Croydon University Hospital opens bigger, upgraded ward for critically unwell patients | Trust news

Croydon University Hospital has opened a new Resuscitation Department, providing patients in ‘life or death’ emergencies with almost twice as many beds and a range of upgrades.

This major development is the first part of the Hospital’s £21.25m Emergency Department rebuild, with the remainder scheduled to open by early next year.

Improvements in the new facility include:

• There are now eight beds instead of five
• Rooms have doubled in size, with more walls and automatic doors to ensure patients have privacy and dignity.
• It is better located next to X-Ray and closer to CT scanners.
• Technology has been upgraded and expanded, including:
  • infusion pump docking stations (which few hospitals have) for highly programmable automatic medication
  • eight new vital life-sign monitors
  • one more oxygen/gas ventilation machine
  • a new rapid infuser system for emergency blood/fluid replacement
  • suspended service beams, with sockets and medical gas supply, which are superior to wall-mounted systems and enable patients to have 360 degree access

The changes aim to improve patients’ outcomes and experience of care in the face of increasing pressure on Croydon’s Emergency Department (also known as A&E). The Emergency Department (of which Resuscitation is a part) now sees about 350 patients each day and peaked at 450 in July 2017 - which is a level of demand previously associated with the busiest times in Winter.

Fleur Mosley, Lead Emergency Care Paramedic and Senior Clinician in the Resuscitation Department, said:

“Patients who arrive here in ‘Resus’ are often in desperate, life-threatening conditions. It is great to be able to provide the best possible care and facilities for them and their loved ones.

“The new improvements mean we can continue providing modern, high quality care and will be better able to cope with increasing demand from Croydon’s expanding population.”

A video walkthrough of the new Resuscitation Department (which replaces the smaller previous one) is here.