This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
New guidance for transforming urgent and emergency care
The guidance, entitled ‘Safer, Better, Faster’ aims to improve patient flow and reduce admissions and attendance by improving out-of hours hospital services to deliver care closer to home and develop seven-day physical and mental health services.
It proposes a collaborative approach between patients and partners across the system, including a suite of guidance documents to promote best practice and new models of care.
Part of this change will include the provision of better self care support, giving better access to the right advice, and ensuring those with life threatening needs are placed in the right facilities.
Additionally, the guidance also suggests establishing urgent and emergency care networks (UECNs), to tackle clinical models for ambulance services, rethink financial modelling and improve referral pathways between urgent and emergency services.
Dr Amanda Doyle, co-chair of NHS Clinical Commissioners (NHSCC), said: “NHS England are right when they say that this cannot be done within individual organisations, and it will need whole systems to work together to build on existing groups and networks to ensure all sectors are played in – from primary care through to mental health services.
“No one structure will be right for all areas, so it will be key to build in flexibility to allow for local variation.”
Dr Steve Kell, fellow co-chair of NHSCC, said: “Further strain on our budgets will bring any transformation to a halt rather than speed it up.
“Safer, Better, Faster places a lot of weight on primary care and is reliant on a stable and strong general practice and a sufficient and resilient workforce. I think it’s fair to say more time, resources and investment is required in those areas to support them to manage the current demand levels and we have to ensure that is that start of a process to transform urgent and emergency care and isn’t used as a performance management tool for the current emergency care pressures.”
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