KGH Spinneyfield step-down centre opens
Patients and their families will benefit from a new hospital step-down facility designed to deliver great rehabilitation care outside of hospital.
The University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) reopened the Spinneyfield Specialist Care Centre in Rushden on Monday, August 19, 2024.
The facility will enable UHN – which runs Kettering and Northampton general hospitals – to provide care to patients who no longer require acute hospital care in a more appropriate care setting supported by a multidisciplinary team including doctors, nurses and therapists,
KGH Head of Nursing for Medicine Jane Daniel said: “The unit is designed to care for patients who may need extra rehabilitation and support before they can return to their home in the community.
“Care will be provided in a homely environment offering 31 single rooms with en-suite facilities. There is a communal lounge and dining area designed to allow patients the option to socialise with others. Spinneyfields will provide a good step-down environment and we are pleased to be able to open and run it for the benefit of our patients and their families.”
The unit’s dedicated therapy team will support the promotion of mobility, functional skills and confidence in preparation for patients waiting for packages of care, rehabilitation beds or long-term care facility beds. It will offer open visiting to friends and relatives with free parking on site.
The facility will enable Kettering General Hospital to transfer patients to a more appropriate care setting, which has the added benefit of freeing up bed space at the hospital site.
KGH’s Chief Operating Officer Fay Gordon said: “There is a lot of pressure on hospital beds and having extra beds available in the community for those patients who no longer need hospital-based care will help us to create bed capacity on the main hospital site for those patients who need more acute care.
“This will assist in more timely admissions into hospital beds from the emergency department and overall improve the flow of patients through the hospital and back into the community.”
Room blocks in the centre, which first opened in 2004, are named after birds - Kingfisher, Wren, Harlequin and Siskin – to help residents navigate. Inside it is light and airy with natural lighting through the roof space.