A new Ambulance Handover Unit has been set up at Peterborough City Hospital in a bid to combat longer ambulance handover delays and improve patient experience.

The new modular unit was installed last month and is located at the back of the hospital at the ambulance drop off point. 

The building accommodates eight trolley spaces which will act as a rapid triage assessment area. The new provision offers a ready-to-use facility with clean and dirty utility, changing room, toilet, staff area and piped medical gases. 

“The Ambulance Handover Unit is a real positive step in helping us reduce handover times and ensure a much-improved, safer experience for our patients”, says Dr Bethan Graf, divisional operations director for Urgent and Emergency Care.

“This project is just one of a series of changes and new initiatives introduced to further improve the care our patients receive on admission to and discharge from our hospitals.” 

It is hoped that the new provision will help to expedite ambulance handover times, using the new receiving area to safely move patients and avoid holding ambulances at the hospital for longer than necessary. The additional capacity and trolley space should also reduce the need for corridor care in the Emergency Department. 

Chief executive of the East of England Ambulance Service Trust, Tom Abell, said, “Hospital handover delays are a result of complex pressures within the whole healthcare system.

Ambulance handover units have been introduced at other locations in the region and help patients to be transferred to hospital care more quickly. They also allow more vehicles and crews to be released for responding to emergencies.”