East Cheshire NHS Trust receives £2.2 investment into a new same day care unit to help patient flow

Patients who are referred for same day treatment to Macclesfield Hospital will experience a more efficient care journey thanks to a £2.2 million investment into a new, same day emergency care (SDEC) unit.

The new unit will operate separately from the emergency department and will ensure that patients who have already been diagnosed by their GP or via NHS 111 will be fast-tracked to the right specialist at the very beginning of their visit to hospital.

Dr Tom Bartram, Emergency Department Specialist at East Cheshire NHS Trust said, “Our patients will benefit as they will be seen by specialist clinicians outside of the emergency department which will reduce the length of their hospital stay.”

The same day emergency care unit will create a more streamlined and efficient process for staff and patients alike, as well as helping with infection control whilst the hospital has reduced capacity due to social distancing measures.

East Cheshire NHS Trust Chief Operating Officer, Simon Goff, said, “This investment is a really positive development for the hospital and the patients that we care for. The new unit will give us the additional space and capacity required to treat same day patients swiftly and allow them to go home faster.”

Work has now commenced on the unit which is located adjacent to the emergency department on the Macclesfield Hospital site and is due for completion by December 2020.

• NHS England has released guidance to introduce a separate, same day emergency care unit which will take direct referrals at trusts across the country.
• The investment is part of a government initiative created to assess to admit rather than admit to assess ensuring patients spend less time waiting in hospital for the right treatment pathway to be decided for them.

• For further information about East Cheshire NHS Trust please visit: http://www.eastcheshire.nhs.uk/ or contact the trust press office on 01625 663935. For urgent, out-of-hours enquiries, please call 01625 421000.
• East Cheshire NHS Trust is the main provider of acute and community health services for the people of East Cheshire. The trust is based at Macclesfield District General Hospital.
• Follow East Cheshire NHS Trust on Twitter for all the latest news - @EastCheshireNHS