Yeovil Hospital has changed its approach for patients accessing urgent or emergency care.
The hospital's emergency department has been restructured to triage patients at the front door.
Patients with life-threatening conditions are directed straight into the emergency department (ED), while those with urgent but non-life-threatening conditions are sent to the newly developed urgent treatment centre (UTC) next door.
The UTC is equipped to handle urgent conditions such as sprains, broken bones, cuts, minor head injuries, infections, and emergency contraception.
Katy Sizer, the emergency department and same-day emergency care service manager at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, explained the change.
She said: "By opening this urgent treatment centre at Yeovil Hospital, our aim is that patients with non-life-threatening conditions will be seen quicker, reducing waiting times when our teams must also prioritise emergency patients."
This restructuring allows specialised colleagues in the ED to focus on emergency or life-threatening cases.
Dr Joby Kotoor, lead emergency department consultant at Yeovil Hospital, said: "Anyone who has been to our emergency department at Yeovil Hospital will have seen how busy it often gets, especially in the winter, and this will go a long way to ensure patients get the right care with minimal delays.
“The urgent treatment centre is located next door to the emergency department, and operates similarly to Somerset’s other six urgent treatment centres and one minor injuries unit.
"There’s no change to the way patients need to present to our emergency department, as they should arrive at the same front door as before.
"They may be triaged across to the urgent treatment centre where appropriate, where they’ll be seen by a practitioner with the right skills to treat their needs."
“Unless it’s an emergency or life-threatening condition, we advise people to call NHS 111 first, and they may be signposted to one of Somerset’s urgent treatment centres or minor injuries unit, and this now includes the unit at Yeovil Hospital.
"It may also be that they are signposted to a pharmacy or their GP practice, depending on their health need."
He also reminded patients to contact their GP practice as usual, and to check their local pharmacy for help with common conditions, as this could save them a wait at the hospital.
Dr Kotoor expressed gratitude to the various teams and services at Yeovil Hospital for their patience and efforts in developing the new UTC.
He added: "We want to thank many different teams and services at Yeovil Hospital who’ve been patient while we develop the new urgent treatment centre, especially our estates and facilities, digital team, improvement project management team, and emergency department colleagues for the work they’ve done to develop it.
“We also want to thank colleagues in our trauma and orthopaedics, patient blood management and anaemia, clinical coding, estates and facilities management, and cardiology departments for moving the location of their departments to enable this to happen.”
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