The Adult Assessment Unit (AAU) hub at Barnet Hospital provides rapid access to multi-specialty and medical ambulatory pathways for acute and elderly care patients.

All patients referred to the AAU hub must go through the unit navigator single point of access and follow the agreed pathways/criteria. All patients will be assessed, and it will be determined whether the patient needs to be seen on the same day or in a hot clinic in the same week. The AAU hub clinical team will be responsible for the AAU hub hot clinic allocation.

Patients referred by GPs to the AAU hub will be accepted, without the need to go via the Emergency Department (ED). Suitable ED patients referred to the AAU hub will be rapidly moved out of ED, and into the hub for assessment and treatment. 

Medical Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) offers specialist assessment, diagnosis and treatment to patients on the same day of arrival who would otherwise have been admitted to a ward, with the intention of discharging them on the same day if clinically safe to do so.

Hot clinics offer the same as above but for patients who are deemed as lower priority and not required to be seen on the same day or as needing a follow up appointment later in the week. Hot clinics are run by the acute medicine and health services for elderly people (HSEP) team alongside specialty clinics from Medicine and Surgery for specialty patients. 

Referral to the Barnet Hospital Geriatric Hot Clinics (patients aged 70+) is completed by the AAU Hub team. See How to Refer.

• Geriatric hot clinics run Monday-Friday 8am-6pm
• Medical hot clinics run Monday-Sunday 8am-6pm

Virtual Wards

Barnet Hospital Virtual wards provide acute care and treatment to patients for a diverse range of conditions in the comfort of their own homes, who would otherwise be in hospital. 

Referral to the Barnet virtual ward is completed by the AAU hub team. Please refer to the AAU hub as usual and the team will determine the most appropriate treatment plan for the patient. The target population is patients who are pre-medically optimised or at high risk of immediate admission or readmission and who have an expected length of stay of up to 14 days.

Barnet runs two virtual ward pathways: 

• Hospital @ Home – this is for patients with enhanced nursing or therapy needs who are suitable to be treated at home with face to face visits from nurses or therapists.
• Remote Monitoring – this is for patients who don't require face to face visits and can be monitored remotely using technology provided to them.

Frailty hub

The Frailty hub provides specialist Geriatric medicine multi-disciplinary intervention. It is a designated assessment and treatment area with 4 recliner chairs. 

All patients referred to the Frailty hub will go through the AAU hub navigator single point of access and follow the agreed pathways/criteria. 

The Frailty hub team is led by a consultant geriatrician with support from therapies and nursing. When patients are seen within this service, they will receive a comprehensive geriatric assessment and input from the full MDT to support them to return home as quickly as possible. 

The frailty team work alongside the AAU team and the ED team to proactively transfer patients from ED who are deemed appropriate. 

• The Frailty hub runs Monday-Friday 8:00-17:00 for patients ≥ 65 years old. 

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusions

• aged 18+
• aged 70+ for Geriatric Hot Clinics
• resident of Barnet or Enfield.

Exclusions

• transfusions and infusions.

How to Refer

Referrals can be received from GP, ED, wards and 111, with the aim of admission avoidance or facilitated discharge.

Locations

Barnet Hospital