The Surgical Ambulatory Care Unit, based at Royal Preston Hospital, opened on the 24th April 2017 as part of a plan to improve patient experience and flow.
The service operates from Monday to Friday, admitting emergency patients with an upper GI, colorectal or urological condition, who have been referred from their GP or from A&E. The unit collaborates with the hot clinic, where allocated appointment times are given to patients in order to avoid unnecessary waiting times and hospital admissions.
Anneen Carlisle, Surgical Ambulatory Care Unit Manager at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals said: “I am immensely proud of the high standards of care given to each patient that attends the Surgical Ambulatory Care Unit by our extremely dedicated nursing staff. Our staff ensure that pain relief is given in a timely manner and that patients are kept informed of all decisions throughout their time in the unit. We have made a huge impact on the waiting times currently experienced by patients in our emergency departments and have received extremely positive feedback for our progress and commitment over the past year.”
Catherine Silcock, Divisional Nursing Director at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals said: “The work that the team at the Surgical Ambulatory Care Unit has done over the past year has been incredible, and there are exciting times ahead. We are already discussing plans to expand the unit to a seven day service, which will enable us to help more patients and have even more impact on patient experience and flow.”
Mr. Haq, Consultant Urologist at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals said: “Our Surgical Ambulatory Care Unit has streamlined the admission of short-term surgical patients attending our hospitals with outstanding feedback from our patients and from GPs. The unit is benefiting our local community, thanks to our brilliant team working there.”