Spotlight on: Woodlands Day Unit team
We spoke to Sare Hewitt and her team at the Woodlands Day Unit at Whipps Cross Hospital about the work they do at the unit, some of the successes they’ve had and the positive feedback they’ve received from some of their patients.
Hi Sare and team, can you tell us more about the Woodlands Day Unit and the work you do with patients?
It’s a medical day unit predominantly haematology and oncology but we also treat gastroenterology, rheumatology and pre-op iron infusions.
We are fortunately a very small team and therefore we can offer continuity of care to our patients. We get to know our patients very well and vice versa. For our chemo patients this means they will be allocated a named chemo nurse to follow them through from day one to end of treatment.
How many people work at the Unit?
We are a team of 11 people and we are also fortunate to have an HCA on our day unit who is very experienced and can support us with blood tests.
Our team is varied in terms of skill set and together we offer more specialised care to our patients, each one of us is a link nurse to a particular specialism.
How do you feel the Unit’s work supports our work at Whipps Cross?
We are able to take pressure off the emergency department by doing blood transfusions, IV iron , paracentesis and picc line/port care.
If our patients deteriorate on day unit, we will cannulate them and our haematology team will review them and if necessary take blood, give IVIs and/or antibiotics and also liaise with the medical team before transferring to A&E and or AMRU.
Are there any recent success stories or successes worth celebrating?
Yes, we have quite a few including:
- Our team took part in The Santa Run for Barts Charity and raised £1,244.48
- We continue to pass our resus audit with 100% pass rate
- Our mandatory training is kept up-to-date
- We very rarely get negative feedback from our patients/relatives
- We make such an impression on our patients/relatives – that some have decided to run for Barts charity/Macmillan Cancer Support charity.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
We are a very small team so we are able to provide personalised care to our patients and as a team the hours we work help us to keep a good balance of work and life.
Having our own set of chemo patients they become like family and I like that the unit’s environment is calm and friendly so it feels very homely.
Also our location is perfect – away from main building from the hustle & bustle of the hospital environment.
Is there any positive feedback from patients that you’d like to share?
“Thank you so much for your excellent care, your patience, professionalism, hard work and commitment to wonderful medical care.. . I couldn’t have been more lucky that I had my treatment here. I will never forget your kindness.” (Feb 2021 – M)
“From the 1st visit I was impressed by the air of calm, efficiency in the unit. I would like to thank you all for the part you have played in my treatment.” (April 2021 – Y.C.)
“Many thanks for your care and kindness during my visits to the unit over the past 13months. Your cheerfulness, helped when I was at a low point .”(Jan 2021 – S.T.)
“To all the Woodlands staff: I cannot express my gratitude and thanks to all the staff at woodlands day unit and for providing excellent care during my treatment. Nothing ever seemed to be too much trouble and all the staff were welcoming. From the moment you stepped in. You felt relaxed and at ease straight away. Also the ample supply of tea and biscuits helped. All the staff were kind and caring throughout. I would like to highlight the kindness and understanding that I received. From Mary, Karen and Dr Zegocki. You made the whole treatment much easier to deal with. At a time when the NHS is facing very challenging times. All the staff at woodlands – continued to be professional, caring and helpful. I applaud you all. We will be eternally grateful to you all.” (May 2020 – V.D.)
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Just to say that hopefully we’ll have a better process in place so transition from day unit to ward based care for our unwell patients.
And fingers crossed we get some volunteers back to help us too!