Our model focuses emergency assessment and admission for hospital care on one site. This means separating it from most of our planned care.
The Northumbria hospital (NSECH) is a dedicated 24-hour emergency hospital. It is for patients with the most serious and life-threatening conditions. This includes:
- Loss of consciousness
- Suspected stroke
- Severe chest pain
- Severe blood loss
The trust’s three general hospitals - Wansbeck, Hexham and North Tyneside - have urgent treatment centres. These treat conditions including:
- Minor head, ear or eye problems
- Sprains and strains
- Cuts and bites
- Minor fractures or broken bones
- Skin infections and abscesses
- Wound infections
There are also centres of surgical excellence. They are the main locations for elective or planned care. This includes operations, other procedures and diagnostic tests and scans.
More information about emergency care at NSECH is here.
More information about urgent care at our other hospitals is here.
Benefits
The size of NSECH and the care it provides means it hosts extra facilities. The ambulatory care unit offers urgent same-day medical care. This means patients don’t have to stay overnight in hospital. The procedures unit is a dedicated space for planned care. The discharge lounge cares for patients while freeing up emergency beds.
Since the changes to urgent and emergency care took place in 2015, when NSECH opened:
- Our performance for access to urgent and emergency care is the best in the country.
- Patients get access to complex diagnostic tests sooner than elsewhere. Many receive scans, including MRI, within an hour of entering the building. This could not happen without the current model.
- Our patient and staff experience survey results are among the best in the country.
- We can provide the right staff and environment for different patients. This avoids everyone just going to the same place regardless of need.
- The model has won national praise and held up as an example. Benefits include better patient outcomes and reduced waiting times.
- Research demonstrated a fall in mortality likelihood. The largest drop was among the oldest patients (80+) with conditions like pneumonia and heart failure.
- The model also proved its merits during the pandemic. NSECH was the designated Covid hub. This enabled many planned operations to continue at the other sites. The respiratory support unit was also crucial in caring for patients.