A FREE and confidential information service offering help and advice to patients, visitors and staff has been launched at University Hospital Llandough

The Information and Support Centre, located next to the dining hall at the hospital, provides booklets on all key health conditions, a directory of services, information from trusted websites and signposting to local and national organisations.

Members of the Patient Experience Team, including the Macmillan Information Facilitator and the Carers Support Facilitator, will be available to provide advice. The Advocacy and Concerns Team, which includes members of the UHB Concerns Team and Cardiff and Vale Community Health Council, will be available on a trial basis on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.

Outside organisations will also run sessions on specific issues, including the Alzheimer’s Society, Cardiff and Vale Credit Union and Friendly Advantage.

Opening hours at the centre will vary, but it will generally be open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. No appointment is necessary – just call in and speak to a member of staff or check the calendar on the board outside the centre or on the UHB’s website for support and advice from specific organisations.

Sheila Harrison, Assistant Director for Patient Experience, said: “A lot of people now use the internet for information. The problem is a lot of the time the information is not the most appropriate to answer specific questions and will lead people in the wrong direction. By providing support in person we can help to identify the most appropriate and accurate information.”

The Information and Support Centre was formed thanks to partnership working with various organisations in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, including Charitable Funds, the Carers Measure Steering Group, Community Health Council, Third Sector organisations such as Macmillan Cancer Support and Health Board volunteers.

Board Member Margaret McClaughlin said: “We are absolutely committed to the improvement of patient experience.

“I think the Information Centre is fantastic. It’s welcoming, it’s warm, it’s inviting. This is a fantastic piece of partnership working. I feel very proud of the Health Board.”

If you are interested in volunteering at the centre, please contact Volunteer Services Manager Michelle Fowler on 029 2033 5467 or email michelle.fowler2@wales.nhs.uk

If you are a member of staff at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, or one of our colleagues within the Local Authority or Third Sector, and would like a presence at the centre, please contact Kay Holton on 029 2074 5692 for further information.