The people of East Lancashire and Blackburn with Darwen are set to benefit from additional funding to improve emergency care as part of a national investment programme.
More than £145 million has been pledged to NHS Trusts across the country ahead of winter to improve emergency care.
Thanks to similar funding received last year, bosses at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust are pleased to announce that a new Ambulatory Emergency Care Unit (AECU) will open at the Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital on Friday 14 September 2018.
The AECU will manage adult patients who arrive at the Emergency Department or Urgent Care Centres with a range of conditions. These will include those with low risk chest pain and suspected pulmonary embolisms.
The AECU will be relocating from the old ambulatory care unit to the new site on level 1. The unit will focus on assessment, stabilisation and treatment of patients who can be successfully discharged home the same day.
John Bannister, Director of Operations the Trust said:
“This purpose built unit aims to improve quality by enabling patients to access appropriate treatment sooner. It will relieve pressure on our Emergency and Urgent Care departments whilst reducing patient waiting times. This will also provide our patients with a better environment and experience.
“In addition to this, for those patients who require a return follow up appointment, there will also be a new Ambulatory Care Review Clinic service. This will operate for three hours per day, initially for two days per week expanding to five days as the demand builds.”
“We have also recently submitted a bid for £7.5m to further expand our emergency care facilities on the Royal Blackburn Hospital site. A further £2.4 will be invested by the Trust as part of this project should the bid be successful.”