A look around the new £24.3 million Dorothy Pattison Hospital, Walsall which is replacing the outdated Bloxwich Hospital.

Express & Star

Transcript

00:00Well, we're here in Bloxwich this morning to mark the moving of dementia and mental

00:04health care facilities in the area from Bloxwich Hospital here to a new £24.3 million facility

00:13which opens on Wednesday. The Dorothy Paterson Hospital will provide high quality inpatient

00:18care for older adults and provide a safer, more recovery facilitated environment for

00:24their needs. Currently 944,000 people in the UK live with dementia, a figure expected

00:30to rise beyond 1 million by 2030 and 1.6 million by 2050. Let's go and have a look inside

00:38the old Bloxwich Hospital and then we'll go to the new one and talk to some of the

00:42staff who are moving.

00:45Big week here for the staff and the patients, going to be a lot of emotion as we've heard

00:50from some of your colleagues. How do you feel about the move?

00:54I hadn't really given it much thought until today and talking to you and I can feel myself

00:59tearing up a bit. As I say, I've been here for five years and within that five years

01:05there's been a lot of memories made. I think I work with a team that's, I think we're the

01:13best at what we do and the care that we give is second to none. It will be sad to leave

01:21but also exciting to go to a new unit.

01:24I'm here with Jackie Moylan who's the manager of the Linden Ward which is the dementia assessment

01:31unit. Now you've got a family or a historic link with the hospital because you were actually

01:39born here weren't you?

01:40I was, yes. In 1977 I was born here.

01:45I wasn't going to ask what year it was.

01:48Sorry.

01:49No. It must be really heart-rending in a way this week for you. How long have you been

01:57working on this?

01:59I started here as a newly qualified nurse in September 1999. Spent 17 years here and

02:06then left for five years and came back three years. So it's just three years ago so it's

02:11been just over 20 years I've been here in this building nursing.

02:16So what does it mean to you? Obviously there's an emotional attachment, you're moving on

02:21but is it going to be hard to leave?

02:27From the day one I got here as a newly qualified nurse, I was told blocks were going to close

02:35and there's been lots of plans, lots of talk about it and eventually five years ago approximately

02:42these plans were coming to fruition and that's when it became real that we were going to

02:48close. So yeah, it's been a little bit emotional. There's been a few tears within the nurses

02:54because a lot of us have been here a long time but we know it's for the best for our

02:59patients and we've got very much a family feel within the nursing team for both wards

03:06and we'll be taking that with us to the new build which is just fantastic.

03:12So a lot of positivity about the move but a lot of nostalgia looking back as well?

03:17Absolutely, yeah. It is sad. We're interested to know what will happen to the building once

03:26it's sold off and I think that will be sad if it gets knocked down, particularly the

03:29old part of the building which has got lovely tiles and a lovely staircase and quite old.

03:38We just feel it's best for the patients overall so yeah, that's what we look at the positives

03:45and not so much on the negatives.

03:48And we're here with Ivan Glover who's reached the ripe old age of 86. You're on the

03:55Linden Ward here at Bloxwich Hospital. But you're not going to be here for much longer

04:01are you because you're moving to the new facility. How do you feel?

04:04I know. After that I might be moving on to another, what do you call them?

04:11A new home?

04:13Yeah, a new home. This is only just a stay here.

04:20How long have you been here at Bloxwich?

04:22Two and a half months.

04:24Right.

04:24And I loved everything. I loved the place. I still love it now. It's great. The men in there,

04:33the staff, they're great.

04:35How's the food?

04:38Loads and loads of food.

04:39Really?

04:40And they look after me while I was in here. They did all.

04:44And obviously you've got to know the staff. It's been two and a half months but there's

04:48a family feel here.

04:49Yeah, there is. It's nice here. I love the place.

04:53Yeah. And do you know where you're moving to in terms of, have you seen the new

04:59Dorothy Pattison Hospital?

05:01I'm going to the place in Walsall, the, what's it called again?

05:05Dorothy Pattison.

05:07Eh?

05:07Dorothy Pattison.

05:08Dorothy Pattison.

05:09Yes, yeah.

05:10By the other hospital.

05:14Yeah.

05:15It's pretty nice. It's a brand new facility.

05:18Oh, it's beautiful.

05:19Yeah. You've had a chance to have a look then?

05:22I haven't looked at it. I was showing the pictures.

05:24Right, yeah.

05:24There's showers, home bedrooms and everything.

