HYWEL Dda Health Board has created a team of Family Liaison Officers (FLO) to help patients when they are admitted to hospital in an emergency.

Many of the elderly patients that come into hospital via an ambulance do not have anything with them – no clothes or any way of contacting their relatives, according to Hywel Dda University Health Board.

With patients not able to have visitors due to Covid19 restrictions, the FLO’s will be that link between the patient and their family and friends.

Owain Davies a Family Liaison Officer in Glangwilli General Hospital said: “Out of the 30 patients I liaised with when I first started, 15 of them didn’t have any clothes with them or a way of contacting their relatives, they were having to wear a hospital gown.

“They have come in via an ambulance and only have the clothes they are wearing and that could be their pyjamas. Others have no way of contacting their loved ones with no phone or devices with them.”

If you, or a relative/loved one, are admitted into hospital as an emergency take a moment to consider what the patient needs to bring in with them.

A small bag is all that is needed which has in it - toiletries, a small towel, a change of clothes, nightwear, slippers or shoes, maybe a good book to pass the time and their phone or device to keep in touch.