Bassetlaw medical unit undergoes huge transformation through charitable funds

Notable changes to the unit include a comfortable waiting area and TV, a new buzzer system, and six additional high-quality chairs for patients.

Sarah Taylor, Deputy Divisional Nurse for Clinical Specialist Services at Bassetlaw Hospital, spearheaded the efforts to transform the unit.

She said: “The whole process has taken us about a year, but it has all been worth it.”

Originally housed within Ward B5 (Trauma & Orthopaedics) the location was less than ideal, Sarah explained.

She said: “Before, our patients had to walk through B5 to get to us.

“This wasn’t a good setup because a lot of our patients have a low white blood cell count and so are vulnerable to infection.”

The Medical Day Unit provides a number of important services to patients, including blood and iron transfusions, transfusions for patients living with severe rheumatoid arthritis and transfusions to help care and treat patients with gastrointestinal disorders.

These treatments help to keep patients living well at home and avoids inpatient admission to hospital.

Due to its broad spectrum of services and high number of patient visits, the unit would often run out of room in their old location.

Through charitable funding, the unit was able to replace all the previous chairs with more comfortable, high-quality recliners and added six more to their inventory.

In addition to more comfortable items, the unit has introduced a new buzzer system, toilet refurbishment, refurbed nurses station, new floors and improved security to medicines and medical notes.

Prior to the move, relatives would wait for patients to complete their treatment for several hours on seats in the corridor outside the unit, Sarah explained.

She said: “Introducing this waiting area will make the wait for relatives so much more comfortable, plus it is just outside the unit itself, so it improves our ability to communicate easily with them.”

Following its opening in December 2023, the unit received a generous donation of £760 from Anne, in memory of her husband, Gerald.

Gerald was a regular on the unit for five years and is fondly remembered by the small team who treated him. In his final years, he would visit up to twice a week.

The space where the unit is now housed has gone through several transformations and uses over the years. From being a day ward and housing surgical patients, to becoming a pain unit and then an Intensive Care Unit during the pandemic.

Its most recent use was for teaching and training, until it finally transformed into the Medical Day Unit as we now know it.

A part of the original pot of funding, another £10,000 will be used to purchase items for patient comfort such as cooling fans to be used during the summer and heated pillows to aid cannulation.