Hospital's emergency same-day unit doubles beds

The on-the-day emergency care unit has been expanded at Weston General Hospital

More patients are set to be treated and return home the same day with the opening of a newly expanded hospital unit in Somerset.

The Same Day Emergency Care Unit at Weston General Hospital, in Weston-super-Mare, originally opened in 2023 and has treated more than 7,000 patients, with 95% able to go home the same day.

The University Hospitals Bristol and Weston Trust, which runs the hospital, said the newly expanded facility, which was made possible by £5m of NHS England investment, would more than double the capacity of the care unit.

Charlotte King, urgent care matron, said the unit had been designed "with clinician input", adding it would avoid "unnecessary admissions into the hospital".

NHS England has been expanding same-day emergency services at hospitals around the country as part of attempts to ease pressure on hospitals.

The investment aimed to allow the unit to treat more patients, more quickly, helping to reduce unplanned and longer than necessary stays in hospital, the NHS trust said.

The expanded unit has 14 cubicles for beds alongside an examination area, having previously had six cubicles.

The care unit was officially opened by Maria Kane, Bristol NHS Group chief executive, who said it was "another important milestone in our journey establishing Weston General Hospital as a thriving hospital, at the heart of the local community".