Admissions-busting hospital unit helps to speed up patients’ treatment this winter

A new hospital unit that is helping to reduce waiting times and overnight hospital admissions has assessed more than 1,300 patients in its first six months.

The Surgical Same Day Emergency Care (SSDEC) Unit at King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton-in-Ashfield, enables patients who have urgent and emergency surgical conditions to be assessed, have a treatment plan agreed and be discharged on the same day, without the need for admission to a hospital bed.

Ensuring patients get to the right place as quickly as possible helps to free up space in the busy Emergency Department (ED) for those who need emergency care. Before SSDEC opened, on average, around 70% of patients who had surgical conditions spent more than four hours in the ED. This has reduced to an average of less than an hour. 

The SSDEC, which initially opened for five hours a day, plans to extend its hours to 12 hours per day, Monday to Friday, to help cope with the increased pressure that winter brings. Recruitment to support the expansion of the opening hours is part of the Trust’s winter plan - a range of measures aimed at helping patients to get speedier decisions from specialist doctors, ensuring patients are only admitted if it is essential and that no-one stays in hospital longer than needed.

The unit, which includes three assessment spaces and a clinic room for minor procedures, offers a calm, relaxing environment. Patients are referred to the unit by the Emergency Department.

There are reclining chairs and trolleys to ensure patients are comfortable while they have observations, tests and treatment. The unit is staffed by a team of nurses, doctors, and advanced care practitioners.

Common surgical conditions that can be safely assessed and treated on the unit on either an outpatient or day-case basis are skin abscesses, symptomatic gallstones, wound-related problems and most cases of acute abdominal pain.

Miss Jane Patterson, a surgical consultant and Clinical Lead for SSDEC, said: “We’re very proud of what we’ve achieved. More than 80% of the patients we see are discharged home on the same day, although some do require outpatient follow-up. Both patients and staff love the service. It reduces the number of admissions and helps improve the flow of patients through the hospital, which is especially helpful during peak times such as winter.”