Patient care gets boost at hospital with new unit (From Warrington Guardian)

Patient care gets boost at hospital with new unit

PATIENT care at Warrington hospital has been boosted by the creation of a surgical assessment unit (SAU).

The seven bed unit has been up and running since the beginning of March and provides a dedicated, centralised area for seriously ill surgical patients referred by their GP or the accident and emergency department.

Patients referred to the unit have rapid access to assessment, diagnostic and treatment facilities carried out by a highly skilled team specifically trained to manage seriously ill patients.

Antony Murphy, senior nurse manager of the surgical directorate, said: "It mirrors the successful implementation of our GP assessment unit and further enhances a patient's journey through hospital.

"IT is an ongoing development designed to evolve, adapting to the changing surgical services across the trust."

The SAU is open every day from 10am until 8.30pm, seven days a week and sees all patients over 16 who require an assessment by the on-call surgical team.

Once the patient arrives, they are assessed by the surgical team and a decision is made whether the patient needs to be admitted to hospital or discharged.

If a patient is admitted they will be allocated a bed on an appropriate ward. If they are discharged, arrangements will be made by the SAU nurse for any follow up treatment.