Ambulance hub in operation at county acute hospital

A freestanding ambulance hub is in operation at Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford to provide a better experience for patients.

The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs PRH, secured £1.2 million to create the ambulance hub.

This freestanding building adjacent to the Emergency Department opened in April 2023, providing eight spaces, which enables patients to be offloaded from ambulances and be assessed. It also frees up capacity within the hospital for planned care.

A further £114,000 was secured to increase the size of the Discharge Lounge providing eight additional spaces at PRH. These lounges are for patients who are due to be discharged that day and who are waiting for medication or transportation. This helps free up beds and reduce waits for patients waiting to be admitted from A&E.

SaTH’s ED team work collaboratively with West Midlands Ambulance Service and the Welsh Ambulance Service at the hub to care for patients within the hospital rather than on ambulances and releases them to respond to new emergency calls.

Sara Biffen, Acting Chief Operating Officer for The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust which runs Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, said: “We are increasing capacity and reducing waiting times so that our patients can be seen as quickly as possible, in the right place, and this investment is supporting us to do this.

“Our patients are already starting to benefit from fewer delays, including those arriving by ambulance, and we will continue to work with our local health and social care partners to build on this.

“We also need the public to seek the care they need in the most clinically appropriate setting such as using pharmacies and 111 online, especially during periods of exceptional pressure which includes planned industrial action by junior doctors this week.”

Nathan Hudson, Emergency Services Operations Delivery Director at West Midlands Ambulance Service, said: “The introduction of the Ambulance Hub is excellent news for patients and our ambulance crews. With the extra capacity allowing for patients to be handed over more quickly, it means not only are they able to receive the best level of care, it also means our staff are able to respond to the next 999 call in the community.

“We will continue to work hard with our partners to find further ways to reduce handover delays, so our crews can respond more quickly and save lives.”