New A&E Unit for Hammersmith Hospital
State-of-the-art facility opens in DuCane Road
A new, state-of-the-art emergency unit has opened at Hammersmith Hospital.
The £2.7 million facility, located on the ground floor of the building, will soon be joined by the new Hammersmith Centre for Health on the first floor, which will offer patients urgent care and GP appointments when it opens later in April.
Martina Dinneen, head of operations for medicine at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said the new emergency unit offered a much improved environment for patients and staff.
“The building is light, modern and airy and puts a much greater emphasis on privacy and dignity with a purpose-built critical care area, five assessment and treatment cubicles and several specialist side rooms, which will improve infection prevention and control,” she said.
The emergency unit also includes a new imaging suite, purpose-built isolation rooms and a relatives’ room.
Patients who go to the new facility will first be seen by a GP who will decide whether they should be treated by emergency unit specialists or at the Hammersmith Centre for Health.
“Although the emergency unit will continue to see all patients who require critical care, patients who walk into the Hammersmith Centre for Health will have a rapid assessment and increased choice about where and how to access the most suitable healthcare,” said Dinneen.
The Hammersmith Centre for Health will also see scheduled visitors and serve as a general practice for local residents offering extended hours and local enhanced services such as blood testing and smoking cessation.
30 March 2009
