NHS reveals new urgent care centre plan at ‘super’ hospital to combat A&E waiting times
Plans for an urgent treatment centre designed to cut A&E waiting times at the region’s newest ‘super’ hospital have been revealed by the NHS.
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The new centre would be built at the huge new £988 million Midland Metropolitan University Hospital in Smethwick.
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust said the urgent treatment centre would be used to assess patients and direct non-emergency cases away from the hospital’s main A&E. This would reduce the number of patients and waiting times in A&E, the trust said.
The trust also said the building would be used to treat patients with minor injuries in the future.
The centre would open in late summer next year, according to the NHS trust.
A statement from the NHS trust included with the application: “The urgent treatment centre will be required to support and manage the increasing burden on the emergency department of the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, by triaging less serious injuries away from the emergency department.
“The urgent treatment centre will be the key element of a new integrated model of emergency, urgent, and ambulatory care via a single front door that will stream all urgent and emergency patients to the right place, first time, every time.
"The urgent treatment centre will have a dual purpose, to triage patients and to provide healthcare services. When patients arrive at the urgent treatment centre, they will be triaged and directed straight to the unit that will treat them, avoiding emergency department attendance where appropriate. The urgent treatment centre will initially provide urgent care only but will have both the capability and capacity to serve patients with minor injuries at a later date.”
The plans show the urgent treatment centre would be able to provide for an average of 230 patients – and up to 350 patients – with around 40 staff.
The hospital is finally set to open its doors in October – six years after the original opening date The near billion-pound hospital was supposed to be opening this spring but was delayed again – with NHS bosses admitting they were now looking to October before the site would be ready. This spring’s opening date would have already been six years behind schedule.
The construction of the hospital has been hampered by delays following the collapse of construction firm Carillion in 2018 and the Covid-19 pandemic.
A plan to build a new 1,300-student £19 million teaching campus on the site of the much-delayed new hospital was approved by Sandwell Council last year. The education and skills campus will provide a range of healthcare training from entry to masters level with links to the new hospital.
