The Department of Health is pleased to announce that Noble's Hospital has received a significant donation from Noble’s Hospital Trustees who have purchased new privacy screens for the Accident and Emergency Department. 
 
The screens have been installed in the Resuscitation area and replace the portable fabric screens previously in place in this area.  The new portable screens are solid and designed to create a complete barrier between the two areas, being placed wherever required to ensure that medical and nursing teams have full access to patients and emergency care equipment.
 
Minister for Health, David Anderson MHK said: “Maintaining dignity and privacy is a crucial part of the delivery of care in all settings and in particular in the Accident and Emergency Department, where more than one seriously ill or injured patient can be receiving life-saving treatment at the same time.  All patients and relatives need to feel that they are treated with privacy, dignity and respect, right from the beginning of their care at Noble's Hospital.  It is with gratitude to the Noble's Hospital Trustees that the fundamental principles of privacy and dignity have been enhanced with the installation of these new, modern portable screens.”
 
Bev Critchlow, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Therapies, said: “We are extremely grateful to the Noble's Hospital Trustees for the donation of over ?9,500 enabling the purchase of these screens.  We take privacy and dignity very seriously, looking at ways that we can improve this for patients and their families.  These screens will ensure that care and treatment can be provided to patients in the Resuscitation area in Accident and Emergency whilst maintaining their privacy and also minimising distress for other patients or family members who may be in the Resuscitation area at the same time.”
 
David Sewell, Accident and Emergency Senior Charge Nurse, said: “The Accident and Emergency Department provides care to seriously ill or injured patients, and the Resuscitation area is an open plan design to allow teams of medical and nursing staff to treat patients in an emergency.  Often two patients are receiving emergency care in the Resuscitation area at the same time, and in order to preserve privacy and dignity, we wanted to be able to screen off each treatment area.  The portable screens previously in use provided some measure of privacy, but it was still possible to discern movement and activity through them.  The state-of-the-art new screens will provide clearly defined areas where the patient can receive high-standard emergency care undisturbed by other clinical activities around them.”

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