We were recently invited by the Cora Health South West Essex Integrated Musculoskeletal Service to visit their new home at Brentwood Community Hospital. We say ‘new’, but they have returned to an area of the hospital where they were based over 5 years ago before the COVID pandemic, when that space had to be repurposed as a COVID ward. The team had to work through a difficult period, treating patients in other available spaces in the trust, but they are now very pleased to be back in their original base which has been given a complete overhaul, and converted back to a fully functioning MSK clinical space.
This was my first visit to Brentwood Community Hospital, and I was impressed how nice the setting is. There are trees all around the building, the parking is free, and the reception area has a small shop, café and outside seating area. We were told by staff that people who live locally come to have lunch at the café without having any appointments at the hospital as they enjoy the space so much.
We went upstairs to the MSK department and was greeted by Claire who is the welcome host at Brentwood, with a warm and friendly smile. The reception/waiting area is light, bright and airy with plenty of seating, notice boards and artwork on the wall. A very welcoming and calm space.
Corey then showed us around the department. The treatment space is a mixture of a ward style area with bays that can be separated off for privacy, individual clinical rooms and a gym area. All of these are light, bright, airy spaces with plenty of room for patients and staff to move around with ease. The windows look out onto trees which really helps to give a sense of calm to the space.
We had some good conversations with both patients and staff. The staff were happy to be back ‘home’ and were very pleased with the improvements made to the space. One of the staff commented on how good it was to have so much room, with good equipment, individual sinks, and everything she needed within her own clinical space and not in a separate area.
Visitors told us what a welcoming environment it is, how friendly and professional the staff are, and how reasonable the wait times are – both in terms of the referral process and on arrival at the unit. They were all very impressed.
Corey Harding, Operations Manager for the service:
‘It was a pleasure to have both Sara and Fergus visit our newly decorated MSK (musculoskeletal) department that we had waited almost 5 years to return to (mostly due to delays associated with COVID). The department offers a professional and welcoming environment for our patients and staff and it is a space that we can be proud of. I felt it a great opportunity for Healthwatch to visit to experience first-hand how our team operate. Hopefully this will act as an enabler when meeting with stakeholders, especially if any queries arise associated with this site. Thank you to Sara and Fergus for spending their time speaking with patients and staff on the day as we continue with our partnership working.
For further information regarding the service please go to their website: South West Essex – Cora Health
Fergus Bird and Sara Poole,
Information and Guidance Officers