Since the opening of its Combined Assessment Unit in April, University Hospital Crosshouse has seen an improvement in its performance against the A&E target to see, treat or discharge patients within four hours.
Over the past three months (April to June) performance has averaged 96.1% compared to 89.0% for the same period last year.
The state-of-the-art Combined Assessment Unit (CAU) is part of the Building for Better Care programme, with a Scottish Government investment of £27.5 million in ‘front door’ services at both University Hospital Ayr and University Hospital Crosshouse.
The CAU allows the hospital to work in new ways, helping to improve patient experience and providing enhanced care across the hospital system. The unit, which operates 24 hours a day, receives medical patients who have been referred by their GP and from A&E and has facilities to assess and treat patients so that only those who need further inpatient care are admitted to hospital.
During her visit to the CAU today, Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell said:
“It is promising that University Hospital Crosshouse has seen a steady improvement in A&E performance over the last few months. This is due to the dedication of staff from across the hospital who have worked extremely hard to improve the experience for patients in unscheduled care.
“The creation of the Combined Assessment Unit has built on the good work already underway, which is supported by the national unscheduled care six essential actions programme. This has contributed towards the improved performance in A&E and importantly helped bring down waiting times for patients."
Kenneth Gibson commented:
“Scotland’s A&E performance at core, 24 hour, consultant-led A&E sites has been outperforming those elsewhere in the UK for 15 consecutive months now.
“Investments such as Building for Better Care demonstate the Scottish Government’s commitment to providing unscheduled care and it is rewarding to see it paying off at Crosshouse. Much credit is due to NHS Ayrshire & Arran staff for implementing the essential actions to minimise A&E and assessment unit waiting times.
“Construction of the CAU at University Hospital Ayr is scheduled to be completed next spring, which will undoubtedly lead to another significant reduction in waiting times for unscheduled care in North Ayrshire.
"It is heartening to see such progress and I look forward to this continuing in the weeks and months ahead."
ENDS
