Community hospitals
Information for patients and carers
Welcome to Herefordshire's six modern and comfortable community hospitals/care centres.
If you are a patient in an acute hospital, such as Hereford County Hospital, your doctors and nurses may now think you are well enough to be moved to a Community Hospital/Care Centre. We would like to tell you more about them, their modern facilities and the nurses, doctors and therapists there. This information may also be of interest to you if you are at home and due to be admitted for care.
If you are a patient at an acute hospital it is important that you are transferred or discharged from your current hospital as soon as possible after you have been assessed as clinically fit to leave. This will mean that more beds in this busy hospital are available for the most seriously ill patients. It also reduces the risk of you having problems returning to your normal independent routine.
The six Community Hospitals/Care Centres in Herefordshire are modern and well-equipped, and are staffed by dedicated professionals who are committed to providing quality care based on the needs of each patient. While you are staying at one of our Community Hospitals/Care Centres your medical care will be provided by a combination of GPs (General Practitioners) and Consultants.
The Community Hospitals/Care Centres are no more than 30 minutes by road from Hereford city and can all be reached by bus. Parking is available at all of the sites and is free apart from at Ledbury Community Health and Care Centre where there is a small charge.
What Do Community Hospitals Do?
There are Community Hospitals/Care Centres in Ross-on-Wye, Leominster , Bromyard, Kington and Ledbury. They can provide ongoing medical care and rehabilitation to help you in your recovery when you have had treatment at Hereford County Hospital or another hospital but are not well enough to go home. The Hillside Centre in Hereford also provides rehabilitation.
If you need an outpatient appointment at another hospital after you have moved to a Community Hospital/Care Centre we will arrange for you to get to your appointment. Staff in the Community Hospital will be in touch with staff in the hospital you've come from about your care and medication, and we can easily arrange for you to be transferred back if your condition changes so that you need the extra facilities there.
Choice of Community Hospital/Care Centre
Whenever possible we try to transfer you to a Community Hospital/Care Centre of your choice. If this is not possible, maybe because there are no beds available, we may need to transfer you to where there is a bed available and move you to your preferred Community Hospital/Care Centre when there is a vacancy.
What will happen when you move to the community hospital?
Ward staff will make all the arrangements for your move to the Community Hospital/Care Centre. On the morning of the move, hospital staff will collect you from the ward and arrange for you to wait in comfort for hospital transport to pick you up. Unfortunately the precise timing of the transport cannot be given because of the demands on the service but, wherever possible, staff will let you know whether you will be transferred in the morning or afternoon. You only need to carry your most personal belongings with you. Staff will make sure any medication you need and your medical records and x-rays are available at the Community Hospital/Care Centre you are moving to.
However ill you are it is important to remember that getting active again for most people is an important part of getting better. As soon as you come in we will start talking to you about your return home. Please don't be offended by this. Our first aim is to get you well enough to go home as soon as possible as we know that is where you would prefer to be.
There are a number of support services available in Herefordshire to help you manage at home after you leave hospital. Staff on the ward can provide you with details of these.