A NORTH Yorkshire hospital has opened a new unit which reduces the need for patients to stay overnight and frees up beds for the more seriously-ill.
The new service at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, allows emergency patients who would usually stay in hospital to be treated as outpatients – or even in their own homes.
The new ambulatory care and OHPAT - outpatient and home parenteral antimicrobial treatment – unit at the Friarage Hospital, Northallerton, was officially opened by Richmond MP Rishi Sunak.
During a pilot, the unit has seen around 300 patients a month who need urgent diagnostics and treatment for conditions as diverse as skin infection and liver failure. Although in urgent need of help, the patients were not unwell enough to need an overnight stay in hospital.
The unit is staffed by an 11-strong team, including consultants, GPs and nurses, and during the first pilot year it has saved over 4,000 overnight stays, with demand for the service steadily growing.
Consultant in infectious diseases Dr James Dunbar said: “The team is providing excellent same-day emergency care for the benefit of hundreds of patients.
“Essentially we provide rapid diagnostics and treatment for people who need urgent assessment and care but are not so sick that they need to be admitted to hospital as an inpatient.
“Previously the majority of patients we see would have been admitted to hospital which means more beds are now available for people who really need to be in a hospital bed, while at the same time we’re providing the same level of care and promoting care closer to home for our local communities.”
Nurse practitioner Elaine Vance added: “We’re serving a huge rural area and have staff also co-ordinating care in the local communities.” She gave as an example district teams giving intravenous antibiotics and, in some cases, teaching patients and families to administer medication at home.
“It’s giving appropriate care out in the community, which is where it should be, so people in Leyburn for instance don’t have to make the long journey in for treatment,” she added.
Mr Sunak, speaking at the official opening, said: “This is great news for the hospital and the many thousands of people who use it.
“The unit is an innovative investment in the future of the Friarage and a good example of how the hospital is ahead of many others in finding the best and most effective way to treat patients.”
He thanked the staff and the Friends of the hospital for working together to make it possible
The Friends of the Friarage Hospital donated £42,000, an ECG machine, beds, pumps, trollies and furniture for the unit.
Friends chairman Upendra Somasundram said: “Every penny we raise at the moment through fundraising is going towards the MRI Scanner Appeal – the donation for this new service has come entirely from the proceeds of the Friends hospital shop.
“This is such a wonderful service for local people and is going to benefit many, many more patients. It’s great that we have facilities such as these at the Friarage run by such dedicated staff and that these new developments are happening in the hospital.”