Swansea Bay University Health Board

Swansea Bay patients are now reaping the benefits of a change in fluid consumption guidelines before surgery – helping them to be better hydrated and happier following their procedure. Previous instructions advised that patients could not eat food six hours before their anaesthetic, and to stop drinking clear liquids two hours before. While the advice on food has not changed, the guidelines for drinks have now been updated. Following an initiative set up in Scotland called Sip Til Send, Swansea Bay is now changing its stance on hydration by allowing patients sips of water right up until they are called to go to theatre. The Sip Til Send approach allows patients to sip up to 150ml of water per hour prior to surgery. Patients within Morriston’s trauma unit and Theatre Admissions Unit, along with paediatric patients and inpatient services at Neath Port Talbot Hospital have been adhering to the Sip Til Send initiative for several months. It has proven to not only better hydrate patients, but and reduce headaches, nausea and anxiety. There are occasional exceptions for specific patients, but they are still encouraged to moisten their lips and mouth with water for comfort. 👉 Read more on our website here: https://lnkd.in/ewUR3KhT #NHS #NHSWales #Healthcare #SwanseaBayUniversityHealthBoard

Morriston Hospital has become the first in Wales to start recruiting for a UK-wide trial for poorly babies who need help with their breathing. The trial will aim to determine the most effective breathing support for infants hospitalised with bronchiolitis. This is a common chest infection affecting babies and children aged under two years. Although usually mild, it can be serious, leading to thousands of children requiring hospitalisation every year. A range of treatments is available, and most babies recover well. But it is not clear which treatment is the most effective for moderate and severe cases, leading to variations in practice around the UK. Researchers believe that finding the most effective breathing support could lead to babies recovering more quickly, with less discomfort and shorter stays in hospital. This is particularly important during winter months when pressures on NHS services significantly increase. Now a £1.7 million trial known as BACHb will recruit more than 1,500 infants over 30 months from children’s emergency departments and wards in 50 hospitals across the UK. Morriston Hospital is the first in Wales to recruit. 👉 Read more on our website here: https://lnkd.in/eM-H3xCm #NHS #NHSWales #Healthcare #SwanseaBayUniversityHealthBoard #NHS24Cymru

A Swansea Bay service which treats patients safely at home and keeps them out of hospital has been recognised with an award for its excellent care. The Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT) multi-disciplinary team treats people who have an infection that requires an intravenous (through a vein) antimicrobial but are well enough to stay at home or be seen in an outpatient setting. Antimicrobials include medicines like antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals which target a wide range of infections. By delivering treatments away from hospital, patients can often carry on with their normal lives outside of appointment times. The OPAT service works collaboratively with healthcare professionals, such as microbiologists and infectious disease specialists, to identify patients who are suitable to be discharged from hospital to safely receive their treatment at home. Some patients can avoid hospital admission altogether with an early intervention. The team also manages the risk of re-admission, while improving patient outcomes. The OPAT service’s approach to working collaboratively to ensure the best outcomes for patients led to the team winning the Delivering Our Partnership Compact Award at the health board’s most recent One Bay Way Awards. 👉 Read more on our website here: https://lnkd.in/eWt-BtXG #NHS #NHSWales #Healthcare #SwanseaBayUniversityHealthBoard #NHS24Cymru

An award-winning surgeon at Morriston Hospital has scored a world first by inventing a surgical instrument designed to improve patient safety. Consultant plastic surgeon Muhammad Umair Javed created a microsurgery dissector, for use during breast reconstructions. Now in the prototype stage, the dissector has smooth, blunted edges, allowing surgeons to separate, or dissect, blood vessels without the risk of accidentally cutting them. Breast reconstruction is a microsurgical procedure used mostly, but not exclusively, following breast cancer. Certain types of breast reconstructions involve taking excess tissue – skin, fat and, sometimes muscle – from another part of the body, such as the lower tummy. This is then formed into a breast shape. The tissue needs a good blood supply, or it will die. So, the surgeon will leave the tissue attached to its original blood vessels and then connect these to the vessels in the chest wall. The vessels have to be carefully harvested and separated. It’s such a delicate procedure that surgeons usually undertake it using a microscope or surgical loupes – magnifying lenses. 👉 Read more on our website here: https://lnkd.in/egEUJxRW #NHS #NHSWales #Healthcare #SwanseaBayUniversityHealthBoard #NHS24Cymru

