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Wirral University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Acute Medicine

This department, based at Arrowe Park Hospital, assesses, evaluates and treats of a broad range of patients with acute medical problems and conditions.

It is staffed by a team of Acute Physicians working closely with General Practitioners and a dedicated nursing and administration workforce.

It was one of the first integrated units in the country.

Acute Medicine Unit (AMU)

The Acute Medicine Unit (AMU) is one of the busiest areas of the hospital, operating 24 hours per day, looking after up to 50 patients at peak times, and providing diverse care to over 25,000 patients per year.

Patients are referred to the AMU either from their family doctor or our own Emergency Department (ED), to be reviewed by our specialist team of Acute Medicine Consultants.

Our Consultants and Senior Nurses lead a committed and dedicated team of nurses, doctors in general and specialist training, therapists, pharmacists, and many other disciplines; to provide our patients with one of the most cutting-edge acute medicine services in the United Kingdom.

Patients referred to the AMU undergo a comprehensive nursing and medical assessment.  All patients are reviewed by a specialist consultant 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Providing such a comprehensive assessment may mean that a patient can spend anything for an hour to several hours undergoing assessment including simple blood tests and x-rays, through to state of the art CT and MR scaning.

Following assessment, many patients are discharged home with a treatment plan, some remain overnight or for 1-2 days on the AMU, others are admitted to our speciality consultant wards, and for some patients we ask you to return to our ambulatory care clinic (please see below).

Ambulatory Care

This service is a key development to avoid unnecessary admission to hospital. Daily clinics are operated by the Acute Medical Team to provide follow up facilities for patients with specific clinical conditions, for example pulmonary embolism or fits/seizures. 

These clinics are led by a Consultant and an Advanced Nurse Practitioner. They are complemented by rapid access to diagnostic tests.

Location

The Acute Medical Unit and Ambulatory Clinic are located on the 1st floor of the hospital and should be accessed via the main entrance.