Patients at Barnet Hospital (BH) are set to benefit from a brand new urgent treatment centre (UTC) which has opened as part of the urgent and emergency care redevelopment project.Photo of the UTC team in the new waiting room

The upgrade to the UTC formed the first phase of the redevelopment and has seen it move into a new dedicated space which is better equipped to treat more patients in the right place at the right time.

The UTC is now located at the front entrance of the hospital to improve patient flow, in line with national guidance. Patients who attend on foot will be triaged in the UTC and can be transferred to the emergency department if needed.

It comprises a new large dedicated waiting area, paediatric waiting room as well as two GP rooms and three emergency nurse practitioner rooms, which have been equipped with them in mind to better support their ability to triage, diagnose and treat patients. This will also help with the target of 35% of patients presenting to hospital being treated through the UTC.

There is also an ad hoc room that can be used by the team should they have the capacity to take on extra workload.

Collage of the new UTC waiting room and recliner bays

Pictured: the new UTC waiting room and recliner bays

Denis Enright, director of operations at BH said:

“The opening of the UTC front door is a key milestone of the urgent and emergency care development. The space provides a modern and spacious and calmer environment for staff and patients.”

“I want to thank everyone who has worked hard to get us to this point, and for the understanding of staff for any disruption that has been caused while this work is ongoing.”

Deborah Sanders, chief executive of BH said:

“The opening of the new UTC is comes at a really exciting time for Barnet Hospital which has identified ageing well and transforming same day and integrated care as its two clinical strategy priorities.

"A key part of that is to ensure care happens at the right time and place, and to allow specialists to diagnose and treat patients on the same day of arrival where possible.

"The new UTC will help with those aims, freeing up hospital beds for those that need them the most."

The next phase of the UEC development will see the refurbishment of the ambulance handover area and the creation of new mental health rooms. We will share more details of this phase soon.

The full redevelopment is expected to conclude in spring 2025.