£2.5m upgrade at hospital will improve patient care

A £2.5 million improvement project on the emergency care facilities at the Royal United Hospital in Bath is under way.

The project comes after a successful funding bid to central government from the hospital trust and it is hoped the changes will improve ambulance handover times.

Among other improvements, the money will increase capacity in the accident and emergency department with a new three-bed resuscitation area created to care for patients arriving by ambulance who need resuscitation or major care.

RUH chief executive Cara CharlesBarks said: “These improvements will have a really positive impact, improving the experience our patients have when they arrive at our front door for emergency care.

“This project will increase overall capacity within the emergency department and ensure that patients are triaged and cared for in the most appropriate location based on their clinical need.”

She continued: “It will also benefit ambulance crews, by improving their access to A&E to safely offload critically unwell patients.

“We would like to reassure our patients that they will still receive the same excellent level of care from the RUH while these improvement works take place, though we would like to apologise in advance for any increase in noise and construction traffic on site.”

Another key strand of improvement works will be same day emergency care services - providing the same daycare for patients who would otherwise be admitted to hospital.

Under this care model, patients can be rapidly assessed, diagnosed and treated without being admitted to a ward and, if clinically safe to do so, will go home the same day their care is provided. The types of conditions managed through sameday emergency care vary but can include conditions such as deep vein thrombosis, pneumonia and diabetes.

As part of this service, a new entrance to A&E will be created for those patients arriving for same-day emergency care.

The money will also relocate the trauma assessment unit to a new, permanent, modern space within the trauma and orthopaedic outpatient unit, complete with new equipment.

Patients will be seen quicker, with those referred by their GP being admitted directly to the unit.

The project is due to be completed by the end of March 2021.

The hospital has said it is busier than usual at the moment and has asked patients to call 111 first before coming in.

But people with very serious or life-threatening health conditions, such as chest pain, severe bleeding or loss of consciousness, should still continue to phone 999.

In a previous statement, a spokesman for the RUH confirmed it was “very busy, treating both Covid and non-covid patients, while attendances at its accident and emergency department continue to be high.”