Event gathers residents’ experiences of community hospital
Many thanks to all who attended our ‘Share your views’ engagement and discussion event on East Ayrshire Community Hospital.
The event, which took place at Netherthird Community Centre, invited people who use our hospital space to share their experiences and let us know what they’d like to see in the hospital going forward. This included unpaid carers, our local community, third and independent sector providers, and colleagues from across health and social care services.
It was also the perfect opportunity to hear from a number of speakers, including hospital staff, third sector organisations and our Community Health Activity Team.
After presentations from Lainey McLeod (EACH Clinical Nurse Manager Support), Mark Grant (EACH Nurse Consultant) and Marie Furniss (Senior Manager, Localities Health and Care) attendees were invited to participate in a choice of two ‘Finding Out More’ sessions.
One of these was a presentation from Graham Galloway of Meeting Centres Scotland, on the support they can provide to people with dementia and their families.
During the second half of the event, attendees shared their ideas for the future of the hospital, using a map and floor plan to visualise and present them to other attendees.
Many ideas were put forward for new hospital features, including relaxation areas, first aid training, exercise classes, health hubs, quiet spaces and an accessible sensory garden for mental wellbeing.
Top themes which emerged included the importance of assessment and treatment centres, as well as outdoor wellbeing spaces; maintaining an intergenerational approach; providing rooms for training and support/drop-in groups; and ensuring the hospital provides an “empowered yet safe” environment that is accessible and respectful to people from ethnic minorities and the LBTQ+ community.
EAHSCP Engagement Officer, Lorna McIlreavy, told us more:
“The event confirmed the support from the local community for the hospital, the benefits of the existing wellbeing hub and the desire for an increase in the range of the services being delivered. It also showcased the range of health, wellbeing and community activities being undertaken from the hospital, Cumnock and the wider southern locality area.
“The findings will be utilised in the design and deliver of the Model of Care for EACH. Additionally the event served as an opportunity to launch our dedicated Engagement HQ webpage and the ‘Friends of East Ayrshire Community Hospital’, which will serve as a Stakeholder Reference Group informing planning, design and implementation.”
