A £1.5m extension at the emergency assessment unit at the West Cumberland Hospital is set to open at patients.
The extension at the Whitehaven hospital has been created to improve patient care and experience when patients are being assessed to decide on their treatment plan.
The Same Day Emergency Care unit, opening on Wednesday, comprises of an ambulatory care area, procedure room and 23-hour assessment unit. The opening of the new extension will see 60-70 per cent of patients being treated and discharged from the assessment unit once they’ve had their assessment and avoid being admitted into hospital.
Nichola Mitchinson, ward manager for the new unit said: “We’re thrilled with the new extension; we now have a dedicated, dynamic offering for patients with state of the art equipment which will allow for us to build upon the service we were already providing through the Same Day Emergency Care model.
“Patients will be assessed by a team of clinical decision makers who will decide on the right course of action there and then. We’re hoping this will reduce admissions into the hospital and also allow our staff to be more efficient, due to the reduction in unnecessary admissions.”
The modular unit will also house the ambulatory care unit and the move into the extension will allow for more collaboration with the emergency assessment team, leading to more seamless care for patients.
Nichola added: “It’s great that Ambulatory Care will now operate alongside the team on the assessment unit it makes perfect sense for us to work closely together and will only benefit our patients.”
Improvements are also ongoing within the main hospital with the development of a rapid assessment and treatment room within the accident and emergency department which will enable improved patient flow within services.
This work is in addition to the ongoing redevelopment at WCH, which will see a £40 million investment to the site to upgrade the environment and facilities further to the original £90 million investment in 2015.
Groundwork at the site has already begun with building work set to start in January, subject to final approval of the trust’s business case expected later this year.
