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Staff praise 'incredible' new emergency department

Alastair Fee
Health correspondent, BBC News
UHD Looking up at the glass entrance to the emergency department. Above the door is a grey canopy with Emergency Department written in raised letters. Between the canopy and the top of the doors is a strip of red glass with Urgent Treatment Centre written on it in white letters. There are numerous trees behind the photographer which are reflected in the glass.UHD
The new emergency department opened in May in the £91m BEACH building

A new emergency department has been described as "incredible" by staff as they start to care for their first patients.

The purpose-built facility within Royal Bournemouth Hospital is part of a £500m investment in Dorset NHS sites.

This new A&E will eventually serve both Bournemouth and Poole and doctors working in the new facility said it was just what they "hoped it would be".

The emergency department officially launched earlier in May and has begun seeing new patients in the £91m BEACH building.

The branch is twice the size of the previous Bournemouth and Poole emergency departments and is part of a huge shake up to University Hospital Dorset sites.

Robert was one of the first patients to be cared for after a fall at home.

He said: "I felt strange and wobbly which is something that's happened a lot to me. I've been to a lot of hospitals all over the world this is streets ahead, much better."

David Martin stands in the middle of the emergency department whil egiving an interview. He wears deep purple coloured scrubs, which have a logo on the chest saying 'NHS Emergency Department' and has a stethescope around his neck. He has short dark brown hair and his arms are crossed, he is smiling.
David Martin, a consultant in emergency medicine, said the new facility was "incredible"

David Martin, consultant in emergency medicine, said: "It is incredible, it's just what I hoped it would be and I can already see the benefit, I can already see our patients benefitting and actually the staff as well.

"No patient ever wants to be in the emergency department, you don't want to be unwell, but if you're unwell you want to be in a clean, dignified environment and that's what we can now provide."

'Helps massively'

Staff said patient waits for care should fall thanks to a quicker triage system and the new layout design meant quicker access to scans.

One nurse said the site was "brilliant", while another added the extra space "helps massively with the flow of the department".

Currently, the new department is only caring for Bournemouth patients, with Poole emergency department remaining open for an estimated eight more months.

Juliet Browning, a consultant in emergency medicine, said: "Poole is still very much open for business. It's still the emergency department as it was previously, still the area's trauma unit and still has paediatrics on site.

"So if you would normally go to Poole hospital, still go to that emergency department."

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