More emergency patients will be able to be seen at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn, with the opening of a new unit.
The Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) unit has opened to extend the Ambulatory Emergency Care (AEC) unit to provide gold standard, same day care for patients who would otherwise have been admitted overnight.
Previously, the AEC unit, which treated emergency day case patients who didn’t require bedded care, could care for up to 40 patients, but with the new SDEC this has expanded capacity to potentially see another 25 patients per day, with six trollies available for patients with reduced mobility, split evenly between male and female patients.
The SDEC unit is fully equipped with monitors that can measure heart rate and blood pressure, along with Point of Care Testing equipment, which analyses blood samples and gives results in less than 20 minutes.
The opening hours for the unit are 8.30am-12.30am, Monday to Friday and 9am-7pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Matron Debbie Longmuir said: “The Acute Medical team recognises the specific needs of our population with regards to increased numbers of patients that could be seen, treated and discharged on the same day and the need to provide support and services to them.”
“The aim is to try and have patients seen within a short timescale providing a gold standard service with a 3-4 hour potential assessment time so they can be discharged safely back to the comfort of their home without the need for a prolonged stay in hospital.”
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