NHS 75: The Newcastle hospital team taking the pressure off emergency departments

Patients are referred to the Emergency Admission Suite from across the region for specialist treatments. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

To mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS, we take an in-depth look at the impact of health services in the North East. Here, we examine the work of the emergency admission suite at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital.

The words "frontline" and "emergency" tend to evoke images of busy A&E departments.

At Newcastle's Freeman Hospital, a team is responding to some high-priority patients using a different approach.

The emergency admission suite treats people with a range of specific conditions by matching them with specialist care.

  • Watch Helen Ford's report

It cuts out the need for those patients to go to A&E, meaning they should be seen by the right doctor at the earlier possible stage.

It is a first port of call for patients like Peta Alberici, who has used it on many occasions for a continuing medical issue.

She said: "When I am unwell it can get very acute very quickly and if I come into the Freeman onto this suite I get immediate attention."

Ms Alberici added: "Usually I get my antibiotics and things up very, very quickly which would not be the case at all if I went into the A and E department.

"If I went into A&E they would look at me and send me here."

What is the Emergency Admission Suite?

  • On average, the suite sees around 35 patients per day.

  • It caters for those with conditions ranging from urinary, gall bladder and liver issues to vascular and ENT problems.

  • Patients have to be referred to the unit from, for example, a GP, community nurses or an A&E department.

  • Patients are referred to the unit from across the North East.

  • A proportion of patients are treated on the unit and discharged while others are admitted to wards in the Freeman Hospital for further care.

Conditions linked to the urinary system are among the most regularly-treated at the unit.

Consultant urological surgeon Alistair Rogers believes the emergency admission suite is vital to provide an immediate response to complaints which can get worse very quickly.

He said: "If patients were seen at the A&E at the RVI (Royal Victoria Infirmary) or elsewhere in the region and then had to come to one of the inpatient wards, it would be very difficult to be as efficient."

The Emergency Admission Suite is open 24 hours a day and is busiest from noon until midnight. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

For hospital bosses, the unit is also a vital tool is reducing pressure on teams in Newcastle's main emergency department at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Senior nursing sister Susan Bentley said: "It's to take the heat off accident and emergency.

"If (patients) go to the GP with a problem or community services they can refer directly to us rather than a patient going to A&E."

Meanwhile, for Newcastle Hospitals' deputy Chief Operating Officer Nichola Kenny, the benefits go further .

She says the unit safeguards capacity elsewhere in the system to ensure that planned procedures can take place.

This, she explained, is vital as the NHS works to reduce waiting lists.

"Some of the urgent and emergency pressures really take over the capacity in the hospital ... so the more we can do to streamline that and get patients to the right place first time, that means we can protect that capacity that we've got for patients who have planned care."

The Freeman Hospital's emergency admissions suite is among a number of initiatives aimed at reducing pressures elsewhere in the system: a facility aimed at streamlining the system and providing specialist care at the same time.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...