A self-contained flat facility within our In-Patient Unit
Sunflower Suites
The creation of an one bedroom self-contained flat with kitchen, lounge and bathroom WITHIN our In-Patient Unit (IPU) has completely revolutionized our opportunity for preparing patients (and their families/carers) for discharge from the hospice in most comprehensive and efficient way.
When designing the flat, careful consideration was given to where it was positioned within the hospice. The flat being within the IPU means that support can be flexed according to individual patient needs and stage of rehabilitation process. The use of modular furniture ensures that the living space is adaptable enough to mimic, as far as possible, the living space that the patient will be returning to on discharge.
Each patient’s re-ablement programme/support need within the flat is clearly identified with the patient and the whole multidisciplinary team works together to ensure that each individual’s management plan is effective in preparing the patient (and their families/carers) for discharge.
The Sunflower Suites are an environment that:
- Facilitates patients to become more functionally active and independent to meet the particular challenges they would face at home
- Gives opportunity for self-management strategies to be practised, tested and tweaked in a “separate yet safe” environment
- Encourages patient-led problem solving
- Allows us to mirror any planned community care package more effectively
- Allows patients to explore their own functional and psychological boundaries giving them and their carers an increased confidence and sense of empowerment that is essential for making informed choices and achieving a truly successful discharge
- Enables functional tasks to form a framework of rehabilitation
- Inspires a more “enabling” approach by all staff
- Gives patients a chance to realistically appraise any new limitations to their function and understand the impact that this may have on them at home
- More adequately prepares a patient for discharge so reduces the need for crisis support from community teams when the patient first returns home.
