Next steps in enhancing urgent care at Weston General Hospital

Plans to enhance and improve urgent care services at Weston General Hospital will be considered at a meeting of the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) Board.

The plans were originally due to be discussed at the ICB Board meeting on Thursday 2 March but this has been deferred to a later date. Papers for the rescheduled item will be published in the usual way via the ICB website.

Alongside routine, ongoing service developments, the plans, designed by local clinicians and informed by engagement with more than 5,000 local people, aim to deliver safe, high-quality and sustainable urgent care services at Weston General Hospital for people of all ages.

Central to the plans is a new Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) service, which will provide rapid assessment, diagnosis and treatment seven days a week, 8am to 10pm.

The SDEC service is designed to prevent unplanned and unnecessary stays in hospital. People will be able to access the service via the Emergency Department (ED) as well as through direct referral from a local GP or paramedic.

When fully operational, the service will be delivered by a team of doctors, nurses, advanced care practitioners and therapy staff who can access rapid diagnostic radiology tests with scope to treat up to one third (33%) of all ED attendances. 

Other plans being put in place include:

• Enhancements to the Acute Monitoring Unit (AMU) and Emergency Department Observation Unit for adults, providing faster assessment, treatment and discharge.
• Enhancements to the existing Geriatric Emergency Medicine (GEMS) service, which is already an award-winning clinical speciality at Weston General Hospital that provides emergency treatment for people who live with frailty.
• Implementing an Older People’s Assessment Unit (OPAU) – a short stay ward for older people with 14 beds for stays of up to 72 hours, with experts in care of older people providing rapid assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
• Improving and increasing surgical efficiencies in existing Weston General Hospital theatres that begin to improve access to some surgeries for local people.

The hospital will continue to provide A&E services from 8am to 10pm, exactly the same as for the last six years.

The plans form part of the ongoing Healthy Weston programme to secure a bright future for Weston General as a thriving hospital at the heart of the community. If approved, the new services would begin to be put in place from 1 April 2023.

Paula Clarke, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust’s Executive Managing Director at Weston General Hospital, said:

"The local population is growing and there are significant inequalities within our communities. It is essential that we deliver a new model of emergency care that is better able to meet these changing health and care needs, and we believe these plans do that.

"The proposed developments are part of our vision for Weston General Hospital to be a strong and dynamic hospital that is fit for the future, with a range of services providing the very best care, experience, safety, and outcomes to local people.

"The planned changes would mean more people are able to receive high-quality treatment and care faster, with shorter stays in hospital supported by closer working across hospital and community-based health and social care teams."

Annabel Plaister, Healthy Weston Patient and Public Representative, said:

"I am pleased to have been involved in the development of these plans alongside other patient and local community representatives. It’s essential for new services to be designed and shaped by taking both clinical expertise and personal experiences into account."

The plans build on the extensive engagement that has taken place on the programme over the last four years, with the most recent period of public engagement taking place between June and August 2022, providing feedback from 890 people.

During this public engagement period, 73% of respondents indicated that they thought the plans would improve the hospital, with respondents also supporting the aim to help more people go home quickly after going to hospital in an emergency.

A full report of feedback heard from the summer 2022 engagement exercise, including themes, can be found at bnssghealthiertogether.org.uk/healthyweston/.