Could Bedford Hospital be about to get a same day emergency care centre?

The council has received an application for a single storey modular building at the hospital’s South Wing site.

The applicants said the Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) Recovery Programme High Impact Actions and the NHS England SAMEDAY strategy “recognise the critical importance of the Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) Model”.

And added that SDEC allows specialists, where appropriate, to assess, diagnose and treat patients on the same day of arrival who would otherwise have been admitted to hospital.

It is also “vital” for reducing overcrowding in the Emergency Department, avoiding overnight admissions to hospital wards and the “resulting risk of harm to patients, deconditioning and extended lengths of stay”.

The applicant also says that the National Operational Planning Guidance Requirement for 2024/25 is that the Hospital should have an SDEC service in place for at least 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

The existing facilities, housed in the portacabins the proposal replaces, are being relocated to other areas of the hospital.

The building is a modular building which will enable “fast construction and flexible specification” with the hospital being able to adapt the pods to suit future requirements.

More information can be found on the borough council’s planning portal, reference 24/01997/FUL.

The overall consultation expiry date is Friday, November 22, 2024.