Introduction
The newly built Midland Metropolitan University Hospital (MMUH) in Smethwick, (part of the Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust), is located about four miles west of Birmingham City Centre and opened its doors in October 2024. Its Emergency Department replaced the A&Es at Sandwell General Hospital and City Hospital, Birmingham and is part of a plan to provide more specialists for the area under one roof.
The hospital design includes a separate, dedicated children's Emergency Department and Assessment Unit with its own entrance which offers an appropriate 'welcome' for its young patients and their families.
On the adult side, the new hospital includes both Surgical and Medical Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) Units. As the name suggests, the principle behind the innovation, first introduced nationally in 2019 and instituted in the former hospitals, was to triage and treat as many patients as possible on the same day. Building on 'walk in' emergency care services, the model aims to benefit both patients and the healthcare system by reducing waiting times and hospital admissions — if it is clinically safe to do so.
Looking after everyone — including staff
Statistics show that however many patients are arriving at any hospital for treatment, there is a rising trend in the percentage classified as obese. This may not be the cause of their hospital visit, but can mean additional health risks for the person concerned.
And of course, this can also mean increased risks for the practitioners involved in their treatment, particularly if lifting and handling is involved.
Specialist equipment can help to mitigate this manual handling challenge, and one purchase for the ED was a bariatric patient trolley from British designer and manufacturer Anetic Aid.
The hospital already has many of the company's regular Patient and Emergency Stretchers, but the QA3 <800> has a number of special features.
Account Manager for the area, Tracie Seed recently offered training to members of ED staff to ensure they get the maximum benefit from this particular model.
Special features built-in
She explained that, as with all QA3 models, the stretcher has a weight capacity of 320kg — but the QA3 <800> is so called because it has extra width: both the stretcher platform and mattress are 800mm wide.
The mattress is anti-microbacterial, water-resistant, vapour permeable, latex-free, and five per cent resistant to chlorine, ensuring optimal patient comfort and hygiene.
An additional feature is a high-density foam layer underneath the main mattress structure, providing extra support - particularly important for heavier patients - to guard against potential soft tissue damage, even though patients are only likely to be on the stretcher for relatively short periods of time in a same-day unit.
Powered features to aid practitioners
But what makes the stretcher most helpful to staff are its powered features. The trolley platform and back rest can both be raised and lowered at the touch of a button, meaning no lifting is required by the practitioners operating them. And in case of an emergency, there is also a CPR feature which returns the trolley swiftly to a horizontal, optimal height position for CPR treatment.
Professional Development Nurse Ikraam Abdukadir said: 'The SDEC approach has been adopted in many hospitals now and it helps to take the pressure off A&E and reduce patient waiting times. Our patients can be GP referrals from the hospital's other departments. Numbers vary — usually around 60 to 70 cases per day, although we have experienced up to 80.
'I have been nursing for six years and even in that time I have noticed the increase in patient weights - but it is our job to be inclusive: we are here to look after everyone.'
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