New guide to hospital will help patients

Patients at Cannock and Stafford Hospitals are to be given a new bedside guide to help relieve the anxiety of a hospital stay.

The brand new patient bedside folder has been launched across Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust as part of its multi-million pound transformation programme.

The 23-page guide has been designed to answer patients' frequently asked questions to help them relax while at the hospitals.

Trust staff alongside patients, aged from 24 to 70 years of age and from a variety of different backgrounds, worked in partnership to develop the folders. Gabrielle Thomson, a patient representative from the trust patient information group, helped compile the booklet.

She said: "I think most patients are really frightened when they come to hospital and they have a lot of questions, so if they have information clearly written down for them it will help to alleviate some of that anxiety.

"We hope the information that has been provided is clear and useful to patients, but we would welcome any suggestions for improvements in the future."

The A5 booklets are colour-coded for easy reference and have wipe clean plastic covers for infection control. Around 500 have been produced, with support from local companies, and distributed around the two hospital sites in Cannock and Stafford.

Angela Grocott, matron in medicine, said: "We wanted to put together a hospital book to answer frequently asked questions and try to improve the hospital experience for patients and their relatives.

"We already have a patient bedside booklet on the wards but this has become outdated because the trust has changed considerably and that needed to be reflected.

"We're very pleased with the finished booklet and we hope that patients will benefit from it."