AMU (Acute Medical Unit)
The occupational therapy team covers all acute assessment wards, including AMU Red and Yellow Surgical Assessment, Short Stay Unit (SSU), Acute Cardiac Unit (ACU) and frailty wards. We follow the guidelines of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and also adheres to East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust values.
We assess a variety of patients in using standardised cognitive and physical assessments to enable a timely, safe discharge. We aim to provide a discharge prior to the patient needing to be accommodated in hospital for a longer stay.
We provide therapeutic interventions to assess patients physical and cognitive faculties, using adaptive equipment to support mobility and function. We work closely with the multidisciplinary team, as well as with family members and carers to support patients with their treatment.
We make referrals to community service pathways for continued support and therapy in the community.
Medical and Elderly Care
Occupational therapists cover the general medical and elderly care wards.
Our role is to review any patients with any mobility, functional or social issues, make recommendations for ongoing therapy rehabilitation pathways and assist with discharge planning.
We also identify and order equipment needed to aid patients in their day-to-day functional activities and promote independence.
We like to provide advice to ward staff to ensure vital pre-admission information is providing at the earliest opportunity to get patients up and moving, preventing any avoidable deconditioning.
You can learn more about deconditioning on the End PJ Paralysis website, as well as in this article on deconditioning.
We cover the wards from Monday to Friday.
Respiratory and Surgical
The team support patients with a range of surgical and respiratory conditions.
This include treating patients with difficulties with one or more of the following:
- Personal care, meal preparation and domestic tasks
- Functional transfers/balance/mobility problems
- Cognitive difficulties affecting function
- Functional difficulties affecting home environment
Occupational therapist work with the patient to identify what assessment and interventions are required according to their individual needs. This may involve:
- Assessments of functional ability to perform daily tasks
- Assessments for equipment
- Actively engaging carers and families in assessments
- Referrals to community therapy services for community based assessments and home therapy follow-ups
Orthopaedics
We work with orthopaedic patients to provide rehabilitation from their orthopaedic injury during their acute hospital stay to aid their functional independence upon being discharge.
Common interventions include:
- Assessments of ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs)
- Provision of small aids and equipment to assist with performing these ADLs
- Assessment of larger equipment needs, such as hoists, stand aids and hospital beds
- Advice on adhering to post-op precautions from a functional perspective
Stroke
The occupational therapy team support our acute stroke units by assessing, rehabilitating and restoring function in patients following a stroke.
We provide functional activities for patients, as well as equipment and arranging appropriate and safe discharges so that patients can continue rehabilitation at home or in the community.
We also have a neurological outlier team that consists of occupational therapists and physiotherapists, who cover non-acute stroke and other neurological conditions or traumatic brain injuries.
The team utilise the Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP), a healthcare quality improvement programme that measures both the processes of care provided to patients as well as the structure of stroke services. The overall aim of SSNAP is to provide timely information to clinicians, commissioners, patients and the public on how well stroke care is being delivered. This can be used as a tool to improve the quality of care for stroke patients. We aim to begin assessment and treatment of patients within 48 hours after presentation in our emergency department (ED). More information on SSNAP is available here.
We provide a range of specialised equipment, such as mobility and transfer aids, wheelchairs, a therapy gym with a plinth, sensory integration equipment, therapy kitchen, adapted shower rooms with a range of equipment to allow assessment and ease of use to promote independence.
Standard assessments used within this setting include wash and dress, cognitive (within function and OCS), self-feeding and dexterity assessments.
