Follow up service

Patients seen in the Critical Care follow-up clinic are offered a range of support to help with these problems.

Sometimes patients and their families just want to talk about their experiences, ask questions about their illness and recovery, and find out more about what happened to them.

We offer support from experts who understand what the patients and their families have been through, and provide a point of contact during recovery and in the months that follow.

Patients and their relatives will be seen by a Critical Care consultant, nurse and physiotherapist and may also be seen by a clinical psychologist, depending on their need.

We are able to offer patients and their relatives a structured visit back to the ICU, which often helps them come to terms with what happened during the period of critical illness.

Clinics are held twice a month on a Thursday morning in the physiotherapy department at the main Bexhill Hospital.

For patients who cannot or do not wish to attend clinic in person, it is sometimes possible to schedule a follow-up telephone discussion.

We are very pleased and proud to be able to offer ex-critical care patients access to our rehabilitation physiotherapy team and gym at Bexhill. This facility is one of very few in the country so once again we are leading the way in helping our ex patients recover from their critical illness. Ex-patients from both Conquest Hospital and Eastbourne DGH attend the gym and have found it invaluable in helping them get back confidence and strength.

The physical rehabilitation gym runs every week and the decision to attend is optional. It is exclusively for ex-ITU patients and a personal programme is arranged by the physiotherapist.