Gynae Ward Moving At Poole Hospital

Poole Hospital is consulting with staff on plans to move gynaecological beds from ward B5 to ward B2

Poole Hospital is consulting with staff on plans to move gynaecological beds from ward B5 to ward B2.  This will mean that gynaecological patients are situated closer to the main theatre suite.

Ward B5 is currently designated as the hospital's gynaecological ward but not all of the 29 beds are used for gynaecological patients at any one time.

The hospital trust says:

"There have been many positive moves by the hospital staff to improve the quality of care and reduce the length of stay, for example, through enhanced recovery programmes, additional theatre lists and treating a greater number of patients as day cases. The move is in line with improvements to the delivery of care taking place throughout the hospital and will also release cash savings."

The plan is to close ward B5 from 14 November and re-designate one end of B2 as its gynaecological ward.  The other end of the ward is used mainly for ENT (ear, nose and throat) and OMF (Oral Maxillo-Facial) surgical patients.

A medium-term plan is to bring colposcopy services over from the St Mary's site so that they can be situated next to the gynaecological beds. 

A spokesperson said:

"We will continue to treat both emergency and elective (planned) patients and provide our patients with the same high level of dignity and care. A team of five experienced nurses will move from B5 to B2 to ensure that this happens." 

The Trust says it will do everything it can to ensure that all staff currently working on B5 are found jobs on surgical or medical wards and  has a process in place to reduce the risk of redundancy and ensure equity.  The number of gynaecologists will remain the same.