Healthy Lives Partnership News

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust has invested £871,000 to expand Acute Medicine and Same Day Emergency Care this winter.

This means that people who attend as emergency cases can receive specialist treatment on the same day, without being admitted to hospital.

Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Kath Potts explains: “By investing in our Same Day Emergency Care service it means that some patients can be seen and treated on the day they attend.

“This helps patients who need specialist care who might have previously been admitted, such as those who have chronic conditions like diabetes. Through this pathway, they can be assessed, observed, receive diagnostic tests, treated as necessary and return home all in the same day.”

The types of patients who can be treated by the Same Day Emergency Care service include patients with deep vein thrombosis, low risk chest pain, some respiratory conditions, some cardiac conditions, patients with diabetes or gastrointestinal conditions.

The expanded Same Day Emergency Care service sees between 40 and 50 patients each day and is supported by a multidisciplinary team. In addition, the opening hours of the Same Day Emergency Care service have extended so more people can receive treatment later into the evening.

One patient, Kathleen, who had a series of tests on her chest and lungs said: “I can’t believe that we’ve got it all sorted in one day. It’s been a long wait, but it’s been so efficient, and everybody’s done different jobs, and it’s been really good to get it over and done with in one day.”

Looking to the future, enabling works will start in 2023 for a new 17,000m2 Urgent and Emergency Care facility as part of the New Hospital Programme, which will increase the Trust’s ability to see more patients, more quickly.

The new facility will consist of four floors of emergency care facilities; one devoted to same day emergency care, a new paediatric emergency department, five new interventional theatres, four conventional theatres and all the support accommodation and imaging capacity that is associated with Derriford Hospital’s emergency care pathway.

Kath Potts explains additional actions this winter: “We’re investing in staffing across the organisation in Emergency Care, across Acute Medicine and Same Day Emergency Care. This includes investment into our wards and our support services such as Phlebotomy and in our administration teams such as ward clerks and patient flow coordinators.

“In addition, we prepared for winter with our new respiratory support unit to ensure that we’re getting patients to the right place at the right time.

“Other initiatives include investment into our virtual wards which means that patients can be cared for at home and discharged earlier.

“This all contributes to a continued focus on our discharge process and getting patients safely home from hospital.”

‘Help us Help You’

• If you have an emergency, life threatening situation we are here for you. If you need urgent care, please consider the other services available to you and think 111 first.
• Please consider whether you do need to attend emergency department. Patients with a potentially life threatening emergency are actively encouraged to attend ED. If it’s not a life threatening emergency there are other places to seek help.
• If you need advice or medical treatment quickly and can’t wait to see your GP call 111 or visit 111 online. If you need to be seen by a Minor Injuries or Emergency Department, they can book you in.
• If you do attend ED and it isn’t a life threatening emergency, you may be directed to another service. Please understand that this is because there are other people who are in much more urgent need of our care.
• Please pick up friends or relatives as soon as they are well enough to be discharged and help us get them home for lunch. This frees up a bed for other patients who need them.
• There are high numbers of children attending hospital. Use the HANDi paediatric app for advice on common childhood illnesses and when to seek help.
• Use your local pharmacist for minor conditions such as insect bites, earache, skin rashes.
• Head to the ‘stay well’ section of our website for more information https://www.plymouthhospitals.nhs.uk/stay-well.