Shrewsbury hospital emergency care centre ready for early opening

It has been built as part of a £6.3 million scheme to reduce admissions and improve patient experience. The centre, located next to the existing A&E Department, will provide an acute medical same day emergency care service seven-days-a-week. Patients will be treated on the same day reducing the need for a hospital stay which will in turn ease pressure on ward beds.

Construction work has been completed for the new two-storey building and it is expected to be operational on Monday several weeks earlier than expected.

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals Trust chief operating officer Nigel Lee said: “The expansion of the same day emergency care service into its own dedicated building is an exciting development which will be of huge benefit to our patients and our acute medicine colleagues.

“Not only will it ease pressure on our A&E and hospital beds at a very challenging time, it will also help ensure that our patients have an improved experience and our clinical colleagues have the right environment in which to carry out their work.”

The trust’s acute medicine clinical director Dr Aruna Maharaj said: “Acute Medicine is very excited about this enhanced model of care which will help us to provide a more responsive service to our patients. It will ease pressure on our A&E department as the appropriate patients will be pulled from A&E into the SDEC for their treatment and care, where they will be treated as day cases.

“We know that less time spent in hospital helps improve patient experience and reduced length of in-patient stay in hospitals improve patient outcomes.

“The Emergency Centre team have worked incredibly hard over the past few months to prepare for the expansion of the same day service on the RSH site to become comparable with PRH acute medicine SDEC space, and I would like to thank them as we move into a new building, and start this new chapter.”

The hospital was among 25 to receive a share of £150m in Government funding to expand and upgrade A&Es.The trust was also given a further £2m to convert the former Wrekin midwifery led unit at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital into a Priority Admissions Unit which is also due to open soon to aid the flow of patients into beds or chairs.

As part of the expansion of the same day service, the trust has been recruiting additional consultants and nursing associates. The centre will have its own treatment chairs and trolley bays to allow more patients can be seen each day as well as improved office space.