Clinical teams from the Burns Unit at Southmead have been balancing staffing needs on Ward 33a while also providing specialist support at the BRI ICU when patients have required complex burn dressings. This close collaboration has been made significantly easier by both hospitals now operating under one Trust.
In the past, arranging this type of support would have involved setting up honorary contracts and navigating additional administrative processes. Now, teams have been able to focus solely on providing the care patients need, when and where it is needed.
India Underhill-Rose, Sister on Ward 33a at Southmead Hospital, said:
“We would have helped regardless and are used to working really closely with other services like surgery and ICU at Southmead, but this time we haven’t had to worry about whose budget it comes out of or how we make it happen across sites. It’s taken the headache away.
“It just feels like we’re all working as one to support our complex patients.”
The collaboration has also created valuable opportunities for colleagues to learn from one another and share expertise across services and sites.
India added:
“Our experience has been nothing but positive. The BRI ICU team have been so welcoming, sharing their knowledge with us while we’ve been there, and being exposed to a new environment has given us valuable experience to take away.
“It’s been great to build those relationships across our services, and I’m grateful to my team for being so adaptable to make it possible.”