PIF member Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) has incorporated lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic into the design of a new respiratory treatment unit.
The unit at Glan Clwyd Hospital in Rhyl has a number of features included because of pandemic experience including:
- 10 air changes per hour with extra low-level vents to reduce aerosols in the environment
- Dual oxygen circuits to provide an unrestricted supply of high flow oxygen
- Special donning and doffing areas so staff can easily get into and out of protective clothing.
The unit is designed to treat patients with respiratory issues who are not sick enough to need high dependency care.
It will reduce pressure on the high dependency unit (HDU) if there is a major outbreak of respiratory infection. Such infections include flu and COVID.
People with respiratory difficulties are often not sick enough for intensive care but too ill for a normal ward. This means they are treated in HDU.
The new unit sits between the normal wards and the HDU.