HOSPITAL bosses have revealed more key details about plans to overhaul A&E ready for the 'challenging' winter period.

The £920,000 work to remodel Worcestershire Royal Hospital's emergency department begins next month so staff can better cope with the high volumes of patients through the doors over the winter.

Michelle McKay, the trust's chief executive, spoke of her commitment to make changes so patients do not have to receive care on on trolleys in Worcester's A&E corridor when she addressed a meeting of the health overview and scrutiny committee at County Hall this week.

Although no time frame for ending the practise has been announced it is expected the Government cash will help the situation by improving and expanding the ambulatory emergency care (AEC) unit in the emergency department at Worcester.

Instead of the current AEC, which has just two chairs for patients, the trust will have a bigger unit with six assessment trolleys and 10 chairs, providing a consultant-led service, allowing decisions about what treatment these patients need to be made more quickly.

NHS leaders also hope that locating the after-hours primary care services in Worcester's A&E will help to identify patients who would be better cared for by family doctor services, reducing pressure on the emergency department and on hospital beds.

The trust also aims to introduce a new set of professional standards on patient flow which have been developed by professional colleges.

The hope is that this system will help move patients from emergency departments onto wards more efficiently.

With the system in place NHS leaders believe it will be easier to discharge patients home or transfer them to a community hospital or care home.

Chief executive of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, Michelle McKay, said: “With our partners in the local NHS and the county council, we have drawn up a shared plan which includes a number of measures to help us deliver safe, high quality patient care through what we expect will be a very challenging winter period.

“Early signs are that where action has already been taken it is starting to help us manage the flow of patients through our hospitals more effectively.

“We are also asking patients and the public to play their part by taking steps to protect their own health and wellbeing (for instance by making sure they have their flu jabs) and following the widely available guidance on accessing the level of health services appropriate to their symptoms.”

Steps already taken include a new specialist county wide assessment unit for frail older patients which opened at the Alexandra Hospital this week.

Staff in this unit include doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and pharmacists.

The assessment unit will enable some patients to go home the same day, offering a better alternative to A&E for frail older people who are not acutely unwell but who do need more care than can be provided for them at home.

NHS leaders hope this will ease pressure on the emergency department, freeing up extra beds, including in Worcester where the pressure on space is generally greatest.

Workshops have brought together clinicians and managers from across the trust to try and devise improvements for managing patients safely.

A trust spokesperson said: "A key message is that what is sometimes called “the A&E target” is not just the responsibility of our emergency department – all specialities, departments and wards, as well as our health and care partners have a part to play in making sure that patients arriving for urgent care are treated and discharged or admitted to an appropriate care setting in a safe and timely way."