New hospital building is ‘one-stop-shop’ for improving patient care
The ground floor of a new building at Southend Hospital has opened to patients, helping ensure they get fast-tracked to the right specialist care.
Bringing together specialist teams of surgical, medical and orthopaedic staff has created a one-stop-shop designed especially for Same Day Emergency Care patients, whose treatments need less than a day in hospital. That includes patients who need tests, a CT scan, have simple chest pains, need antibiotics or have deep vein thrombosis and need clot busting drugs.
Laura Gibbons, matron for acute medicine services, said: “Having these patients coming directly to us, or via the Emergency Department, helps them be seen quicker and stops them being admitted to hospital. With speciality assessment areas, it’s all about seeing the patient in the right place, first time.
“There is no staying overnight in this new area, which is great for patients and good for helping keep beds empty in the hospital for people who need them.”
The new spacious area, which will initially welcome 100 patients a day, includes eight assessment cubicles to see patients when they first arrive and three large side rooms for patients who may need further investigation and treatment.
There’s also a seven-seat treatment bay area with electric recliner chairs to make it more comfortable and quicker for patients who need an IV infusion. It also has designated ultrasound scanning, so that patients don’t need to go elsewhere in the hospital.
Laura added: “Bringing these areas together is all about speeding up the pathway for patients and helping us provide an improved patient experience. It’s a lovely environment for patients, and staff working there, and is something everybody should be very proud of. It will allow us to provide a better service to patients in a much nicer, more welcoming area.”
The modular build, which has now been named the Cherry Tree Wing after the row of cherry trees outside it, is set to have a phased opening with the first and second floor – featuring a trauma and surgical assessment unit – due to open to patients at the start of June.