Operational update: Handovers at Queen's Hospital Romford

London Ambulance Service (LAS) has been working closely with Queen's Hospital in Romford (QHR) and King George Ilford to identify areas for improvement at the point of ambulance handover.

Increased demand associated with the current pandemic has led to pan London capacity issues which in turn filters down to limited offload space for ambulances arriving at the Emergency Department (ED).

Queen's Hospital Romford (QHR) is the most challenged hospital in North east London and as such has been identified as the primary site to trial a model of proactive supportive handover. QHR have identified an area co-located with the ED known as the Ambulance Receiving Centre (ARC). The ARC will be used as an overflow area when no spaces are available within the ED and ambulances begin to queue within the corridor, in turn releasing crews to finish their shifts on time or respond to another incident within the community.

From today (14th December 2021), the ARC is now open to patients that have been transported to QHR by East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Please read the full attached operational update for details. 

Tuesday 14 December 2021