Potential upgrade for Torbay Hospital

The council to make plans on February 14th

Torbay Hospital could upgrade its acute medical unit (AMU) to help reduce overcrowding in its emergency department. 

Proposals for the new unit will be considered by Torbay Council’s planning committee. 

An acute medical unit is where patients referred from the emergency department, GP’s or outpatients’ clinics are treated for urgent conditions. 

The new facility would double “assessment spaces” from 26 to 52. Planners say the design would provide a “modern fit-for-purpose” unit.

Currently, most emergency admissions go through its emergency department. But the new facility will allow more patients to be treated elsewhere, which will improve flow and reduce overall admissions.

The AMU will be in front of the current outpatients’ entrance on space currently used for ambulances to turn and for disabled parking. If the development goes ahead, disabled parking will move to the car park north of the hospital. 

The development will be part of the 20th-century grouping of buildings away from the grade II listed chapel and the original brick hospital buildings dating from around the 1920s. It will include two new bays for ambulances. 

The proposals, submitted by Torbay And South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, have been recommended for approval by officers, subject to a number of planning conditions, including proof that it will be safe for ambulances to enter and exit the relocated bays.

Torbay Councils planning committee will meet on Monday 14 February to decide on the plans.