Ain’t got nothing but therapy … seven days a week

Breakfast clubs, exercise groups and trivia quizzes are all helping patients to recover faster and get home sooner at West View Integrated Care Centre in Tenterden, where patients receive therapy every day of the week.

In the sunny day room on Benenden West Ward at West View Integrated Care Centre in Tenterden, Therapeutic Activities Worker Beverly Colvin is putting patients through their paces, in a group exercise session.

“Now, let’s bend and flex our wrists,” said Beverly, demonstrating a small but essential exercise: “We need strong wrists for doing up our buttons, lifting a kettle, combing our hair ... what else do we need strong wrists for?”

The patients follow her lead and make suggestions, then it’s on to reaching up and reaching down, “so we can easily pick things up from the floor,” explained Beverly.

After the exercise session, which covers a range of motions, Beverly hosts a trivia quiz, while the large dining table is being set for a wholesome lunch, which everyone enjoys together.

At West View, a new model of care is being tested, to see how patients respond to therapy and enablement seven days-a-week, to help them to get home safely and quicker.

Here, patients are rarely seen in bed or in their pyjamas all day, the ward provides a timetable of activities and all meals are taken sitting at the communal dining table. There’s plenty of outdoor space too, for everyone to enjoy.

Louise Ward, Assistant Director for Community Hospital Transformation, and part of the leadership team at West View, explained: “The focus is on improving results for patients who are recovering from illness or injury and get them home to their own environment, to continue their rehabilitation, which evidence tells us is best for them.

“The project here is about what matters to people, helping them to be as independent as possible in our hospital and planning for discharge home from the moment they arrive. New ways of working, including streamlining our admission process and our ‘one team’ approach to recovery, supports this. A key feature is a seven-day therapy service, supported by the ward teams who deliver activities throughout the week.

“It means everyone contributes to delivering therapy and enablement every single day, to help patients get home sooner.”

Crucially, West View is also introducing a new joint social services role, to support more complex patients, working in partnership with Kent County Council (KCC). Hosted by KCC, but fully integrated into the ward team, this role aims to tackle the common ‘bottleneck’ of delayed discharges, due to social care arrangements needing to be put in place.

Emily Tunn

Clinical Lead Emily Tunn describes life on the wards. She said: “It’s all about giving people more control over their recovery through a personal care plan, making sure we know what’s important to them and helping them to regain their independence much sooner.

“We provide therapy seven days-a-week, which can include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, group exercises and innovations like our new breakfast club, which is helping people to regain their confidence to be able to take care of their day-to-day lives.

“We ask patients to get up and get dressed every morning and join others in the day room for activities and the dining room for meals. It sounds simple but it helps them to feel a bit more human and less like a patient.

“Everyone who works on the ward contributes to people’s enablement journey. It’s a real team effort.”

Back in the day room, 85-year-old Annette Free from Tenterden is waiting to go home after three weeks at West View. The ward has helped her to regain her confidence, after a sudden loss of mobility left her unable to walk.

Annette, who suffers from arthritis, said: “I’d been absolutely fine the day before, but I just got up the next day to use the loo and I collapsed. My legs just didn’t work at all. I had to learn to walk again.”

Patient Annette with Physio Emily Tunn

After a long stay in William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Annette arrived at West View three weeks ago. Here, she said, the focus has been on practical independence and emotional encouragement – and crucially, it’s been a seven days-a-week endeavour, with daily physiotherapy and enablement activities supported by therapists, nurses, therapy assistants and healthcare assistants all playing a role in Annette’s recovery, even during the long Easter bank holiday weekend.

Annette said: “They’ve come every day, the nurses and all the team get me up and walking, not just the therapists. We’ve had group sessions in the day room, which have all been excellent, it helps to get you out of your room and meet other people.”

Another highlight for Annette has been the breakfast club, where patients are encouraged to prepare their own morning meals. She explained: “You get dressed, come out of your room, make your own coffee, get your own cereal, put your toast in the toaster and carry it all the table, because that’s what you’ll be doing at home. It all helps to get you more confident and ready to leave.”

June Heath

Now preparing to return home to her beloved dog Lily, Annette sums up her determined approach to her recovery saying: “If you want to go home, you’ve got to take up whatever they offer, whatever they said we should do, I said, ‘I’m there’.”

June Heath, 90, from Wye, had a serious fall in the road, which left her needing hospital care. She arrived at the unit uncertain about her future. Now, June describes it warmly as, ”a real home from home, in fact, it’s busier than home, there’s more going on.”

June takes part in regular gym sessions and social activities and said the focus on ‘enablement’ has transformed her confidence.

Her en-suite room, with its ‘most beautiful view’, has given her comfort, but it’s the care that has left the deepest impression. “I’ll miss this place when I go. I’ve been very well treated here,” June said. Determined and cheerful, June now dresses herself and embraces the independence West View is helping her to regain.

Beverly Colvin

Therapeutic activities worker Beverly is embracing the new way of working wholeheartedly.

She said: “ I think it’s fabulous. Patients know something is happening every day and it makes such a difference to their recovery. They can get home faster, where they really do pick up. People who are more active and have a task to do, however small, find they recover more quickly and get their independence back faster.

"It’s very sociable here too, so it helps with their physical and mental wellbeing. We’re definitely seeing a difference already.”