EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Emergency Medicine incorporates the Adult and Children’s Emergency Department as well as the assessment units on the Emergency Floor.

Our modern £48 million Emergency Department was opened in April 2017 and incorporates a combined Acute & Emergency Floor, along with an expanded Children’s Emergency Department to meet the rising demands of Emergency and Urgent care across Leicestershire.

Emergency Department

The Emergency floor contains three Acute Medical Units, a GP assessment unit for same day medical care, our acute frailty unit for elderly patients, the Emergency decisions unit for pathway patients and our lovely discharge lounge which takes patients from all specialties once they are ready to go home.

Our specialist areas have amazing teams and fantastic learning opportunities for Health Care Assistants, Nurses and Nursing Associates.

Download our ED Nursing leaflet

Our department sees patients attending with a variety of presentations, from acute and life threatening medical conditions, to trauma and minor injuries. With this in mind, our staff need to have a broad knowledge base and a range of skills. Both nurses and Health Care assistants develop extended skills to enable our patients to receive the care they require in one setting. These include plastering, wound closure using glue, steristrips or suturing, wound dressings, cannulation and phlebotomy. We can offer career progression that will challenge you both clinically and as a manager.

Our Children’s Emergency Department is one of the busiest in Europe; we see approximately 60,000 children each year. Incorporated within our purpose built department are 3 high dependency bays, a dedicated vulnerable persons room and a 12 bedded Children’s short stay unit (CSSU) where children stay for further observation and care up to 18 hours from admission. We also have direct access to a Minor Illness and Minor Injuries department on site that we can refer children to following the initial nursing assessment. We operate a single front door model which means all children are referred to the department for speciality review and admission where required. We have a dedicated Children’s ED educator to support staff in their development, and they have close links with the children’s hospital to deliver shared training.

Why work in the Emergency Department?

  • Purpose built frailty-friendly department including specific rooms for vulnerable adults
  • A purpose-built child-friendly department including specific rooms for vulnerable children and a multi-sensory room creating a calming and relaxing environment
  • Weekly multidisciplinary simulation programme for adults & children’s ED staff in our education training pod
  • Monthly departmental meetings and forums where we discuss examples of excellence and shared learning
  • We work with consultant staff which includes international experts in research. You will be part of improving care through research and clinical trials
  • Work alongside specialist Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs) and Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENP’s), many of whom have been with us since junior nursing level
  • Regular training to develop extended skills used within ED
  • Access to our dedicated Education Team for Leicester’s Emergency Department
  • Paediatric ED consultant staff which includes academic and international experts in research. You will be part of improving care for children in research trials experts in research

In such a busy department, we want to make sure you are fully supported from the moment you arrive. We offer a ‘buddy’ system for our new starters where you will spend your first few weeks working alongside a member of staff of the same grade, helping you to settle in and learn the processes. You will also have an allocated mentor who will support you through the appraisal process, reflecting on your practice and planning further development. If you are a newly qualified nurse you will have access to the Trust preceptorship programme.

Emergency Floor

The emergency floor is made up of 102 medical assessment beds. We assess, diagnose and start treatment for medical patients. Patients can stay from 2 hours to 72 hours on the assessments. From here the patient will be discharged home or transferred to a ward either in this hospital or in the community to continue their treatment.

  • AMU (Acute Medical Unit) – 32 Bedded medical assessment unit.
  • ACB (Acute Care Bay) – 10 bedded Unit within AMU for level 2 patients.
  • Ward 7 – 28 bedded medical Assessment unit.
  • AMU South – 16 bedded medical assessment unit.
  • GPAU (GP Assessment Unit) Same day medical patients will be admitted here for care aiming for same day discharge.
  • EDU (Emergency Decisions Unit) takes a wide variety of patients onVarious pathways. This includes post-trauma, anaphylaxis, asthma, mental health, head injury and NSTEMI rule out.
  • Discharge Lounge – We take all planned discharges here from all specialities.
  • Pre-Transfer Hub – Patients from ED will wait here for transfers to other hospitals and specialities. 

Areas in the Emergency Department

  • ER (Emergency Room / Resus) – 12 individually enclosed cubicles where our most unwell patients will go.
  • Red Majors – 32 state-of-the-art cubicles for all acutely unwell patients
  • Blue Majors – 16 cubicles for acutely unwell patients.
  • Ambulatory – area for our ‘fit-to-sit’ Patients.
  • Injuries – our bespoke minor injuries area for everyday cuts and bone breaks.
  • Ambulance Assessment – 10 bedded area for patients arriving by ambulance.
  • Walk in Assessment/Triage – our triage area for walk-in patients.
  • Paediatric ED – see below for more Information on our Children’s ED!

