A 24-BEDROOM centre for the safe discharge of patients affected by Covid-19 from acute hospitals has opened in Southall.

The aim is to protect care homes from receiving residents who are potentially infectious, while also ensuring patients do not remain in hospital longer than necessary.

The new unit in Britten Drive, off North Road, has been named in honour of Mary Robinson, the UK’s first district nurse, who worked in Liverpool during the 1860s. 

It is located near other Ealing Community Partners services and supported by community teams.

Patients from across North West London will be eligible for short-term admission if they are unable to return to their long-term placement due to Covid-19.

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Manor Court Nursing Home is on the same site, but the NHS Mary Robinson Unit has separate staff and equipment to ensure other residents are fully protected.

Dr Christopher Hilton, Clinical Director of Integrated Care Services at West London NHS Trust, said: “The impact of Covid-19 on care homes across the country has been devastating, and locally we have been trying to support the homes and residents in a number of ways since early in the pandemic.

“The NHS Mary Robinson Unit will continue to be part of the system’s response to Covid-19 as we emerge from the first wave of the virus and continue to protect residents in the months to come.”

During the pandemic, Ealing Community Partners has been supporting care homes in a number of ways, including partnering with the Argyle Group, who look after around 1,000 patients in Ealing’s nursing homes.