The Friarage Hospital’s clinical decisions unit (CDU) has been rated top of the class when it comes to treating patients safely and efficiently.
The unit scored 100 per cent across the board during a recent benchmark audit by the Society of Acute Medicine, making it the best performing in the country.
The CDU is part of the acute medical unit at the Friarage which sees 15 to 20 new referrals a day.
It cares for patients who require additional tests, treatment or observations and therefore need to stay longer than a typical emergency or urgent care visit.
The national audit assessed units against three key performance targets:
- Time to patients having physiological measurements recorded such as blood pressure, respiratory rate and consciousness levels (maximum 30 minutes)
- Time to patients being seen by a doctor (maximum 4 hours)
- Time to be reviewed by a consultant (maximum 12 hours)
In total 127 units were assessed across the country. The Friarage CDU was the only unit to achieve 100 per cent for all admissions.
Lucy Tulloch, Friarage Hospital service manager, said: “The Friarage CDU was the top performing unit out of 127 participating units, which shows that we are delivering a very safe and efficient service to our patients.
“It is a fantastic achievement to score 100 per cent and it is great news for our patients.”
James Dunbar, consultant for acute medicine and infection and clinical director said: “We always knew the Friarage was a bit special and that is why I fell in love with it as a registrar many years ago.
“We are so proud of our team’s efforts in providing such a high quality service to our local community.”
The trust announced the A&E at the Friarage would be replaced with a urgent treatment unit from March 27 to ensure continued provision of safe clinical services.
Be the first to comment