The Friends of Lewes Victoria Hospital have contributed £331,000 towards the cost of developing an Urgent Treatment Centre at Lewes Victoria Hospital evolving out of the previous much-loved Minor Injuries Unit. As well as continuing to operate a wide range of outpatient services, day surgery, and an excellent imaging facility, this will consolidate the place of the Victoria Hospital in the provision of healthcare for our community for a long time to come.
The UTC became operational on Wednesday 29th April, though with unavoidably scaled down operations as a result of the necessary precautions to limit risk of Covid-19 transmission. The UTC is intended for assessment and advice to patients with non-Covid related symptoms or conditions. It is staffed by experienced Nurse Practitioners, who will be able to deal with a wide variety of minor illnesses and minor ailments, with advice available if required from the GPs on site. It is intended therefore to provide extra capacity for conditions that can’t wait for a GP appointment, or would usually not require a GP to manage, and for urgent conditions that are not judged serious enough to warrant an A&E attendance. At this time contact should be via 111. It is proposed that there will be a further direct contact UTC phone number in due course. Contacts will be screened on the phone to direct Covid queries to the GP run Hot site or further 111 services, and non Covid conditions passed to the UTC for an appointment with one of the nurse team.
When the situation allows, we anticipate the expanded role of the Victoria Hospital UTC will become a valuable new part of community health provision with people and patients better able to get the right advice promptly effectively and locally.