£6 million to help with A&E strain at Shrewsbury hospital
Millions of pounds of government funding will be used to create a new 'same day emergency care centre' to reduce pressure on the A&E department at one of the county's major hospitals.
Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) has received £6.3 million from the government to prepare for winter, and the trust has confirmed how it plans to use the money.
The funding will be used for a new Same Day Emergency Care Centre (SDEC) at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), and to create more patient cubicles in the current A&E.
The new SDEC, which will be housed in a two-storey medical modular building, will be located outside the A&E department and is expected to be operational in the New Year, according to the trust.
The idea behind the centre is that people are seen and treated the same day, removing the need for hospital admission.
The A&E department at the trust has been under huge pressure in recent years, as it has continually failed to hit waiting time targets, with some of the worst figures in the country.
Nigel Lee, chief operating officer at SaTH, said the the funding would allow the trust to reduce the strain on A&E – with winter always proving the most testing period of the year, along with the added pressure brought on by the continuing Covid pandemic.
He said: “This additional investment is very much welcomed and enables us to relocate our current SDEC to a purpose-built facility.
“Winter is always a challenging time as the demands on our services are high, and this year we are also in a pandemic which brings with it other challenges.
“This new facility will help to reduce pressure on our A&E and on our beds, and improve care for our patients. Patients seen in the SDEC will be treated and sent home the same day – avoiding the need for a hospital admission.
“Our current A&E is small, and so this funding will also enable us to expand the floor space by relocating our Fracture Clinic, and provide additional cubicles and waiting space for patients requiring treatment.”
The trust was also awarded £2 million by the Government in August, to convert the former Wrekin Midwife Led Unit at Princess Royal Hospital into a Priorities Admissions Unit.
