21 October 2011
In September, we announced a £742,000 investment into emergency care at Epsom and St Helier hospitals – funds that have allowed us to make some significant improvements to the way that we treat and discharge our patients.
This cash boost has funded a team of six additional senior doctors who assess seriously ill or injured patients as soon as they are admitted to hospital. This means that a treatment plan, decisions about a patients’ care and a plan for their discharge can be made quickly and efficiently by a senior member of medical staff.
In addition, we are working even more closely with social services to make sure that there are no delays in discharging those patients who will need continuing care at home.
These improvements mean that our patients do not spend longer than is necessary in hospital, and as a result, we have reduced the number of beds at Epsom Hospital by 34.
As a consequence, we no longer need Alex ward to operate as a large general medicine ward and Croft ward (which is currently on the outskirts of the hospital site) has moved – along with its nurses and other staff – into Alex. Croft is our dedicated care of the elderly ward.
The 'old' Croft ward will be used as a ‘cohort’ ward, where patients with infectious illnesses, such as MRSA, will be treated. It is estimated that six beds will be open at any one time.
Chief Executive Matthew Hopkins said: "This isn't about reducing the numbers of patients we see, or reducing the level of care we are providing. This is about improving the way we do things and making sure that each and every one of our patients gets the very best from us.
"It is important to note that we would never discharge a patient before they were ready to leave hospital. The fact is, we simply do not need that number of beds at the moment, and there is no point in staffing empty beds.
"If it so happens that during winter, we become increasingly busy and we need more beds, we can of course 'flex' our bed numbers and open additional beds."
