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Acute Admissions Service
For acute, urgent unplanned medical or surgical admissions, our HCA acute admissions service has the capacity to directly admit patients 24 hours a day under the care of our on-call physicians and specialists. We take care of the admitting process with one call and provide you with a single point of contact.
ONE CALL IS ALL IT TAKES, 24/7
Our Acute Admissions Service provides 24/7 care for urgent and unplanned medical admissions, so your patients can benefit from consultant physician-led care without delay.
This service is available across four of our London hospitals: The Wellington Hospital, The Lister Hospital, The Princess Grace Hospital and London Bridge Hospital, and in Birmingham at The Harborne Hospital, and offers:
- 24/7 rapid referrals
- 24/7 consultant physician-led service
- Consultant on-call rota
- Admission within two hours *
- 24/7 private ambulance service **
- Resident doctors and specialist nurses
- Entire referral process managed by us
- Direct access to diagnostics and imaging
- Largest private intensive care network
Inclusions and exclusions criteria
Unplanned, urgent (non-emergency) medical conditions. Common conditions include:
- Patient readmissions following post-operative medical complications.
- Respiratory conditions including pneumonia and COPD.
- Cardiac conditions including heart failure, arrhythmias, blood clots, pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis.
- Neurological conditions including acute confusion, worsening dementia and seizures.
- GI, Liver and HPB conditions including acute biliary problems, acute appendicitis and intestinal obstruction.
- General medical conditions including acute infections, worsening diabetes and geriatric conditions.
Common exclusions include:
- Women over 20 weeks’ gestation presenting with an obstetric problem
- Acute onset of stroke
- Acute MI / STEMI requiring thrombolysis / crushing chest pain
- Acute psychiatric episode
- Highly contagious infection
- Major blood loss
- Emergency trauma
- Severe burns
- Suspected poisoning
PLEASE NOTE Our Medical Concierge Centre Team are there to guide you on appropriate referrals within HCA UK and each admission will be independently assessed. For medical emergencies and life-threatening conditions, please call 999 immediately for appropriate care and transfer to Accident and Emergency. Once the patient is stable and appropriate to transfer, we can facilitate a bed to bed transfer via private ambulance into HCA UK if required.
Round-the-clock care without delay
We understand that speed is crucial to all urgent admissions, which is why we can admit patients within just two hours of an enquiry*.
Our 24/7 Medical Concierge Centre team comprises of clinical call handlers with specialised training in medical and surgical care, and experienced patient liaison officers. From the moment you call, our advisors will personally manage the entire referral ensuring the patient is rapidly transferred to the most appropriate acute admissions facility within HCA UK, where they will receive consultant-led care without delay.
They act as a single point of contact and liaise with the patient, next of kin, hospital teams and third-party assistance companies to provide a safe and rapid handover and admission.
Consultant physician-led care on admission
Across our acute admissions network we have 24/7 Consultant Physicians delivering rapid on-site patient assessment. Patients are triaged to establish an appropriate care pathway and are supported by key specialties available on our consultant on-call rota.
The scale of our service and the experience of our multidisciplinary teams meant that we were able to admit over 1,200 patients into our Acute Admissions Service in 2023.
Complex cases, day or night
All five of our acute admissions facilities are equipped to care for complex patients requiring acute medical care, so no matter where they’d admitted or what their condition, you can rest assured that they’ll receive the highest standard of care available.
Leading consultants provide comprehensive medical cover through our on-call rota collectively across the following specialties:
- Acute Medicine
- Cardiology
- Gastroenterology
- General Surgery
- Gynaecology
- Haematology
- Neurology
- Neurosurgery
- Orthopaedics
- Pain Management
- Radiology
- Respiratory Medicine
- Urology
Leading the sector for unplanned medical admissions
Our five acute admissions facilities are conveniently located across London and in Birmingham to give patients fast access to acute care no matter where they are and each is equipped to the highest standard.
Wherever they’re admitted, patients have direct access to diagnostic tools and imaging services, including the latest MRI and CT scanners, on-site pharmacies and pathology service for immediate results.
Across our facilities we have 131 ICU beds, more than any other private provider. All our Intensive Care Units (ICU) deliver the very highest safety standards and regularly accept critically ill NHS patients with complex needs.
Our acute admissions locations
The Wellington Hospital
Wellington Place St John's Wood NW8 9LE London
The Princess Grace Hospital
42-52 Nottingham Place W1U 5NY London
The Lister Hospital
Chelsea Bridge Road SW1W 8RH London
London Bridge Hospital
27 Tooley Street SE1 2PR London
The Harborne Hospital
Mindelsohn Way B15 2FQ Birmingham
* Admitting times may vary, subject to the circumstance of the referral.
** Applies to transfers in London only. Transfer times may vary, subject to ambulance availability.
This content is intended for general information only and does not replace the need for personal advice from a qualified health professional.