05:29Right.

05:30Ain't it?

05:31Yeah.

05:32And when are you, when are you going to go? You're going to be the one of the first ones.

05:36One of the first in.

05:37Also, you'll be the test patient then almost.

05:41The onus is on me.

05:42Yeah, yeah. And the staff are moving across as well.

05:45Yeah, yeah.

05:45So it's going to be as it was really, but just in better facilities if you like.

05:52It's nice. It's really nice. Top of the range, ain't it?

05:58So we're here at the new Dorothy Pattison Hospital close to the Warsaw Manor,

06:03which is opening on Wednesday.

06:06It's a fantastic new building with state-of-the-art facilities.

06:10All the space and facilities needed to look after older patients with dementia-based illnesses.

06:17Let's go and have a look around and talk to some of the staff.

06:21And we're here with Melissa James, the operational manager of the Dorothy Pattison unit.

06:29This is an amazing facility. We've had a really good guided tour.

06:34But just a little bit about yourself. You started off in this organisation as a nurse.

06:38I did, yeah.

06:39And you've worked your way up, if you like, to be running the whole unit.

06:44Yeah, I started in 2013 as a staff nurse and working in our hospital site in Sandwell,

06:54Edward Street Hospital, which is also undergoing some renovation work at the moment.

06:58And just having a real feel and understanding of what it's like to be on the front line and working

07:03with our patient group in a confined space with dorms and the challenges that that presented.

07:10And it's really exciting to be a part of a new building project

07:13where we can really maintain dignity and privacy for our patients,

07:17and give them an environment that they need to really thrive in,

07:20and to recover and return either to their homes for our functional patients

07:26or for our dementia patients going to a facility where they can receive 24-hour care.

07:32I mean, no stone has been left unturned, has it here?

07:36We've seen the bedrooms, the bathrooms, the beds.

07:41This lounge in itself, you've got bespoke chairs, the sensory garden.

07:49£24.3 million, it really is a facility to be proud of, isn't it?

07:55Absolutely.

07:56And it's such a contrast compared to where we're coming from at Bloxwich,

08:00and the staff do an amazing job with the conditions that they're working in.

08:04You've been able to have a look at that hospital there.

08:08But it's just about giving our staff and patients the best,

08:12and really looking at what our patients and staff need to be able to thrive.

08:18Staff wellbeing is very important,

08:20and having the right environment for our patients means that we can

08:23reduce some of those incidents where we see kind of patient-on-patient aggression

08:28in really confined spaces where we don't have lots of space to take patients,

08:32to support them, to de-escalate, etc.

08:35And even having a staff area where staff can have an adequate break,

08:40that's going to be a huge difference here,

08:42because currently they're limited in the old hospital.

08:45We've just been able to have a lovely adequate space to have a break,

08:48and that's totally different here.

08:50So it's really exciting to be a part of such a wonderful project.

08:55I mean, we've spoke to staff, we've spoke to patients at the old Bloxwich Hospital.

09:01It's going to be a big change for them, isn't it?

09:03But it sounds like one they're going to embrace.

09:06Absolutely.

09:06I mean, just the space for our patients to be able to manoeuvre,

09:10and for the staff to be able to provide hands-on nursing care,

09:13and have space to adequately move around and do that.

09:16The en-suite bedrooms are a really good space in terms of

09:20the bathroom areas where staff will be going in to support patients.

09:24We also have assisted bathrooms where patients are given the choice

09:28whether they have a shower or a bath.

09:30So it's really been well thought through,

09:33all the staff have been involved, key staff, front-line staff,

09:36in the planning of this building and the colour schemes, etc.

09:41So everyone has had a part in making this what it is today.

09:45And for yourself, you're moving in or opening on Wednesday.

09:49Is it long hours, a lot of stress at the moment?

09:52Well, I'm going to be here from the very start of the staff shift at 7am.

09:57So I think it's really important for management visibility,

10:00and that's something that I really work towards.

10:03Staff knowing who their senior managers are, and taking that journey with them.

10:08So yeah, I'll be amongst those who are first here on Wednesday morning.

10:11My colleague, who is the matron for the site, will be the last out of Blockswitch.

10:17So we're kind of working in teams to make sure that

10:21staff are here receiving patients coming over,

10:24and staff are also facilitating people leaving Blockswitch as well.

10:29Well, we wish you all the best with the move and the ongoing weeks.

10:33Thank you very much.

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