A "RADICAL" change is in order for people who take themselves to a Dorset hospital in an emergency.
Patients who self-admit at Royal Bournemouth Hospital in an emergency situation will now have to check in at the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC).
The change will help relieve pressure on a stretched ambulance service and improve patient care and safety.
Read more: 18-hour A&E waits and queues of ambulances at BCP hospitals
The two buildings are located next to each other, and patients visiting will be directed around the new changes by volunteers.
The accident and emergency unit has recently been seeing activity higher than pre-pandemic and as a result waiting times are increasing.
Across Univeristy Hospitals Dorset, around 500 patients come through A&E and urgent treatment centre doors each day.
Michelle Higgins, emergency and urgent services general manager at University Hospitals Dorset, said: “We know that people don’t like waiting, so we are trying to address the big issue of waiting times.
“So we are now going for radical change at a time where there is a huge amount of pressure already and bring our walk-ins to the urgent treatment centre.
“The move is still in its early days and tests are ongoing to determine what workforce would be required to accommodate the changes, what services are needed and who the right people are to get to first time.
“The top of our priority list is that we completely eliminate our ambulance waiting times.
By putting the minor injuries and illness patients into the Urgent Treatment Centre – an umbrella term for a range of services including same day emergency care, minor injuries and primary care – it is hoped that vulnerable patients in accident and emergency are protected from Covid and the overall care is of a higher quality.
Royal Bournemouth Hospital is also working on a way for patients to call in and book an appointment at the Urgent Treatment Centre at a convenient time, allowing for a quieter waiting room.
She added: “It is a lot of work to do in the next couple of years, but we are starting with testing these new roles, what it looks like for our triage nurses and senior nurses at the front door."
Read more: Inside Royal Bournemouth Hospital's emergency departments
Over the past four weeks, the hospital has also been testing a ‘Front Door Streaming trial’, when both walk-in patients and ambulance patients are seen by a senior decision maker, either a senior nurse, registrar or a consultant, and blood tests can be done immediately with results coming back within minutes.
“We also want feedback from our staff and patients," Ms Higgins said.
“It is well known that there are delays in hospitals, but we are focusing on what we can do to get back to what is normal for an emergency department.
“We’re seeing much sicker patients post-pandemic as the waiting lists have built up and people have stayed away from hospitals and deteriorated, which is why our walk-ins are being moved to the Urgent Treatment Centre."
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