Expansion planned for QMC 'treat and discharge' unit

Work has begun on a £20m project to double the size of an emergency "treat and discharge" unit at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

Enabling works are under way for Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust to expand the Same Day Emergency Care, currently located inside the A&E department, to increase its capacity from about 60 at present to up to 150 patients a day.

The unit - which began as a pilot two years ago - will also see a full redesign, which NUH said would "provide a much better experience for our patients and staff".

While initial work is carried out, Same Day Emergency Care will relocate to a temporary unit on B Floor, West Block, from Wednesday.

The Same Day Emergency Care service is key to preventing patients from being admitted to hospital "unnecessarily" and helps to "maintain flow" through hospitals for patients - helping to reduce so-called corridor care.

The trust declared critical incidents in part due to the numbers of patients being treated in both January and February this year and in November 2025.

Tasso Gazis, clinical director for the Medicine Care Group, said the work would "have a wide-reaching impact on patients throughout our hospitals".

He said: "These plans for a larger, better laid-out and purpose-built unit would not only vastly improve the experience of the patients using the service and our staff working there, it would help to improve flow through our hospital, and therefore improve the experience of many more of our patients."

Once its footprint is doubled, the unit will include five assessment rooms, 11 cubicles, three treatment rooms, and recliners, where patients can receive infusions rather than requiring a bed.

The project is hoped to be completed by March 2027.

The aim of the unit is to relieve pressure on the main A&E department. Clare Penn, from Hucknall, was transferred to the unit after she attended A&E with chest pains this week.

She said: "It was really busy, there wasn't a seat free.

"When we came into the main waiting area for the A&E department, I was brought here and it was so lovely."

The expansion plans also include an adjoining diagnostics suite, with a CT scanner and ultrasound, which hospital bosses said should help reduce the need for patients to travel to and from scans.

NUH added three plain film X-Ray rooms in A&E, which it said were "in a poor condition", have been refurbished and are already back in use.

Other services, which were based in the unit, such at the TIA stroke clinic, have already been relocated within the hospital, said NUH.

Jenni Twinn, programme director for the Urgent and Emergency Care pathway, said: "A huge amount of time and planning has gone into preparing to start this transformative project, including relocating some of our services to make space for the Same Day Emergency Care expansion.

"The temporary Same Day Emergency Care space looks smart and is ready to begin accepting patients."

She added: "I am excited that we are now in the position where we can begin the work in earnest on the vacated area of our A&E department to prepare to expand this critical service to bring the space up to the size and quality that our staff and patients deserve."

NUH said £5m NHS funding had already been approved for the initial phase of the project, with the remaining budget "due to be approved in the coming months".

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