A NEW service allowing emergency patients who would usually stay in hospital to be treated as outpatients – or even in their own homes – has been launched.

The new ambulatory care and OHPAT - outpatient and home parenteral antimicrobial treatment – unit at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton will be officially opened by local Tory MP Rishi Sunak on Friday, November 27.

During a pilot, the unit has seen around 300 patients a month who need urgent diagnostics and treatment for conditions as diverse as skin infection and liver failure. Although in urgent need of help, the patients were not unwell enough to need an overnight stay in hospital.

The unit is staffed by an 11-strong team, including consultants, GPs and nurses, and during the first pilot year it has saved over 4,000 overnight stays, with demand for the service steadily growing.

Consultant in infectious diseases Dr James Dunbar said: “The team are providing excellent same-day emergency care for the benefit of hundreds of patients.

“Essentially we provide rapid diagnostics and treatment for people who need urgent assessment and care but are not so sick that they need to be admitted to hospital as an inpatient.

“Previously the majority of patients we see would have been admitted to hospital which means more beds are now available for people who really need to be in a hospital bed, while at the same time we’re providing the same level of care and promoting care closer to home for our local communities.”

The Friends of the Friarage Hospital have donated £42,000 an ECG machine, beds, pumps, trollies and furniture for the unit.