After suspending visiting earlier in the year, we are now able to offer limited visiting to some wards at the discretion of the nurse in-charge.”
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
After suspending visiting earlier in the year, we are now able to offer limited visiting to some wards at the discretion of the nurse in-charge.”
Read more on visiting times...
We recognise the impact that a long stay in hospital can have on families and the importance of maintaining strong communication. Our ward staff are keeping in touch with patients’ next of kin directly and our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can help pass on personal messages from family and friends.
The Queen Alexandra Hospital is located just on the hill slopes of Portsdown Hill overlooking Portsmouth. It is conveniently situated for both the M27 and A3M.
Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health. We are committed to the active involvement of family members, friends and carers during a hospital stay. Family members and carers play an important role in supporting patients during an episode of ill health.
More information on visiting hospital for an appointment.
If you've had experience of using our services and would like to make a comment then please contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS). Your views are very important to us and we would like to hear where you think improvements are needed or where things have gone so well that you would like to share your thanks or gratitude with the staff involved. When things have not gone so well then you can be sure that we want to hear from you, so please get in touch with PALS.
During your stay in hospital you will meet a number of different members of staff. All members of staff wear name badges, but if you are not sure who someone is or what they do, please feel free to ask them to introduce themselves and explain what they do.
If you have any questions about your treatment, please ask a doctor or a nurse.
There are lots of opportunities for you to get involved with the Trust, from volunteering to attending our public meetings, our Annual General Meeting or our hospital open day which is held every year.
We welcome and value your feedback and use the views you share with us in a number of ways to learn and make improvements as well as sharing best practice. Feedback can be provided in a number of ways.
Date: 20 August 2021
We know that around one in four hospital beds are occupied with patients who have dementia, so at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) we want to ensure we are providing them with the compassionate care that they need.
As part of NHS England's 'Next Generation of Nursing' initiative, we’ve caught up with Emily Oliver, lead nurse for dementia at PHU, to hear why she chose nursing as a career and why she is #ProudtobePHU.
How long have you been a nurse?
I have been a nurse since 2014 so almost seven years now. I started as a newly qualified nurse at PHU in 2014 and worked on older persons medicine doing a clinical academic doctorate until 2017. I left the trust after I had completed my doctorate to work at Dementia UK as a nurse consultant, however, when the lead nurse for Dementia role came up, I knew I had to return and have been back here since February 2021.
How would you explain your role?
As the lead nurse for Dementia my role is to lead on and oversee the care for patients with dementia across the hospital to ensure our patients with a diagnosis and their families receive the highest quality of care. My role is vast, and I focus on lots of different things but at the moment I am focusing on creating a strategy for dementia, improving our education around dementia and working with community services to develop a pathway.
Why did you decide nursing was the career path for you?
When I was younger, I always wanted to be a midwife and I went to University open days with this intention. When I was at the University of Southampton, I listened to a lecturer talking about her experience as a mental health nurse. I was so inspired by her experiences and the way in which she had made a difference to people’s lives that in that moment, I decided that's what I wanted to do.
What attracted you to your area of nursing?
Mental health nursing attracted me as it's so complex and I have always been interested in the workings of the brain. In mental health nursing you can use a whole range of therapeutic skills which I think is really unique. Patients who are mentally unwell do also experience physical health, just like we all do and as such you really get a broad range of experience.
How does working closely with patients impact your everyday life?
I couldn't imagine a role that didn't involve me working with so many different people each week. The stories I have heard and the experiences I have shared with people is what makes nursing so amazing. When I worked on the wards as a staff nurse, the sense of pride and achievement I experienced when leaving a shift was something that I don't think any job could match up too - knowing I had made a difference to someone’s life when they were at their most vulnerable is the best part of the job.
What is the most important thing people need to know about nursing?
I think something that I didn't realise before I started is the number of opportunities within nursing and the scope for progression. There are so many areas of nursing you can go into, whether that be older persons medicine, cancer, surgery, or you could go into research which has a whole host of opportunities. You can do education, work in contracts, quality improvement projects – it is really endless!
What is something you wish you’d have known when you started?
I went into nursing via the now ‘normal’ route of getting a degree, however, it may have been helpful to know the other routes out there. The Open University has a nursing course so you can work whilst you study. There are also apprenticeship programmes out there, plus post-graduate nursing courses so you don't have to follow the traditional route of doing an undergraduate nursing course.
Any advice for someone thinking about nursing as a career?
DO IT! I really would encourage anyone thinking about a career in nursing to go for it. As I said, there are so many opportunities and different areas to go into and you have the privilege to care and make a real difference to people’s lives which nothing can compare too. If you are thinking about it, reach out to someone who you know that is a nurse and I am sure they will be happy to tell you more.
Emily and her team run a support group every Tuesday morning at 11am for carers of people with dementia living in Portsmouth to gain advice and information about dementia care, as well as develop peer support networks and be signposted to further support.
To join this support group, please email kim.badcock@nhs.net or call 07552591447 / 07783766319.
For more information about the NextGen Nursing initiative, please visit: https://www.england.nhs.uk/
