Patients in the East of England are set to benefit from improved healthcare as a new emergency department opens at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust (QEH).
The new department features increased space for ambulance handovers which will allow paramedics and other staff to smoothly transfer the care of patients.
Walk-in patients will also benefit from improved space to be triaged, seen and treated, while the overall layout will better enable staff oversight.
Care for those with potentially infectious conditions will also be enhanced by side rooms with doors rather than curtains – people presenting with mental health conditions will have a dedicated space in the new emergency department, as will paediatric services.
The revamp comes as QEH highlights that attendances at its A&E have almost doubled in the last 10 years. A decade ago, 120 patients were seen daily, now that number is closer to 220.
The trust has invested a total of £2.7m into the new facility, with the equipment being provided by King’s Lynn Hospital’s League of Friends.
“We know space had been an issue in our ED for some time, the department had outgrown its previous footprint, and has led to challenges within the department,” said Fran Rose-Smith, the trust’s divisional general manager for urgent and emergency care.
“We hope this newly laid out area will help us to manage some of these challenges moving forward, alleviate some of this pressure and allow for a better flow of patients.”
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