Temporary discharge lounge opens at Hull Royal Infirmary to improve patient flow
New temporary facility offers comfort for patients awaiting transport and helps free up hospital beds
Hull Royal Infirmary has introduced a temporary Patient Discharge Lounge, providing a comfortable space for 30 patients waiting to leave the hospital.
The lounge is designed to reduce congestion on wards, allowing new patients to be admitted more quickly and improving overall efficiency across the hospital.
Operations Director Matt Overton said:
“The new Patient Discharge Lounge will enable patients to be transferred from the ward to a comfortable fit-for-purpose lounge while they await transport, releasing the bed on the ward promptly to enable the next patient to move up to the ward supporting better patient flow through the HRI site.
“This has been a large-scale project, with a fast turnaround, so thank you to the Site Management team, Discharge Care Group, the Estates, Capital and Facilities team, Security and the Digital team for all your hard work in bringing it together.”
The lounge is equipped with 6 trolleys, 8 recliners, and 16 chairs, and its ground-floor location is expected to make patient transfers smoother than the previous upper-floor facility.
Anne Broadhurst, Head of Patient Placement said:
“As the lounge will be back on the ground floor, we hope that this will also speed up the process for our partners in the ambulance service who are tasked with collecting patients for their journey home.”
The temporary lounge will remain in use until the new Lansdowne Building is completed.
The permanent facility will feature an advanced Discharge Lounge, a Group-wide Care Coordination Centre to manage patient flow across all five sites, dedicated space for the Discharge team, and a third-floor area for ED and Major Trauma consultants to work closer to the department.