Extra funding helps Imperial College Healthcare prepare for winter with Covid-19
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has received funding to help make adaptations to our A&E departments to allow for more space and opportunities for emergency patient care while we still respond to Covid-19 this winter.
The improvements have been made possible with £1.4 million of additional capital funding announced by the Secretary of State for Health earlier this month. Nationally, £300 million from the Department of Health and Social Care’s existing budget has been allocated to 117 hospital trusts to improve A&E departments ahead of winter.
The money will help with a number of adaptations and improvements across our three hospital sites offering emergency care, including:
- Improving spaces and facilities for mental health patients at both St Mary’s and Charing Cross Hospital
- Increasing the ambulatory care facilities to help us to provide more same day emergency care
- Repurposing office space to provide more clinical assessment areas at St Mary’s across both the paediatric and adult A&E
- Additional access to GP care at Hammersmith Hospital with a view to supporting 111 referrals
- Investment in software to enable us to offer care virtually
- Increased 'fit to sit' space for patients to sit if they are well enough to do so, rather than lay down
"We have already had to make a number of changes over the last few months to our A&E departments and pathways to ensure we keep our staff and patients safe as we care for those with and without Covid-19.
"As we prepare for winter, this money will be used to ensure we’re in the best possible position to continue to provide high quality care to our patients during the inevitably busy winter months.”
