General Medical Wards - Welcome to Ward F8 and Coronary Care at Royal Oldham Hospital

A warm welcome to Ward F8/CCU.

F8 has 17 mixed sexed beds which can manage both cardiac and general medical patients.

Coronary care is a 6 bedded unit which is also mixed sex and is found at the bottom of F8 which can give level 2 care.

We care for many conditions here, but some of the main conditions include:

• ACS (STEMI, NSTEMI and unstable angina)
• Heart failure
• Cardiac arrhythmias
• Insertion of Pacemakers
• Insertion of ICD’s
• Endocarditis
• Congenital heart defects
• Patients awaiting cardiac surgery

We also admit medical patients, who can be from a range of specialties, and they will be seen by a medical consultant and their team Monday to Friday, who will provide a senior review for these patients.

Our Aims

We aim to give a high standard of care which is based on individual needs. We try to take into consideration each individuals personal, cultural and spiritual beliefs and will always try to create an environment which supports these beliefs.

Our Doctors

For our cardiology patients we have 7 consultants that work on a 6 week rotation to review the patients on the ward.

They are:

• Dr K Khan
• Dr Mk Khan
• Dr J Swan
• Dr J Sobolewska
• Dr H Guella
• Dr Y Zheng
• Dr J Mitchell

We also have junior doctors that work with our cardiologist and help conduct the plans that have been put in place to help treat and begin to plan your discharge.

Our doctors will do a ward round Monday through to Friday and look at what has happened so far during your admission and make plans with you to treat the condition that you have presented to hospital with. During a weekend, if any of the nursing staff have any concerns, these can be escalated to the on- call medical team who can come to review you.

Our Multidisciplinary Team (MDT)

While you are inpatient on our ward, you may require input from some of our MDT which can include:

• Physiotherapy team - to help try to get you back to your baseline mobility and help plan a safe discharge for you to get home
• Social workers - the team can help if you need some assistance to get home, such as a package of care. If going home isn’t suitable, the social team can discuss other options with you
• Heart Failure nurses - a referral can be made for these nurses to see you if appropriate and they can follow you up in the community
• ECHO technician - Our ECHO technicians will come to the bedside and perform an ECHO scan if the doctor feels you need one
• Pharmacy team - our pharmacy team may come and discuss with you some of your regular medications that you take and ensure that nothing needs to be changed. They also work to ensure that your medications are prepared ready for your discharge home

Useful Information

If you haven’t been in hospital before here is some useful information.

Visiting times

We have open visiting; however, we ask for relatives to avoid visiting during mealtimes which are 11:30am -12:30pm and 4.30pm - 5.30pm.

We have a limit of only 2 visitors by the bed at any time.

Family and Friends

There are QR codes that are on the ward which you can scan and fill in to give feedback on your stay. If you are unable to do this, then a member of staff can fill it in on your behalf.

Contact Numbers

Your family may want to ring the ward to see how you’re doing from time to time, although we need your permission to give out this information over the phone.

Our phone numbers are:

Ward F8 - 0161 627 8878
Coronary Care Unit (CCU) - 0161 627 8238

Concerns

If you have any concerns during your stay, then please speak to the ward manager, sister or nurse in charge. This will allow us to address your concerns immediately.

How to help your relatives who are in hospital

#endPJparalysis - this is something that we do on the ward, and it is a project that encourages dignity and independence whilst in hospital.

To help us with this we ask for:

• Day clothes - this promotes a sense of well-being and normality
• Nightwear - this also promotes a sense of normality and helps feel comfortable
• Toiletries
• Medications - we don’t always stock every medication on the ward, and this allows patients to have the right medication at the right time with no delays

How We Care for Our Dementia Patients

There are many things that we do as both a Trust and a ward that helps us give the best care for patients with dementia. These include:

• A blue wristband - This allows staff to know discreetly that they may need some extra assistance, which could include assistance with eating or just some more company
• This is me document - We may ask for you to fill this in for your relative. This document allows staff to know what is important to your loved ones
• Activities - We have some supplies on our ward that gives our patients something to do. This includes newspapers and colouring books
• Snacks - We know that at times a patient’s appetite may not be the best, so on our ward we have a box of snacks that can be used if needed.

If you have any concerns, please let a member of staff know and then we can do our best to reassure you and address those concerns.

Awaiting Cardiac Surgery

If you have been told that you are going to be awaiting cardiac surgery, then you can be staying with us for some time.

As we are not a centre that conducts cardiac surgery, this has to be arranged at other hospital sites such as Wythenshawe, Manchester Royal Infirmary and Stoke. The wait to be transferred to these sites can take several weeks, but we will do any of the procedures that are required before your surgery.