Issue 6 - The Great Western Hospital

Photo courtesy of Swindon Advertiser
Quality and safety
Easing the pain
How we are helping patients to
manage their own pain relief
New support
for women in labour
A new service has been introduced on
the Delivery Suite at Great Western
Hospital, with the aim of improving the
quality of epidurals for women during
labour.
The Patient Controlled Epidural Analgesia
(PCEA) service has been introduced by
Matthew Drake, Anaesthetic Registrar
at GWH, but its success is due to the
commitment and enthusiasm of the whole
team on the Delivery Suite including
Midwives, Obstetricians.
PCEA has a button which women can
press when they start to feel pain during
labour. This delivers a set volume of epidural
drug which in just 5-10 minutes can help
make them more comfortable again and
lessen the pain.
This service can bring significant benefits
to women during labour as it puts them in
control of their own pain relief. The epidural
drugs also spread much better when
delivered this way, in what’s known as a
bolus, so provide more effective and timely
pain relief.
The Trust Equipment Department at
the hospital helped to reconfigure existing
equipment to allow PCEA to be introduced
without any additional capital cost to the
Trust.
Dr Drake, pictured above with the PCEA
device, said: “Unlike epidural infusions,
PCEA reduces the amount of time spent on
obtaining and administering extra boluses
of epidural drugs. This means there is less
clinical intervention for women during
labour, and they spend less time in pain
because they do not have to wait for extra
drugs to be administered. It also frees up
the Midwives and Anaesthetists to spend
more time on direct patient care.
“Feedback from patients using PCEA has
been very positive; patients have described
it as brilliant. Midwives and Anaesthetists
have also agreed the epidurals work much
better. PCEA is an excellent innovation
and GWH is proud to be one of only a few
hospitals in the region to offer this service
to mothers.”
Sandy Richards, Delivery Suite Manager,
said: “PCEA has been received favourably
by both women and staff. It has given
increased control to women, has reduced
any delays in administering pain relief
and freeing up time for staff to directly
care for the women in labour. Matthew
was instrumental in bringing PCEA to the
Delivery Suite and he deserves recognition
and our thanks for all his hard work with
this project.”
Dr Drake received the Clinical Audit and
Research prize for his work on the project.
Bringing your own
medication into hospital
The GWH Pharmacy team is encouraging
patients to bring in their own medication
when they come into hospital, especially
when they are likely to be staying in.
The aim is to improve the safety of
patients by:
• Ensuring the correct medication is
prescribed for patients when they
are admitted
• Ensuring patients receive medication
in a timely manner i.e. the patient
does not miss any doses
• Ensuring patients understand how to
take/use their medication correctly
What medication?
This relates to all medicines that are
prescribed to patients by their GP and any
medication bought from a local chemist
or supermarket, such as tablets, capsules,
inhalers, creams, ointments and eye drops.
Patients can bring their medication in
themselves or arrange for friends or relatives
to bring it in. Medication can also be
bought to the hospital by the ambulance
crew if patients arrive at the hospital this
way.
Victoria Jones, Lead Medicines
Management Pharmacy Technician at GWH,
is helping to run the project: “Posters about
the project will be sent out to GPs and
community pharmacies within the Swindon
area in order to target as many patients as
possible. We have also made sure clinical
staff and the Ambulance service are aware
of the project, so they can ensure they are
asking patients to bring their medication
into hospital with them.
“Our main concern is that patients
have the correct medication. Encouraging
patients to bring in their own medication
will help us to complete accurate and timely
medication histories and reduce the amount
of missed doses. It also helps us be more
cost-effective by re-using patients' own
medication as inpatients and for discharge.”
In focus: headaches
For most people, a headache happens
occasionally and can be quickly cured
with something to eat, a short rest or
a couple of painkillers.
Most headaches are harmless
and can be relieved with self-help
measures and pharmacy painkillers.
Only a few (around 5%) are a sign
that something is seriously wrong.
These more serious headaches are
often accompanied by other warning
signs. For example, a headache
accompanied by a rash and a very
high temperature could be meningitis.
For most headaches, you can take
pharmacy painkillers and try:
• Stopping any caffeine based drinks
(tea, coffee, fizzy drinks)
• Stopping alcohol
• Stopping chocolate or any other
sweets
• Eating a balanced diet
• Getting enough sleep
• Get equal amounts of sleep
every day
10 6 Autumn 2011