Improved hydrotherapy facilities open for patients at Amersham Hospital

The new pool and changing facilities. (Image supplied by Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust)

An improved hydrotherapy pool has been officially opened at Amersham Hospital.

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Non-Executive Director, Tom Roache, who attended a ceremony on Friday 18th February 2022 to officially re-open the much improved hydrotherapy pool, said: ‘This project has been driven by the passion of a group of physiotherapists who have championed the benefits of hydrotherapy for their patients and who have worked with our estates teams and the teams from our partner Medirest to develop a state of the art facility the Trust can be very proud of.‘

The improved pool opens at a time when hydrotherapy is being promoted nationally for being incredibly important in supporting a variety of patient groups: for example, for post-surgical recovery, for pain management, for patients with rheumatism, for the rehabilitation of neurological patients and also to enable certain patients to avoid the need for surgery procedures altogether. As such, hydrotherapy (or aqua therapy) is considered a key element in the range of strategies that will help to reduce waiting lists in the wake of the pandemic.

As hydrotherapy lead Physiotherapist at Amersham Hospital, Kirsty Campbell notes: ‘During the COVID-19 pandemic many hydrotherapy facilities in the UK had to close and many have not been able to reopen. It is therefore fantastic that we are to welcome patients once again and, on top of that, are able to treat them in fabulous new facilities that can support an even greater range of therapies.‘

With the improved facilities the team will be able to work with small groups of patients instead of being limited to holding one on one sessions as the previous pool was so small. The bigger pool also enables the physiotherapists to offer an increased variety of aquatic therapy techniques.

As well as increasing the size of the pool, improvements have been made to provide ease of access – with improved safety measures including level access and non-slip surfaces. A new ceiling track hoist with chair and stretcher allows ease of access to all areas of the pool area and minimises the amount of manual handling required by staff. In addition, the original high ceiling over the pool has been lowered which allows better air temperature regulation and improves energy efficiency.

As a result of the upgraded facilities the hydrotherapy team at Amersham is looking forward to being trained in Ai Chi – an aquatic therapy technique with evidenced improvements in balance, pain, flexibility, mood, memory and function.

Charlotte Moss, Head of Physiotherapy and Deputy Head of Allied Health Professionals for the Trust said: ‘There are a number of people who have worked very hard to support us in making sure we were able to upgrade and reopen such great facilities: Our Trust Chief Executive Officer, Neil Macdonald and previous Trust Chair, Hattie Llewelyn-Davies, who both championed the project at Board level, our finance department, Rochelle Gee in property services who liaised with the Medirest teams who upgraded the facilities for us. Successful collaboration between all parties has allowed us to have this superb, much improved resource at Amersham Hospital to support, facilitate and speed up recovery for our patients in Buckinghamshire.‘

*Source of article : Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.