A new emergency care process at the West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven has cut the number of people needing hospital admission by 30 per cent.

The Same Day Emergency Care process (SDEC) has been running at the hospital since March.

The process is part of a Government initiative created to assess patients before admission, in order to tackle hospital waiting times.

Thanks to this process, patients now have input from "senior decision makers" at the very beginning of their visit to hospital, who can then decide the right course of treatment for them.

The North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the West Cumberland Hospital, has said this new process has improved patient flow in the hospital, freeing up valuable space in Accident and Emergency and created a more streamlined and efficient process for staff and patients alike.

Ward sister Nichola Mitchinson said: "I’m extremely happy with the improvements we have seen to the department because of the implementation of SDEC.

"Ultimately we now have more time to spend with patients. Ensuring we get the patient to the right place at the right time in order to deliver the best care."

Elaine Amor, the matron responsible for overseeing the Emergency Department at the Whitehaven hospital said: "SDEC has been fully embraced by our staff, it requires a new way of thinking and an integrated approach between departments, something which has developed over the last few months."

The positive effect SDEC has had on the staff and patients has been vast, the trust says, even during the challenges of the last few months.

Pressure has been relieved from A&E at a crucial time and all staff have felt the benefit of these changes.

Katie Poulton, consultant on the Emergency Admissions Unit at the West Cumberland Hospital explained: "We have seen a huge improvement in patient flow, wait times are reduced and staff morale is up because we are able to work in a much improved way.

"Practitioners want to work within the department. We’ve seen a massive increase in vacancies being filled."

Dr Poulton added that the team are able to manage 70 per cent of the patients through SDEC, creating less demand on wards and generating a more efficient system, allowing the short stay units to run as they were intended.

Same Day Emergency Care is being introduced to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle later this year.