The William Harvey in Ashford opens a same-day emergency unit for 60 extra patients a day. Canterbury has no A&E: where to go for urgent care instead.

A new Same Day Emergency Care unit has opened at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, about 14 miles south-west of Canterbury. East Kent Hospitals says it should be fully open to patients this week.

That matters in Canterbury because the city’s own hospital has no A&E. The trust’s emergency care page says there are no emergency departments at Kent and Canterbury Hospital. The nearest full 24-hour emergency departments are at the William Harvey and at the QEQM in Margate, about 15 miles north-east.

What the unit is for

A Same Day Emergency Care unit, or SDEC, sees patients who would otherwise be admitted to a ward. Specialists assess, diagnose and treat them on the day they arrive. If it is clinically safe, they go home the same day.

The trust announced the opening in a press release sent to Canterbury Live on 20 October. It says the unit has been partly open for a few weeks. It is expected to take an extra 60 patients a day. The William Harvey’s emergency department normally sees around 350 patients a day, and the trust expects the unit to reduce 12-hour delays there.

The unit has two areas. According to the trust:

Area What it has
Medical 8 side rooms, 18 bays, 2 procedure rooms and 7 consultation spaces
Surgical 3 recliners and 12 bays
A row of curtained treatment bays with blue chairs in the surgical area of the new Same Day Emergency Care unit at the William Harvey Hospital, Ashford, before it opened to patients.
Bays in the surgical area of the new unit before it opened to patients. Photo: supplied by East Kent Hospitals

The build took a year and was delivered with 2gether Support Solutions. NHS England paid £28.95m for this unit and a sister unit at the QEQM. The QEQM unit opened in September and is expected to see more than 100 people a day.

What the trust and the minister said

Sarah Hayes, the trust’s chief nursing and midwifery officer, said the units would give patients “a faster and more convenient alternative” to “see a team of experts immediately”. She added: “This is also a positive milestone for our staff as it supports our work to reduce corridor care, and relieve the pressure on our Emergency Departments.”

Health Minister Karin Smyth said the unit would ease “pressures on A&E” and tackle “corridor care this winter”.

Pressure on the William Harvey has been severe this autumn. The trust declared a critical incident there on 28 September because beds were full. It stood it down on 30 September, saying the hospital remained extremely busy.

What it means for you

You do not choose to go to the SDEC yourself. At the QEQM launch, the trust’s interim medical director there, Jess Evans, said patients reach it in several ways:

  • from the emergency department
  • by direct referral from a GP
  • by direct transfer from the ambulance service
  • by referral from NHS 111

In a life-threatening emergency, call 999. For anything urgent but not life-threatening, these are the urgent treatment centres in the district, from the trust’s urgent care page:

Centre Opening hours
Canterbury, Kent and Canterbury Hospital, Ethelbert Road, CT1 3NG Open 24 hours. GP services and minor illness 8am to midnight; minor injuries only outside those hours
Herne Bay, Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, King Edward Avenue, CT6 6EB 8am to 8pm daily
Whitstable, Estuary View Medical Centre, Boorman Way, CT5 3SE 8am to 8pm daily

The trust says children over one with minor injuries, such as a suspected broken arm, can be seen at the Canterbury centre at any hour. Children with minor illnesses such as a cough, fever or earache are seen there between 8am and 6pm.

If you are heading to Kent and Canterbury Hospital in the next fortnight, allow extra time. The trust warned on 13 October of about three weeks of disruption from 14 October while improvement work goes on:

  • Stagecoach buses are not stopping outside the Fracture Clinic and Urgent Treatment Centre. Use the stop by the Outpatients entrance.
  • The road to the Fracture Clinic entrance is closed, with a signed diversion.
  • Visitor car park 3 is closed. Replacement bays are in the staff car park outside Outpatients and in the first two rows of staff car park 15a.

There is more on getting around the city in our roadworks and travel page.

Sources