From Monday 5 October, the Acute Medical Service at Harrogate District Hospital has changed with the aim of being more responsive for acute medical admissions, providing smooth patient flow through the hospital and improved experience for ambulatory and acute admissions.
Known as the FLIP Project, the following has been created:
Bolton Ward will now be known as the Clinical Assessment, Triage and Treatment Unit (CATT). All admissions from the Emergency Department or GPs will be admitted to the CATT and seen by the acute physician and provided with a plan of care prior to either discharge home or transfer to a medical ward. It is anticipated that if patients require a bed that they will stay on the unit for up to 24 hours. Day patients that attend for triage and treatment will continue to be seen by the team on this unit.
Fountains Ward will now be known as the Acute Admissions Unit (AAU). Patients requiring a coronary care bed, cardiology or acute short stay (up to 72 hours) will be transferred to this unit.
The FLIP Project is divided into three phases, with phase 1 currently under way. It involves the redesign of services into the units and updated or new clinical pathways. Some additional clinical staffing resource has been approved in acute services to support the project. This additional resource will be evaluated in a few months.
New multi-disciplinary assessment documentation has been developed and will be piloted from Sunday 1 November in the new units and then fully implemented in January subject to evaluation.
Phase 2 (December 2015) of the FLIP Project will see the development of a medical business case and extra medical staffing, while phase 3 (April 2016) will see the completion of a capital investment business case for consideration.