Faster treatment and more convenient care in a new Whipps Cross Hospital
A brand new modern hospital at Whipps Cross will have the same range of acute services as now but provide them faster and in more convenient ways for patients.
Clinicians at Barts Health and its partners are clear that a new hospital on the existing Leytonstone site will deliver the same core services currently provided - including A&E and consultant-led maternity care.
Yet they suggest many of these services should be delivered differently to improve care quality and patient experience. Their recommended new model of care includes:
- faster access to appropriate and specialist treatment
- rapid diagnostics and same-day results
- better co-ordination with more care closer to home
This could result in 12% fewer hospital admissions, with admitted patients spending on average one day less in hospital than they do now. In addition, fewer patients would attend outpatients in person in favour of more virtual clinics.
Such efficiencies – alongside planned improvements in primary and community care – would enable the new hospital to manage rising demand, with the local catchment population for Whipps Cross projected to grow by 11% over the next decade, and the over-65 population increasing by a quarter.
The Whipps Cross Health and Care Services Strategy proposes that a new hospital could become renowned for the integrated treatment and care of frail and older people locally, including having a centre of excellence for specialist surgery.
The plans drawn up by almost 200 local clinicians are endorsed by doctors across north east London as part of the region’s response to the NHS Long-Term Plan. They reflect how modern advances in medicine, care and technology should mean fewer people need to visit hospital or spend so long there in future.
Dr Heather Noble, medical director at Whipps Cross, said: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to redesign hospital services to put the patient at the centre and help people stay at home wherever possible.
“We are already adopting these principles, for example with our new Urgent Treatment Centre in A&E. This directs patients to the most appropriate treatment for their need, and ensures that those who require specialist care treated and discharged safely and promptly.”