Royal Victoria Hospital Emergency Department Opens to Public

The new state-of-the-art accident & emergency (A&E) ward at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH; Belfast, United Kingdom) has opened to the public, almost three years behind schedule.

The A&E forms part of a new regional 12-storey critical care building that has cost more than GBP 150 million to build. Work started in 2008 on the multistory building, which was due to be handed over to the Belfast Health Trust (United Kingdom) in November 2012, but that deadline was missed. In 2013 corrosion was found in the building's new heating system, necessitating a major repair job. And while the A&E is now open, the surgical theatres and critical care units will only open in 2016, and it will be at least four years before the main maternity floors are complete.

The new A&E adds an extra 280 m² of floor space, bringing the total to 850 m². Three new adult A&E consultants have also been contracted, bringing the total to 19 consultants. The nursing workforce has also been increased, with an additional 27 nurses working at the ward around the clock. A major focus of the new department is on reducing trolley waits, and it therefore has a larger ambulance receiving area to tackle delays in patient handovers, two additional resuscitation beds, larger cubicles, and a bigger waiting area to improve conditions for patients and their families.

The unit will also have a section to deal with emergencies such as a chemical spill or infectious diseases, allowing patients to enter the unit through an isolated entrance and be washed down in a special shower room. Besides layout change and improved facilities, the new casualty unit will also see some protocol changes. For example, patients who arrive by ambulance will not be guaranteed first priority. The new A&E will also have a clinical assessment unit for patients who are not an emergency case and who do not require admission, but nevertheless need some form of care.

“On average staff at the Royal see around 300 patients per day through casualty every day of the year, with approximately 100 of these arriving via ambulance. Staff are looking forward to the new and improved facilities, in particular the increased space the new casualty unit offers to ensure patient privacy,” said A&E consultant Richard Wilson. “The new resuscitation area is much bigger with way more space for staff to work in. Staff are looking forward to getting into the new unit and starting working, it will be good for morale and obviously good for patient care.”

The RVH is one of four linked hospitals that make up Northern Ireland's biggest hospitals complex. The other hospitals in the complex are the Royal Jubilee Maternity Service, the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, and the Royal Dental Hospital. RVH treats over 80,000 people as inpatients and 350,000 people as outpatients every year, providing local services to the people of Belfast and a large number of regional specialist services to people from across Northern Ireland.

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