Occupational Therapy News OTnews May 2020 | Page 31

REHABILITATION FEATURE
© GettyImages/Vladimir Obradovic
it’s had really positive feedback from patients that it’s one less thing
they have to think about,’ says Jamy.
The service then provides checkin phone calls and links them in
with mental health occupational therapists to see how they are doing
and provide anxiety management and fatigue management. ‘There’s
lots of really good pathways that we’re building,’ says Jamy. And the
acute team has started 12-hour shifts across seven days to better
support flow within the hospital.
While COVID-19 may be a new phenomenon, Jamy says the
work will build on knowledge of existing conditions. ‘A lot of this
is about co-morbidities, so there’s been a lot we’ve been able to
adapt and use,’ she says.
‘COVID-19 is just another condition that they may have
– it could be breathlessness and fatigue on top of a
stroke that they’ve been admitted for. Our uniform
may have changed but our underlying principles
of what matters to patients still underpins all our
interventions.
‘‘
‘With our stroke patients,
for example, we’ve set up
What is important
pathways and a temporary
is finding ways to think
early supported discharge-
differently. As we are not able
type service so they are
supported at home
to get out so easily, we have
and then have a
had families filming around their
pathway back into the
homes to help us facilitate with
services when they are
reopened
again.’
discharges. It’s thinking about
Jamy Ashton,
Staff have been
positive risk, on where we can
the interim head of
redeployed to support
take risks, what is essential
occupational therapy
this effort, with some
at Betsi Cadwaladr
occupational therapists
for that person at
University Health
heading into GP surgeries to
home.
Board, which covers
support on an increased number
North Wales, says:
of calls for issues such as anxiety
‘It’s a fast-changing scene at the moment. We’re really lucky to
management.
have a flexible and adaptable workforce; for example some of our
outpatient services are temporarily stopping and we’ve moved staff
Getting back to business
to key areas, such as the acute hospital, to support discharges,
The huge pressure on acute services has meant that staff all over the
while making sure not to leave anyone behind.
country have been moved between services. When OTnews spoke
‘There will be a big recovery plan after all of this; I’m worried about
with Amy McCarthy, an occupational therapist in the community
people being in their homes and deconditioning, and particularly
neuro rehabilitation team at Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care
with the after effects of having the virus, such as breathlessness and
NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester, she was on her first day back
fatigue, so we are doing a lot to try and prevent that now and are
in the community after being redeployed for five weeks in acute care.
working differently.’
Fortunately, that redeployment coincided with a big drop in
As elsewhere, a mixture of ways to support people are being
referrals from A&E, GP surgeries, outpatient clinics and even self-
deployed at every step of the process from hospital to home. Jamy’s
referrals to the community team. ‘We know people haven’t stopped
staff are using the Home First model – Wales’s answer to delayed
being unwell so we’re ready to act when that does happen, but at
transfers of care, similar to the discharge to assess model seen
the moment, the referrals have dropped considerably,’ she says.
elsewhere – to help people out of hospital as fast as possible.
Amy and other redeployed colleagues stayed in touch with the
They have also raised £1,500 locally to create physical packs to
community team and helped where they could. With workloads
support people who have COVID-19 but are being discharged to
shifting around the NHS, flexibility is important, she says: ‘Everyone
provide toiletries and food to keep them going. ‘It’s been great and
has been so supportive, both the staff and the management. We
OTnews May 2020 31