Patients are being seen and treated more quickly in a hospital emergency unit – after building works to transform it were completed.
The works in the emergency assessment unit at the University Hospital of North Tees have been finished in less than a year.
Over this period an outdoor courtyard space has been built on to create a purpose built unit – thanks to joint working between clinical teams and contractors.
This has helped create a range of new facilities including new waiting areas, assessment rooms, triage rooms, a procedure room, a doctors’ office and as well a new patient monitoring system directly linked to the hospital’s electronic patient records system.
The £2.7million works were funded from part of the £5million the organisation was awarded as part of the as part of NHS England’s winter incentive initiative.
This recognises health trusts that exceed 76% of emergency care patients being treated within four hours of arriving at hospital and completing more than 90% of ambulance patient handovers within 30 minutes.
The Trust is regularly one of the best performing organisations in the country against the ‘four hour standard’ target for treating patients.
Works will allow unit to make further progress
Kate Armitage, consultant in acute medicine, said: “Having this space will allow us to take the service even further forward.
“It will help us to get patients treated more quickly and back home the same day more often and is also hugely beneficial for the staff here.
“Our team have done a phenomenal job in the past in often difficult circumstances, particularly in winter months when we treat more patients. Staff have always done the best they possibly could but never in an area that was designed for the care we provide.
“Now we have a space that is fit for purpose, to provide that high quality care and help the team make further progress.
“I want to thank everybody who has supported the project and funded it, including to estates colleagues and to the architects and the designers.”
Works are thanks to hospital’s high performance
Stacey Hunter, chief executive of University Hospitals Tees, said: “Thank you all staff in the unit for all of their commitment and patience during the works, as well as to the companies involved in the construction works.
“Staff and patients are really satisfied with the environment they are now in.
“We only got the opportunity to spend this money because our performance across our urgent and emergency care service – something also contributed to by teams across the whole organisation – over the last year has been one of the best in the country.
“Our clinical colleagues got us to this stage. Our frontline teams do brilliant work all day, every day and it is really nice to give something back to them as well as to the patients who will benefit so much from this.”
Professor Derek Bell, chair at University Hospitals Tees, added: “This is a significant improvement in the space we have for both patients and their loved ones as well as for our staff.
“A big thank you to me to everyone involved for what they have helped achieve.”
Guests from companies involved in the site construction were invited along to an official opening event in the unit this week.
This included representatives from NTH Solutions who have overseen the project.
Complex project carried out by teams
Dave Younger, design and development manager, said: “Faced with limited space, we extended the department by infilling the courtyard with a steel frame structure.
“This enabled the addition of two waiting areas, two triage rooms, six treatment rooms, nine treatment chair spaces, and four bed clinic rooms, significantly increasing capacity. To optimise patient space, a packaged plant room was installed above the frame, with dedicated access for maintenance.”
Glen Newby, head of design and development, said: “Collaborative working is central to our approach. This project exemplifies the positive contributions made by our clinical colleagues, designers, contractors, and subcontractors in delivering a high-quality facility for Teesside patients.”
“We extend our thanks to P&HS Architects, BGP Structural Engineers, TG Armstrong, Driver Project Services, Richmond Safety Services, Geoffrey Robinson Ltd, and especially the latter’s site management team for delivering this complex project with such expertise on time and within budget.”