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A new unit has opened at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) which will provide same day emergency care for older patients.

The Frailty Same Day Emergency Care Unit (FSDEC) has been created within the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) and provides care for some older patients, who present at the Emergency Department (ED).

It should benefit patients by seeing them in a timelier manner, and at the same time, ease pressure on ED, by enabling direct streaming of appropriate patients who meet the FSDEC criteria.

Patients presenting to ED with relevant conditions can be quickly assessed, diagnosed and treated at the FSDEC and, if clinically safe to do so, will be discharged home the same day.

The new unit is operational between 08:00 and 20:00, seven days a week, with eight clinical spaces available for patients over the age of 70 to be treated at any one time.

Patients will be streamed to the unit by the Older Persons and Liaison (OPAL) Team, in collaboration with colleagues from the Health Care of Older People Team.

Patients may be streamed directly from the ED, the AMU, or from direct referrals from general practitioners.

The model is designed to provide improved capacity and flow, and reduce pressures within front door areas.

The eight spaces in the FSDEC will enable the timely transfer of patients each morning by 08:00.

The new unit will increase OPAL discharges by streaming through a dedicated location and will also promote the OPAL service.

It also aims to avoid patients in ambulances being conveyed to the ED if it is not necessary. This will involve the OPAL+ service, a telecommunication between the QEHB OPAL team and West Midlands Ambulance Service (WMAS).

SDEC is one of the ways the NHS is working to provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time for patients.