A day in the life of an outpatient department at Leeds General Infirmary

The Yorkshire Evening Post has been granted exclusive access to an outpatients department at the Leeds General Infirmary to see what attending hospital looks like in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
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On day three of a series looking at the how the NHS is planning for the future and recovering health care services beyond coronavirus, we spoke to four people who were at the Cardio and Neuro outpatients department that day to find out how they are connected to the department and what the new way of working has been like from their point of view.

Karen Ledgard is the head of nursing for outpatients and oversees 150 members of staff, in 16 departments across three hospital sites at LGI, St James's and Seacroft hospitals. One of the biggest changes to her work is making sure government guidelines, which change daily, are being implemented in the hospital departments she manages.

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A day in the life on an outpatient department at LGI.A day in the life on an outpatient department at LGI.
A day in the life on an outpatient department at LGI.
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"The hardest bit has been the speed of a message coming out and having to implement it. In the early days, around PPE and masks, that changed so frequently. People found that quite difficult and when we have a break we have to keep that distance - that has been a challenge.

"I am really proud of all the teams, they have stepped up over the last 12 weeks to work differently, been really concerned about patients and safety, but really positive, and all the teams are working together. What we have really looked at is safety and where people feel comfortable to go back to, we have moved people around, learned new skills, things they would not (usually) do. I am really proud."

Susan Pickard, is a staff nurse in the outpatients department and has been a nurse for 42 years.

She said: "I have always worked on wards but came to outpatients for something different towards the end of my career. When I come in on a morning I do the checks on the department which is PPE and make sure we have got enough and that doctors have everything that they need, that is on a daily basis. We were a discharge lounge in another part of outpatients with people waiting for medication and to free up beds. That was hard for everybody, we had staff re-locating from other departments but we have all got along really well.

Karen Ledgard, head of outpatient nursing at LGI.Karen Ledgard, head of outpatient nursing at LGI.
Karen Ledgard, head of outpatient nursing at LGI.
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"Now it is getting back to normal and it is nice to see in the outpatients clinic, and more patients, but it is very different from how it was before. We have to be on the ball with screening, hand-wash and social distancing. This morning we had a patient and we were keeping our distance and she had an epileptic fit in her chair so we had to gown up and be next to her."

Claire Fowler, 37, from Pontefract was attending the department with her 17-year-old son Reece Lynch who was having a check up. He was born with a rare condition that occurs in 5 to 10 of every 100,000 babies born and means he has a double inlet left ventricle (DILV), where the heart chambers and valves are malformed.

She said: "He was supposed to have a phone appointment but because of how complex it (the condition) is, they put it back and made an appointment to come in. I was surprised I thought they would have put it back until the end of the year and that was a worry because we never know what it going in until he has those tests done.

"I work in a care home and it is a similar picture but I did not know what to expect. I didn't think I would be allowed to come with him because he is 17 now. I feel much better now that I have done it and everybody has been lovely and helpful. They asked us the questions when we came in and we handwashed and kept the distance. It has been really good."

Susan Pickard is a staff nurse at LGI.Susan Pickard is a staff nurse at LGI.
Susan Pickard is a staff nurse at LGI.
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Christine Mullen, 65 from Whinmoors is a hospital volunteer and has been helping out since she retired from her job in HR. She does three or four volunteer shifts a week and in addition she works with Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL) picking up shopping and prescriptions for people shielding or unable to get out and about.

She said: "I generally work on ward 49 which is children's day care so I go with them for operations and distract them when they are having their canulars in to get to sleep and then I take the parents and show them where to go. Since this we can't go on the wards so I have been helping out handing out masks and at St James's writing bereavement cards.

"They are for people that have lost someone and we put all the information they need in there because of COVID they can't go into the bereavement office. It is a personal touch that we do handwritten cards and put in information about all the services.

"I enjoy it and enjoy it as much as ever now. It is supporting the staff. I said I am available if they needed me and they are bringing volunteers back slowly but surely but I am fine about it."

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