The new Maple Centre at Milton Keynes Hospital is due to open today, Monday 31 October. and is designed to deliver an integrated approach to Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) for patients, with access to an acute medical assessment ward on the upper floor.
SDEC is the provision of same day emergency care for those patients being considered for emergency admission and enables individuals to receive the treatment they need, without being admitted into the hospital. A number of existing teams will move into the Maple Centre to provide these services for patients, including the Ambulatory Emergency Care Unit, Bridging Clinic, OPAT and VTE Clinic, as well as Emergency Surgical Clinic. These specialities had previously been provided in the Willow Unit, opposite ward 16 or Acorn Suite in our Emergency Department.
This new co-located SDEC service will be available on the ground floor of the Maple Centre, aiming to prevent admissions and facilitate early discharge for Medicine, Surgery and Frailty patients.
Upstairs there will be a 26 bedded ward which will provide specialist care for those patients who require additional treatment. The ward will be known as Maple Centre Ward 1. For those patients who need further treatment, they will be admitted into the hospital.
Patients coming into the SDEC service at the Maple Centre will be via referral only and we expect referrals from South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS), GP’s (inclusive of MK Urgent Care Centre) & 111. Patients may also be redirected from the Emergency Department if our clinical teams believe care would be more effectively provided in the new facility.
Operational hours for SDEC will be as follows:
Monday – Friday: 8am – 10pm (last referral at 8pm)
Weekends and bank holidays: 9am – 7pm (last referral at 5pm).
For patients arriving out of these hours, you will be referred directly to the Emergency Department for triage and initial treatment.
The opening of the Maple Centre will further see several ward moves take place across the hospital. These moves will be in effect from Monday 31 October and are as follows (and are highlighted in the graphic below):
Current ward 1 will move into the Maple Centre (which will be know as Maple Centre Ward 1). Patients from ward 1 will be moved into the Maple Centre from 31st October. This previous ward would then be known as Ward 2A
Patients currently in Ward 2 will be transferred into the ward now to be known as 2A. This will enable the Trust to effectively refurbish the ward to improve the facilities for staff and patients. When the refurbished space reopens, it will be known as 2B
The new facility is a result of a significant amount of work over the last few years with teams both at the hospital as well as in the community and has involved great collaboration and communication with local health and social care partners.
Maple Centre Ward 1 information:
The ward is located on the upper floor of the Maple Centre. Access is off the main hospital corridor via the main entrance
The best place to park is in Car Park D (multi-storey). The main entrance is located directly opposite and the ward is a short walk from there
The visiting hours for the ward are 2.30pm – 7.30pm
The phone number for the ward will remain the same and is 01908 996 578
The Senior Sister in charge of Maple Centre Ward 1 is Mariama Bah. The matron will be Annie Sarmiento