WARRINGTON Hospital’s Chief Executive Simon Constable says he feels “extremely proud and privileged” to be part of the team leading the way in helping reduce COVID-19 death rates with the hospital now sharing advice after being inundated with calls and emails from around the world.
Little did ne know when he started his new role at the hospital last November, after being deputy to outgoing CEO Mel Pickup, that the hospital would a few months later be facing the biggest global public health emergency ever seen.
“The staff have been absolutely fantastic and really pulled together as a team and been really adaptable doing things in different ways and I am extremely proud and privileged to be part of that.
“The response of the team and the wider community has been amazing, with the number of gifts and donations.
“The NHS and the team at WHH have really stepped up to the plate and done everything that could be expected – and even more. The team have dealt with everything with kindness and compassion and it has been an absolute privilege to be part of that.”
While PPE has been an issue, it was not down to supply but sorting out the best working practices and ensuring everything was used properly following proper guidance.
“We’ve always had what we needed and there is a good hospital network in the region sharing PPE if and when required” added Simon.
One of the other big issues has been dealing with staff anxieties, with concerns for their own safety and the safety of their own families, with a significant number testing positive for COVID-19.
“While we have had more staff sickness issues it has not compromised our standards and in fact things have improved with better testing.”
He added that Warrington Hospital’s statistics were consistent with national figues, with the numbers peaking over Easter and in slow decline ever since.
It was still too early to say if the death rate had peaked as these lagged behind admissions.
But there were fewer inpatients this week, compared to last and fewer deaths this week, than the week before. From last weekend all patients attending at the hospital are now tested whether they are displaying symptoms or not.
Meanwhile with mortality rates for those put on a ventilator sometimes more than fifty per cent, medics from around the world are keen to hear more about Warrington Hospital’s little black boxes, which appear to be helping save lives.
Medics at Warrington collaborated to modify and adapt a black box normally used to treat sleep apnoea, fitting it with a more sophisticated face mask and oxygen and in doing so, replicated the Rolls Royce-hospital CPAP version.
One of those to benefit was mother of two Donna Wall, who certainly believes she owes her life to the skill, dedication and creative-thinking of the teams at Warrington.
She told Sky News “I think it’s marvellous what they’ve come up with: the idea… it’s absolutely amazing to stop people from going onto ventilators so much and to get a more positive outcome.”
Donna added “You know, I’m getting there. My smell’s coming back, my taste’s coming back…my appetite’s coming back….I’m feeling great.”
She’s now needing a lot less oxygen help, using her specially adapted ‘black box.’
This is where the lung’s airways are kept open by pumping oxygen into them through a tightly-fitted face mask.
Donna Wall is clapped off the ward – Picture Sky News
Donna puts her astonishingly rapid recovery down to the ingenuity of hospital medical teams, reported on last week.
“They kept me off a ventilator – I really didn’t want to go on a ventilator.”
The pioneering way the hospital used its resources has prompted a huge number of calls and emails from medics and clinicians around the world.
They include doctors in New York who wrote to the hospital asking to collaborate and pool ideas and the Mercedes F1 design team have been in touch inquiring if they can help by creating similar devices or just making more of them.
Medical teams around the country have also lent their support, coming up with their own suggestions on coping with COVID-19.
To help deal with the pandemic Warrington hospital is now divided into coronavirus and non-coronavirus patients, with the emergency department separated into two halves – a hot and a cold section.
The “hot” half is where anyone complaining of or showing coronavirus symptoms is treated and continues to remain as a potential risk.
Teams in the adjoining half, which is now forever closed, communicate with their colleagues with iPads, by phone and sometimes with hand gestures.
The “cold” section is for accidents and emergencies requiring urgent treatment for patients who don’t show signs of coronavirus.
While no one knows how much longer this COVID-19 pandemic will continue impacting on all our lives – one thing remains certain, the way our town’s hospital, often criticised in the past, will be viewed by the public has changed forever.
And the message remains the same – Stay Home and Save Lives!
1 Comment
Excellent article with interest new insights, thanks.