Ambulatory Care Centre (Adults)
Main Address
- Ambulatory Care Centre
Whittington Hospital - Level 2
Magdala Avenue
London - N19 5NF
- For general enquiries: 02072885940 - For referrals from healthcare professionals only see below
Ambulatory Emergency Care is also known nationally as Same Day Emergency Care, or ‘SDEC’.
Our Ambulatory care centre offers easy access to diagnostic tests, hospital Consultants and specialist staff all in one place. It is a way of providing safe care designed around the needs of the patient and is a way of avoiding attendances to the Emergency Department.
The aim of the unit is to avoid unnecessary hospital admission.
The adult service is Consultant led with a multi-disciplinary team including nurses, Acute Medical and Emergency Doctors and Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACP’s), community Matrons, GP’s, Surgeons and a full range of hospital-based specialities working together.
We do have condition pathways to help others understand the type of patients that we are keen to see, but we do not like to think of ourselves as condition led. All patients can be considered who require an acute medicine review and an ED attendance / admission to hospital can be avoided.
The centre is focussed on providing the right care for our patients, in the right place.
Our Ambulatory care centre offers easy access to diagnostic tests, hospital Consultants and specialist staff all in one place. It is a way of providing safe care designed around the needs of the patient and is a way of avoiding attendances to the Emergency Department.
The aim of the unit is to avoid unnecessary hospital admission.
The adult service is Consultant led with a multi-disciplinary team including nurses, Acute Medical and Emergency Doctors and Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACP’s), community Matrons, GP’s, Surgeons and a full range of hospital-based specialities working together.
We do have condition pathways to help others understand the type of patients that we are keen to see, but we do not like to think of ourselves as condition led. All patients can be considered who require an acute medicine review and an ED attendance / admission to hospital can be avoided.
The centre is focussed on providing the right care for our patients, in the right place.
We treat:
- Adults needing emergency care who are referred by their GP
- Patients redirected from our emergency department
- Patients who have been in hospital, providing support to go home as part of our enhanced recovery programme
This is a day treatment service so patients may be required to come back the following day
All patients must be referred and accepted by one of the Ambulatory Care team – it is not a walk-in service.
Opening hours:
Monday – Friday: 8.00am – 10.00pm (Referrals 9.00am - 5.00pm)
Weekends and Bank holidays: 0900 – 2000 (Referrals via the Duty Medical Registrar on call)
Weekends and Bank holidays: 0900 – 2000 (Referrals via the Duty Medical Registrar on call)
For details for clinicians on how to make a referral, please click here.
Patient Leaflets - translated
- Adult Ambulatory Care Service - Arabic
- Adult Ambulatory Care Service - Bengali
- Adult Ambulatory Care Service - Greek
- Adult Ambulatory Care Service - Polish
- Adult Ambulatory Care Service - Turkish
We accept referrals from GP’s, LAS staff and Whittington Health hospital staff.
All patients must be referred by a clinician and accepted by one of the Ambulatory Care team – it is not a walk-in service.
The following document (document to be uploaded soon - please return to this page at a later date) explains the types of patients that we will see. This list is not final, if you have a patient that doesn’t fit these pathways, please call to discuss.
External staff - To refer a patient into Ambulatory Care, please call:
All patients must be referred by a clinician and accepted by one of the Ambulatory Care team – it is not a walk-in service.
The following document (document to be uploaded soon - please return to this page at a later date) explains the types of patients that we will see. This list is not final, if you have a patient that doesn’t fit these pathways, please call to discuss.
External staff - To refer a patient into Ambulatory Care, please call:
- In hours: call the allocated mobile number to speak to the Ambulatory Care Consultant.
- Out of hours: call the hospital switchboard on 020 7272 3070 and ask to be put through to the duty medical registrar.
- Contact the reception team on 02072885940 for support.
If accepted, we will usually ask you to send the patient on the day to the Ambulatory Care Centre. If clinically appropriate, we may ask the patient to attend the next day.
Last updated20 Mar 2025