Basingstoke Hospital celebrated the opening of a new unit last week with the aid of a special guest.
HM Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson Esq, cut the ribbon to unveil the new extended Ambulatory Care Unit at Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital.
Mr Atkinson was welcomed to the hospital by outgoing mayor and mayoress of Basingstoke and Deane, councillors Paul and Jane Frankum, chief executive of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Alex Whitfield, and Felicity Greene, chief executive of North Hampshire Urgent Care based at Basingstoke Hospital.
The unit was first conceived more than three years ago by consultant Dr Tanuj Lad and his team.
The concept provides same day medical assessment and discharge for patients who may otherwise have been admitted through the Emergency Department or Acute Assessment Unit.
Patient flow throughout the hospital is improved as a result of the additional unit, as well as improving patients’ experience and the outcome of their care.
Speaking at the event, Dr Lad said: “The unit has trebled in size since it was first opened, allowing us to provide outstanding care and create capacity around the hospital.
“I’d like to thank our patients for the excellent feedback they provided for the unit, it allowed us to keep them at the centre of the unit’s development.”
Basingstoke Hospital first provided ambulatory care in December 2015.
The service would typically see an average of 40 patients a month.
The model proved to be so successful that building work began 13 months later to provide an extension.
This new unit will enable the hospital to now see an average of 250 to 300 patients a month.
Chairman of Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Elizabeth Padmore, said: “I’d like to thank and congratulate all of the staff for their continued hard work in opening and running the unit.
“It’s the vision our clinicians such as Dr Lad and the hard work of his team and all of our staff, that mean we can continue to implement developments like this, that help us to improve patient care, which is at the heart of everything we do.”
