A dedicated minor injuries unit will be unveiled at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh this Winter as part of the powerful package of measures designed to improve capacity and patient safety.
Work is already underway for the new modular unit, which will be situated next to the Emergency Department (ED), and will open in January.
The service is designed to prevent patients waiting longer than they should for treatment and will work in the same way as the highly-successful unit based at the Western General Hospital.
Tim Davison, Chief Executive, NHS Lothian, said: “The new Minor Injuries Unit makes perfect sense for patients and staff. The numbers of patients coming through the front door at the RIE is growing year on year.
“Last year our hard working teams assessed and treated 119,206 patients in the ED. But we know that many of those patients can be effectively and safely treated in a dedicated unit for minor injuries, rather than in the ED.
“It will mean a swifter treatment time for those patients and also free up expert staff and resources for patients who have sustained life-threatening injuries or conditions.”
In 2008, staff in the ED would expect to treat around 296 patients in an average day, with around 80,000 presentations each year. Over the last 10 years, that figure has surged to as many as 400 patients each day and last year 119,206 patients were reviewed and assessed in the ED.
The modular building represents an investment of around £3.8 m over two years.
It is designed to provide an interim solution while other permanent options are put in place. The unit will comprise at least six treatment bays, one treatment room and a plaster room, plus a separate reception and waiting area.
It will have a dedicated entrance, and patients will be encouraged to self-refer directly to minor injuries on arrival at the RIE, rather than to access the service via the ED.
The new unit comes after a successful trial project began in June, earlier this year, which saw patients with minor injuries following a dedicated pathway once in ED. Two dedicated cubicles were set aside and staff were assigned to focus solely on those patients.
The Minor Injuries Unit at the Western opened on 1 November 1994, breaking new ground by becoming the first nurse-led unit of its kind in Scotland. In its first full year of operation it treated nearly 10,000 patients, and the unit now treats around 25,000 people every year.
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