UMC Utrecht

A&E now still more efficient in Utrecht

The Accident & Emergency (A&E) department at the University Medical Centre in Utrecht treats around 21,000 people a year, of whom about a third are admitted to the UMC. In the past that took the form of the traditional 'waiting room' procedure: register, wait in the waiting room for a nurse or doctor, then wait for the appropriate treatment followed by waiting yet again for the results. Now it all happens based on the much more efficient "triage" system in a completely rebuilt A&E location.

Triage

The triage system is really simple: You register at reception, immediately go with a nurse who makes the provisional diagnosis and sets a certain priority. That urgency is assigned a colour: Red is acute, blue is not urgent and somewhere in-between come orange, yellow and green. The waiting time for the patient depends on the colour he/she gets.

Craftsmanship in every respect

A new system, of course, deserves a new look. Gielissen realized a major share of the basic interior of the new A&E: the reception counters, the complete 'lounge', the kitchen units and pantries as well as built-in cupboards. At the end, the customer was more than satisfied: "It was craftsmanship in every respect. So not only as far as building the interior was concerned, but also their approach, vision, versatility and drive."