Every hospital and healthcare worker in the NHS has a different story to tell about how they supported patients during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH) turned from an elective Trust into a trauma centre, caring for some of the most vulnerable patients in Birmingham.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems have had to quickly adapt the way they provided services to patients, ensuring patients received the care they needed. ROH is an elective hospital, performing orthopaedic procedures like hip, neck, shoulder, foot and ankle surgeries. Although elective surgery was temporarily postponed at the height of the pandemic, the teams at ROH continued to support patients with major orthopaedic traumas.
The NHS faced an unprecedented situation regarding COVID-19. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB), which is one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK, has been key in treating patients diagnosed with the virus. Because of this, UHB needed to quickly redesign a number of their hospital inpatient services, to manage the number of COVID-19 patients they were treating and ensure that their hospitals had the right staff, in the right place, for the right patients.
Working in partnership to treat the most vulnerable
Working in partnership with colleagues at UHB, ROH transformed from an elective hospital into a trauma centre, treating a number of UHB’s trauma patients to ensure the NHS in Birmingham could fight the virus effectively.
These patients were among the most vulnerable in the city. They included patients with fractured neck of femur, spinal emergencies and those requiring traumatic hand surgery. This was a huge change for ROH, but one which was met with great determination by frontline teams, who offered care and compassion to patients and delivered the amazing service the ROH is known for.
Restoring elective services
Trauma services have now been reinstated at UHB and ROH has opened it's doors to treat elective patients once more. The hospital is running a 'COVID managed' service which means they have taken every measure possible to prevent the transmission of coronavirus.
ROH transformed during the pandemic and played a vital role in supporting patients and can reflect on this with pride. But the Trust has now returned to supporting the people of Birmingham and Solihull by offering life-changing elective surgery which reduces pain and restores inpdependence.
Executive Medical Director Mr Matt Revell said: “I am really proud of our hospital’s response during the COVID pandemic. In the space of 10 days we configured to accept the trauma cases from right across Birmingham. The collaboration and teamwork we saw was amazing.
“In particular the service we set up from scratch to help patients with fractured hips provided a haven for some of the most vulnerable and frail patients in this group.
“The level of care that I saw and the value placed on each individual life, the person and their needs was inspiring and moving.”
Find out more by visiting www.roh.nhs.uk
