From today (Monday 17 May), those aged over 75 and not in need immediate emergency care will be taken to a frailty unit at Queen’s Hospital, bypassing the traditional Emergency Department (ED) route in an effort to provide the specialist care they need and reduce wait times for all our ED patients.

The unit will be staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of geriatricians, nurses and therapists who will be able to provide the targeted care these vulnerable patients need, right from the offset. By giving them a comprehensive geriatrics assessment on arrival, we can minimise the time spent in our hospitals, with the overall aim of reducing admissions where possible.

This is the second frailty unit for our Trust, joining Beech ward, our frailty unit at King George Hospital.

It’s a key part of how we’re working to improve our performance against the four-hour standard and reduce the number of patients experiencing longer waits of up to 12 hours. Providing more targeted care to this select group of frail, elderly patients will remove a large proportion of patients from our ED, allowing our team to focus on other patients, getting them the care they need more quickly. This will improve the experience in our hospitals for all patients.

Our Chief Executive, Tony Chambers, said: “This is a great addition to our hospital for our frail, elderly patients, who make up a large percentage of our ED attendances and often end up spending longer than we would like in the department.

“By giving them the specialist care they need from a targeted team, we hope to be able to get more of these patients back to their own homes with support in the community, rather than needing to stay in hospital, which we know can lead to loss of independence for many of them.”

We’re working closely with our local healthcare partners, including the London Ambulance Service, to deliver this new service.

The frailty unit, which operates 24 hours a day, allows our teams to work more efficiently while reducing duplication. The specialist team in the unit can ensure the right tests are requested for patients earlier, and take a more holistic view of their care from the start.

The unit is situated alongside our ED, on the ground floor at Queen’s Hospital.