Relieving A&E pressure

As major incidents were declared in a number of hospitals throughout the country with staff struggling to cope with the number of patients, could turnkey temporary facilities be the solution?

Seasonal surge in healthcare demand continues to dominate the headlines at this time of year.

This time last year we were called in by Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to relieve pressure on their accident and emergency department over winter with a temporary Urgent Care Centre.

Temporary facilities in practice

Our 13.6m Liberty Plus facility consisting of 3 medical trailers was located outside the hospital’s A&E department and patients with minor injuries were referred to and treated within the temporary facility.

A covered walkway took patients from the hospital to the facility, which housed three consultation rooms, a dirty utility area, main waiting area with separate children’s area, reception and toilets as well as a private office for staff.

A&E case in point

This project demonstrates how the local health system can work effectively in partnership.

Part of a £1.6m investment from NHS England to help the NHS in Central Norfolk deal with rising demand during the winter made the initiative possible. It was then down to joined up working across services including Trusts, CCGs and community health partners to drive the commission. Healthcare was then carried out by a combination of GPs, nurses, therapists, mental health staff and social workers. Over a four month period one in five A&E patients at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were referred to the temporary Urgent Care Centre.

NHS clinical environments

We have a range of medical trailers such as Liberty Plus which provides 4 consultation rooms and Liberty Quad which includes a ward space. Both facilities can be tailored precisely to meet the needs of healthcare providers. Designed to meet stringent NHS standards, they provide a comfortable and reassuring clinical environment for both medical staff and patients. They can be quickly transformed to create virtually any clinical environment from Minor Injuries Unit to GP Surgery, Audiology, Ophthalmic and Dental suites.

With the potential to be installed on site within a day, no structural site alterations or craning is required - just a minimal footprint of hard surface is needed for parking and access to on-site utilities.

If you’d like to talk about how a turnkey temporary solution may work for you, get in touch today.