Urgent and unplanned medical admissions
Our Acute Assessment Unit at St John & St Elizabeth Hospital offers rapid, consultant-led inpatient care for private patients. Designed for individuals needing urgent medical or surgical attention, the service ensures swift access to high-quality care when it’s needed most. Our Acute Assessment Unit provides immediate access to consultant-led specialties, including cardiology, orthopaedics, general surgery, gynaecology and more.
Referrals are accepted from GPs, consultants, our on-site Urgent Care Clinic, and other healthcare providers. Whether patients require admission from home, another hospital, or following an outpatient appointment, our team is on hand to coordinate care quickly and safely.
The service is specifically for adults who need to be admitted within 24 hours due to a pressing clinical concern. Every patient is admitted under the care of a consultant, with round-the-clock medical support from our experienced team.
Please note: this is a referral-only service and we do not accept self-referrals from patients.
For medical emergencies and life-threatening conditions, please call 999 immediately.
Patients can be admitted to our modern wards and receive personalised care, overseen by a consultant and supported by our in-house Resident Medical Officers, Critical Care Fellows and Nursing team. We welcome adults requiring:
- Iron infusions (and other infusions)
- Respiratory conditions including chest infections & pneumonia
- Infections requiring IV antibiotics
- Observation and diagnostic tests
- Stroke rehabilitation (inpatient & outpatient)
- Daily medical assessment or medication adjustment
We cannot accept patients requiring critical care or those with specific acute or infectious conditions, including:
- Those needing Critical Care or ventilator support
- Acute cardiac or neurological emergencies
- High-risk communicable infections
- Major trauma, such as road traffic accidents
- Mental health, transplant, oncology, renal dialysis
Our Acute Assessment Unit does not provide the following:
- Acute emergency care for limb or life-threatening conditions
- Care for pregnant women over 16 weeks
- Services for patients aged 16 and younger
All admissions are subject to clinical suitability and bed availability. For a full list of exclusion criteria, please contact our team.
Consultant physician led care
All patients admitted through our Acute Assessment Unity receive physician-led care from the outset. Each case is overseen by a named consultant, supported by our in-house Resident Medical Officers, Critical Care Fellows, and experienced Nursing teams. This ensures continuity of care, timely decision-making and a personalised treatment plan from day one.
At St John & St Elizabeth Hospital, patients have direct access to our in-house diagnostic and imaging suite, which includes MRI, CT and X-ray, plus an on-site pharmacy.
How to refer a patient to our Acute Assessment Unit
Our Acute Assessment Unit is here to support GPs, consultants and healthcare professionals who need to arrange urgent hospital care for their private patients.
Whether a patient is at home, in clinic or at another hospital, we’ll work quickly to arrange a same-day admission – providing a seamless path to consultant-led care.
Referrals can be made through our dedicated Admissions Team who are on hand to manage the entire referral ensuring the patient is quickly transferred to us. Outside of our office hours, our on-call Duty Manager is on hand to coordinate everything needed, including bed availability and consultant support.
Our referral pathway offers a direct route to consultant-led care, with a single call:
- You have made the decision to refer your patient
- Contact our Duty Manager on 07714 083787 and provide necessary clinical information
- The Duty Manager will then triage the patient
- The on-call consultant, if not already done, will confirm accepting the patient referral and contact the appropriate consultant
- Our Reservations team will then organise booking your patient into the hospital, where they will; complete the patient’s registration forms, check their insurance or self pay details & confirm a payment plan
- The patient completes diagnostic tests (if appropriate) on the ward and this is then reviewed by the consultant
- A decision is then made if the patient needs to be admitted or discharged
Self-pay
Patients can access the Acute Admissions Service without the need for health insurance. Our team will provide clear pricing and guide patients through the simple admission process.
Medical insurance
We work with a wide range of private medical insurers. We advise patients to contact their private medical insurer and obtain authorisation to ensure that their admission will be covered.