Did you know? 🤔 In recognition of #NHS24Cymru, here are some of the average daily statistics that we see here at Swansea Bay UHB: 👶 On average, nine babies are born in the Swansea Bay UHB area every day. 📅 Around 1,415 people attend outpatient appointments across our hospital sites every day. 🏥 On average, 380 people attend the emergency department or minor injury unit. 🩻 There are around 199 appointments for planned treatments. 💊 Around 135 people are admitted to our hospitals as an emergency patient every day. 

An Australian holidaymaker who almost lost her life while holidaying on the other side of the world has thanked the Morriston Hospital staff who saved her life following a 12-hour major heart operation. Jenny Leehy, from Newcastle in New South Wales, underwent emergency surgery after her aorta – the body’s main artery – ruptured, which gives only a 25 per cent chance of survival. The surgery included the installation of a mechanical aortic valve replacement - a procedure that involves having to stop the heart, which meant she was clinically ‘dead’ for 29 minutes - in order to replace her damaged aortic valve with a prosthetic tube graft and mechanical valve. She then spent a month recovering in Morriston Hospital – including five days on life support - on the Cardiac Intensive Therapy Unit, High Dependency Unit and Dan Danino Ward. The level or care and treatment she received means she is now able to fly home with husband Craig to make an emotional reunion with her family. While her holiday may not have been the trip she’d looked forward to, Jenny says Swansea and the hospital staff involved in her care will forever be in her heart. 👉 Read more on our website here: https://lnkd.in/ezbjvhth #NHS #NHSWales #Healthcare #SwanseaBayUniversityHealthBoard

Happy St David’s Day everyone! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Footballer Lawrence Vigouroux has been amazed by the backing given to him by Swansea City Football Club’s fans since joining the club last summer - and he’s confident the Swans and its supporters will show the same passion for a charity appeal that’s close to his heart. Vigouroux has thrown his support behind Swansea Bay University Health Board’s Cwtsh Clos appeal, which is looking to raise £160,000 to completely upgrade five houses that are a stone’s throw away from Singleton Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where families can stay to be near their babies. Singleton's NICU provides care for a large part of Wales, from Pembrokeshire to some areas north of Aberystwyth - hence the need to provide parents travelling long distances with accommodation to be near their little ones. Vigouroux can empathise with parents whose babies have endured a difficult start to life, with his son Carmelo being born seven weeks early in Homerton Hospital in London. Carmelo, now two, was cared for in Homerton's NICU for three days and then its special care baby unit for 11 days before heading home with his parents. As a result of his own experiences, he was delighted when his new club chose Swansea Bay Health Charity - the health board’s official charity - as their official charity partner for the 2024-25 season. One of the highlights of the link-up between Swansea Bay and the city's local football heroes takes place this Saturday (February 22) as the Swans host Blackburn Rovers in the Championship - a game the club has kindly dedicated to the appeal, with lots of fundraising activities on the day. 👉 Read more on our website here: https://lnkd.in/eEex8s6G #NHS #NHSWales #Healthcare #SwanseaBayUniversityHealthBoard

A new team is helping to make sure homeless and vulnerable people in Neath Port Talbot can get the healthcare they need. It supports them to access GP services, dentists, and smoking cessation and sexual health services, among others. The service, modelled on a well-established one in Swansea, is based at Alfred Street Primary Care Centre in Neath. Patients can register there, or at its branch sites at Rosedale Medical Centre in Port Talbot and Waterside Medical Centre, in Briton Ferry. The homeless and vulnerable adults team’s clinical nurse specialist, Laura Fender has been working alongside homelessness charity The Wallich to identify people who could be referred. 👉 Read more on our website here: https://lnkd.in/eF4__mvP #NHS #NHSWales #Healthcare #SwanseaBayUniversityHealthBoard

🎆 Happy New Year to all our patients, staff, families and friends. We hope you're enjoying the New Year. Stay safe, but if you need us, we're here.