RD&E opens revamped Medical Triage Unit to reduce unnecessary admissions

A medical unit designed to assess patients quickly and avoid unnecessary admission into hospital has been reopened following a major £1 million refit.

The RD&E’s Medical Triage Unit (MTU) provides rapid diagnosis and care to stable emergency patients referred from their local GP or the RD&E’s Emergency Department. The unit allows patients to be treated by expert clinical teams in a bed or seated in a treatment area if mobile, without being admitted to hospital. The unit’s overall purpose is to minimise unnecessary hospital admissions, which can sometimes delay a patient’s recovery and create extra pressure on inpatient beds around the hospital, especially during the busy winter season.

The MTU is part of the RD&E’s Acute Medical Unit, which has seen numbers of patients rise in recent years from around 40 patients a day a decade ago to currently 70-100 a day now. The improved layout allows patients to be assessed more rapidly and where appropriate be seen in private clinic rooms rather than automatically being admitted to a bed. There are also special touches such as restful Dartmoor photographic art created by RD&E staff member Andy Cosway and funded by the League of Friends.

Key features include:

• A new ambulatory care suite with two triage rooms and two consultation rooms with space for up to 14 patients at any one time
• Two dedicated triage spaces for patients on trolleys or in beds. A new testing room for rapid diagnosis of contagious illnesses such as ‘flu and norovirus
• An improved nurses and doctors station allowing clinicians to stay closer to patients
• New reception and staffroom areas.

The unit, which is part of the RD&E’s Acute Medical Unit, was reopened to patients on Christmas Eve following a three-month refit and funding from NHS Improvement.

Faye O’Brien, an accountant from Silverton, Devon, was among the first patients to be seen in the unit at lunchtime on reopening day after being referred by her GP. She said: “I’ve been feeling unwell for a couple of weeks. I expected to come to A&E, I thought a lot of people just went there. I saw my GP at 10.40am and it’s been good to be seen so quickly. It means hopefully I can get back home to my family on Christmas Eve.”

Dr Helen Lockett, Clinical Lead for Acute Medicine and Ambulatory Care, said: “Our new layout and extra space means we can assess and treat our patients more rapidly. This is good for patients because we can help get them on the correct treatment pathways and back to their own homes more quickly, and often on the same day. It also means we can more rapidly move acutely unwell patients, who require admission, through to inpatient beds for specialist care.

“It’s been a challenging project to complete in time for the busy winter period but I’m thrilled the unit has reopened with minimum disruption and we can now concentrate on giving our patients the best possible service.”