St John of God Midland Public Hospital Ambulatory Emergency Care Unit. - Excellence Symposium 2023

The innovative Ambulatory Emergency Care Unit (AECU) at St John of God Midland Public Hospital (SJGMPH) has redefined the safe and timely delivery of care to patients visiting its Emergency Department (ED).
The AECU, located close to the SJGMPH ED, was designed to reduce waiting times, improve patient flow, avoid unnecessary overnight admissions and enhance patient experience.
It was established as a short-term answer to ED capacity issues.
Eligible patients are identified in the ED and prioritised for transfer to AECU for same-day assessment and management. If required, patients return to the unit the following day for an outpatient follow-up appointment.
The unit provides specialist-led safe management pathways outside of ED to reduce overnight hospital admissions and look after patients who usually
take more than 4 hours to investigate and manage before being safely discharged home.
Patients can be directed to the AECU by unit caregivers or referred by doctors.
Its first year of operation has provided valuable information which will be used to optimise the service in the future.
This includes data on which patients are most suited for AECU management, at what stage in their ED journey they can be moved to the unit and which patients can be safely discharged from ED out of hours and be followed up in AECU within 48 hours.
The AECU provides a safe and welcoming environment for the management of ambulatory emergency patients for same day assessment and subsequent follow-up and a working environment unrivalled in the hospital.
It has also established a new model of care that is being adopted by other hospitals.