Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has announced that the Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) has officially opened in February.
Louise Crosby, Chief Nurse, cut the ribbon to celebrate the opening.
SDEC enables staff to assess, diagnose, treat and safely discharge applicable patients the same day they engage with services.
The service will provide patients with access to specialist care and faster diagnostic tests in an appropriate setting.
This service will also help get patients home and avoid an admission.
Vanessa Purday, Chief Medical Officer at LGT, said: “SDEC is the provision of same-day emergency care for patients being considered for emergency admission."
"We want to make sure that no one stays in the hospital overnight if they can safely return home, and so we're delighted to say that SDEC means that emergency patients will be assessed, diagnosed, and treated for their acute illnesses within a single day, significantly reducing their chances of being admitted to a hospital ward," Purday added. "Thank you to everyone who has been involved in this project, it has been a true team effort to open the unit.”