Lunch with Patricia Hewitt
27/04/2007
A community nurse in Gloucester has a lunch date on Monday (30th April) with Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt. Kevin Elliott, who works for Gloucestershire Partnership NHS Trust, won national recognition earlier this year for his ideas to help people with severe learning difficulties when they go into a mainstream hospital.
Kevin received a commendation at the Nurse 2007 Awards in London for his simple but highly effective scheme. Mrs Hewitt, who attended the awards ceremony, invited him and other finalists to discuss their ideas over lunch.
Kevin and colleagues had looked for ways of ensuring that people with a learning disability are not disadvantaged when trying to access mainstream hospital treatment.
He said: “The biggest problem for someone, for example, with Down’s Syndrome, autism or cerebral palsy is their inability to communicate. Perhaps they can’t express pain or describe their symptoms.”
Kevin’s solution was to design an innovative new guide for nurses on the wards at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General Hospital. It’s a user-friendly assessment form for carers to fill in beforehand. The form is based on traffic lights – red for vital information about the patient’s needs, amber for important and green for likes and dislikes.
The 40-year-old mental health nurse from Stroud will be among Mrs Hewitt’s guests at the House of Commons on Monday.
Kevin’s guide has already been taken up by many other hospitals. He hopes to win the Secretary of State’s support for rolling it out across the country.
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