New HELP Initiative launched at The Royal Oldham Hospital to raise patient safety concerns directly with a senior nurse

The Royal Oldham Hospital

The Royal Oldham Hospital has launched a HELP initiative which will enable patients and their families to easily raise any concerns they have about patient safety or care with a member of the senior nursing team.

The HELP (Helping to Empower Loved Ones and Patients) initiative launched on Monday 19 July and will involve the launch of a dedicated phone number, which will enable patients and their loved ones to speak directly to a senior nurse 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The initiative is aimed at empowering patients and their families to raise concerns about patient safety if they are worried at all about the quality of their care.

The Royal Oldham is putting a renewed focus on patient experience, safety and care, as it seeks to launch a new collaborative approach to harm reduction. The HELP initiative will focus on improving patient safety, clinical outcomes and ensure that patient experience is placed at the heart of everything that the hospital does.

Paul Devlin, divisional director of nursing for the medicine division at The Royal Oldham Hospital, said: “As part of the HELP initiative, we will ask patients and their families to address any concerns locally in the first instance by speaking directly to the ward manager or lead nurse.

“If patients or their families still have any concerns after speaking to the ward manager, we ask that they ring the HELP phone line and speak to one of our senior nurses, to ensure that any issues are addressed and resolved quickly.

“Our senior nurses will review any concerns raised within the hour. As always, patients have the option of speaking to our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) if they are unhappy with the solution offered by the team or senior nurse.

“Our teams place great importance on providing patients with a good experience when they come into hospital. Having direct access to speak to a senior nurse quickly and easily should provide patients with some reassurance that their concerns will not only be listened to, but that they will also be acted upon quickly.”

If patients or their families have any concerns about patient safety, the HELP phone line is 07970 199258.

The PALS Service at The Royal Oldham Hospital can also be accessed by ringing 0161 656 1968 or by calling into the PALS office located near the main entrance on Level 0.