursing and medical needs, both in the acute phase (soon after you have had your stroke) and when you are recovering and having rehabilitation
• help you to reach your rehabilitation goals
• help you to take your medicines. 

Physiotherapists:

• check what problems with your body (including your brain) you have and what you are able to do after you have had a stroke
• offer you treatment to strengthen weakened muscles and to improve your posture and movement
• give you exercises to improve your balance and mobility (how you are able to walk or move your body)
• work with you to help you reach your rehabilitation goals.

Occupational Therapists (OTs):

• check how well you can think and do things. They will do this by watching how you do things and by asking you questions.
• check how well you are able to do everyday things such as getting washed and dressed or making a hot drink
• work with you to understand any difficulties you may be having with your daily activities. These may include problems with memory, concentration, mood, movement in your arms, hands and legs, vision, and perception (for example with your sense of smell or touch).
• after we have checked how you are and how well you are able to do things, we may practise daily tasks with you or look at ways for you to be as independent as possible
• work with you to help you to reach your rehabilitation goals.

Speech and Language Therapists:

• check whether you have any difficulties with swallowing. If you do, we will work on ways to manage this.
• check whether you have any communication difficulties (for example, you find it difficult to speak or to find the right words).
• work out the best way to treat these or help you to cope with them. We will work with you, your family, carers, and other healthcare professionals to find ways to help that will be best for you.

Dietitians:

• help if you have difficulties with eating or drinking that mean you cannot get enough nourishment. For example, this could be because you are unable to swallow as well or because your appetite or how things taste to you have changed.  
• can provide extra snacks or nutrition supplements for you 
• help you choose from the menu
• provide the best nutrition and method of feeding for people who need artificial feeding (for example, being fed through a tube).

Chaplaincy Services:

• respond to the pastoral and spiritual needs of all patients, relatives, and staff 
• contact leaders of other faiths if you or your family ask us to  
• try to make sure that your cultural, spiritual and religious needs (and those of your family and loved ones) are met while you and they are in the hospital.  

Contact: Lead Chaplain, phone: 01903 205 111, ext. 84004

Chaplains are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What is rehabilitation?

Rehabilitation is the process of helping you to cope, recover and adjust to the problems caused by your stroke.  

• A variety of therapists will work together with the nurses and doctors to help you regain as much independence as possible following your stroke. 

The rehabilitation team will: 

• support you and help you to identify your goals for what you would like to be able to do.   
• develop a treatment plan to help you achieve them.  

You will usually have a one-to-one therapy session with just you and a therapist or trained support worker. 

Sometimes you may also have: 

• a therapy session with more than one type of therapist (for example, a Physio and an OT may both be in a session with you). This will depend on the goals that you are working towards.
• a group therapy session

Will I have therapy for the whole time that I am staying in the Stroke Ward?

Some people reach a point at which having more on-going therapy does not help them. If you reach this point, your regular therapy sessions on the ward will stop.

You will be ‘discharged’ by any of the therapy teams who have been giving you therapy which is no longer helping you.

You may be discharged from one or two or all therapy teams.

Some people do not leave the ward when this happens. If you stay on the ward after you have been discharged from therapy, you will still get daily medical and nursing care until you do leave.

How long am I likely to be in hospital?

The rehabilitation team will start planning your discharge from the first day that you come into hospital. You will be involved in making decisions as much as possible.  

The length of time that you will need to stay in hospital depends on how severe your stroke and your symptoms are. 

You will be “fit for discharge” (ready to go home or to another place where you can be cared for) when you are: 

• ‘medically stable’. This means that your condition is under control and not getting worse. 
• we have done all the investigations such as blood tests and scans that you need while you are in hospital.
• you have had all the treatment that we need to give you in hospital soon after you had your stroke.

What are my options when my hospital treatment is complete?

Everyone is different and every individual’s medical, social and care needs are considered carefully when planning the next step.  

Options include: 

• Discharge back to your home if your care needs can be met there.  

You may need a ‘package of care’ to give you extra help that you need. 

The therapy team will assess your needs and decide what help you may need.  

Some people can organise their own care but often Social Services will help with this. They may assess what help is needed and organise the care. 

A social services care package is only provided if a social worker has assessed your needs and decided that you need it. A care package is not provided for all people who are discharged home. 

We will complete a ‘discharge hub form’ which says what care package you need.  

• Discharge back to your home with rehabilitation if:  
  • you are reaching your therapy goals and would benefit from further therapy 
  • your care needs can be met in your home 
  • your local community service provides this type of rehabilitation.  

• Further inpatient rehabilitation is a possibility if: 
  • your therapy needs are complex, and you would benefit from long term neurological (neuro) inpatient rehabilitation. This will be discussed with you and the multi-disciplinary team. 

There are different kinds of rehabilitation units. We will speak with you to tell you more about them. 

The team will refer you to the unit that they think is best for you.  

That unit will then let us know whether they are able to accept you as a patient. This will be kept under review.  

• Discharge to a care home is a possibility if:  
  • your progress in therapy has slowed and you are no longer reaching your therapy goals 
  • your care needs cannot be met in your home The multidisciplinary team will assess your needs and decide what help you may need.  

A social worker will advise on whether your care needs can be met at home with a package of care. They may advise that a care home would be better for suited to meet your care needs.  

There are different types of care homes such as residential homes and nursing homes.  

If a care home would be the best option for you, our Discharge Co-ordinators can help you. They can help to find a suitable home that has a place for you and help with the arrangements. 

Decisions about going to a care home are ‘patient centred’. This means that they will take into account your needs and wishes. You, and your loved ones will be involved as far as possible. 

Will I receive any follow-up care once I am discharged?

Your doctors may ask for you to have further investigations after you have been discharged if they think you need them. You may be booked into a follow-up clinic to see one of the stroke doctors after you have been discharged. If you need a follow-up appointment, we will send you an appointment letter in the post.

Who should I contact if I have concerns about my condition after I have been discharged?

Do contact your GP if:

• you have concerns that cannot wait until you have your follow-up appointment 
• you have concerns after you are discharged and do not have a follow up appointment booked 

When you leave the ward, a copy of your discharge summary (summary of your condition, how you were and what treatment you had) is sent to your GP so they will know about you and your condition. We will also give you a copy of the discharge summary.

What other help is available for me when I am discharged?

One of the therapy or nursing staff will talk to you, and your family if appropriate, about other services that are available when you leave hospital.   

They will also advise you on changes that you can make to your lifestyle. These can make it less likely that you will have another stroke.  

If you would like further information, please contact The Stroke Association: 

What other contact details might I need?