Leicester Children’s Emergency Department

  • A purpose-built child-friendly department including specific rooms for vulnerable children and a multi-sensory room creating a calming and relaxing environment
  • Weekly multidisciplinary simulation
  • Dedicated play team to support with procedures and care
  • Monthly departmental meetings and Critically Careful forum where we discuss complex cases & examples of excellence
  • Work with doctors from a range of specialities including Paediatricians, Paediatric Surgeons, Orthopaedic, Maxillofacial, Plastics and GP’s
  • We have a co-located short stay unit that is managed by the ED staff allowing for continuity of care for patients
  • Paediatric ED consultant staff which includes academic & international
    experts in research. You will be part of improving care for children in research trials
  • Work alongside specialist Paediatric Advanced Clinical Practitioners (PACPs) & Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENP) – many of whom have been with us since junior nursing level
  • Training to develop extended skills used within ED with a dedicated Children’s ED educator to support your development

Education

In the Emergency Department (ED) we have our own dedicated education team consisting of nurses, advanced clinical practitioners, healthcare assistants and doctors. The team covers both adult and paediatric ED, EDU and the transfer hub. We offer a wide range of study days to support staff working within ED to complete all their emergency management skills. Some of these include: 

  • Venepuncture/cannulation
  • Minor injuries
  • Triage
  • Plastering
  • Suturing
  • Trauma level 1 course 

Every Wednesday is our Simulation day in our dedication education POD! This is a great opportunity for our staff to practise running or participating in stressful emergency situations within a safe environment and where they feel comfortable to ask questions. We generally run three scenarios per week including a paediatric, trauma and ALS using our high tech simulation mannequin. Our education POD is set up like a real resuscitation bay equipped with emergency stacks, airway trolleys, defibrillator and other essential monitoring.  

We also work clinically to support the development of our staff members; whether this is by signing off their competencies, helping them progress through their grading or just providing a little extra support if required.  

You can also find some extra educational resources on our #EM3 website, developed by our emergency medicines doctors. These vary from blogs, journals, videos, podcasts and useful infographics relevant to all emergency medicine healthcare professions.  

Emergency Floor BAME Council

Our Emergency Floor BAME Council is dedicated to helping nurses from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to advance in their careers. The Council connects colleagues with training and promotion opportunities and provides a listening ear when required.

UHL Bame is helping more BAME colleagues on our emergency floor who have great experience, skills and potential, to take up coordination and leadership roles. Support with access to training and interview preparation is improving morale and staff retention.

Want to join our team?

Carol Fitzpatrick
Matron of Recruitment and Retention
[email protected]
07977 371 302

Email:

ED – Elizabeth Campbell [email protected]
Children’s ED – Aimee Pook [email protected]
AMU/ACB – Vikki Davis [email protected]
AFU – Emma Hennessy [email protected]
AMU South – Maria Korah [email protected]
GPAU – Alice Harris [email protected]
EDU – Simone Chivers [email protected]
Discharge Lounge – Vijaya Dookhee [email protected]

Colleague Stories

Giving the best experience

“We see everything from peas up noses, to really sick children – there’s so much variety. It’s not just the patient in this role, it’s about the family as well – the parents sometimes need you as much as the child. We just want to give people the best experience we can when they have to come here.”

Sammy Ward, Ward Sister, Children’s Emergency Department

My ambition is to keep going up and up.”

“My clinical skills are much more developed now. The scope of what I can do is much wider than before and I’m not stopping here.”

Dimpal Solanki, Trainee Nursing Associate

This role is for people who want to take on new levels of responsibility

“UHL has around 100 Advanced Clinical Practitioners, including nurses, physios, paramedics and more. This role is for people who want to take on new levels of responsibility, while still being in contact with patients. We’re recruiting all the time”

Matt Wensley, Strategic Lead

welcoming and Helping international nurses

“Being part of the BAME Shared Decision-Making Council on the emergency floor has been amazing. “I’m particularly proud of our work to help greet our new international nurses, to help them settle and enjoy their roles at UHL.”

Eric Nartey, Staff Nurse

Diversity matters

“Diversity in senior roles is important; it’s not only beneficial for colleagues but for patients too, as Leicester is such a diverse city.”

Anju Michael, Deputy Sister, Emergency Department

SEPSIS CAN KILL

“Know the signs of sepsis; it can happen to anyone at any time. It can kill and, even if not, can have a long-term impact.”

Alice Warren, Emergency Nurse

helping patients get better is why I do this job

“It was difficult at the beginning, different but difficult. That already feels like so long ago now. We’ve got used to how busy it is, some days I finish and I’m not sure if it’s dark or light outside.
But the patients make it worth it, helping them get better is why I do this job”

Dani Lukose, GPAU Staff Nurse

Believe in yourself

“My journey from Healthcare Assistant to beeing appointed as Deputy Charge Nurse in the Emergency Department has been possible through the sharing of support, knowledge and expertise from colleagues. My three key pieces of advice for people on their career journey are believe in yourself, believe in your strength and abilities, and believe that you can always make a difference!”

Nikko Laviana, Deputy Charge Nurse, Emergency Department