New initiative launched to get patients seen quicker and paramedics back on the road
Published: 18 January 2023
A new Ambulance Receiving Centre (ARC), has opened its doors at New Cross Hospital, helping patients to been seen quicker and allowing paramedics to get back on the road to get to those in need of their help sooner.
The ARC, which has been opened as part OneWolverhampton Partnership’s plans to ease pressures on the Emergency Department over winter, will provide an additional 17 ambulance offload spaces, as well as additional staff to support with handovers.
Chief Operating Officer at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Gwen Nuttall said: “Although it is early days for the Ambulance Receiving Centre, we are seeing that is enabling us to release ambulance crews back onto the road quicker than before. The ARC is also a much better facility for patients who are waiting to be seen than the back of an ambulance and it also allows us to start the triage process sooner.”
Michelle Brotherton, Assistant Chief Ambulance Officer, said: “The pressures we are seeing in health and social care lead to long hospital handover delays with our crews left caring for patients that need admitting to hospital rather than responding to the next call. We continue to work incredibly hard with all of our NHS and social care partners to prevent these delays and are pleased to see this initiative by New Cross Hospital to help us hand over patients quickly so that our crews can respond more rapidly and save more lives.”