Views sought on next steps for assessing urgent care

NHS England has announced that patients, clinicians and the public are being invited to give their views on a comprehensive set of indicators for urgent care.

The updated standards aim to capture what matters clinically and to patients, end hidden waits and reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus, and forms the next stage in a developmental process first initiated in 2018.

The proposed bundle of measures takes account of changes in the way that urgent care is delivered such as the roll-out of Same Day Emergency Care and strengthening of NHS 111. As part of it, hospitals will be expected to see and assess patients within 15 minutes, one of 10 indicators.

Additionally, local health systems could receive a rating that reflects the whole patient journey under the bundle, developed as a result of testing those first published in the interim Report of the clinically-led review of NHS access standards. Likewise, integrated care systems would be scored on measures including 111 performance, ambulance response times and patient handovers, timely assessments and time spent in emergency departments.

It is hoped that the measures, developed with clinical leaders, will improve patient flow to prevent crowding and ensure A&Es function more efficiently and effectively than the current set of standards which date back 15 years.

Stephen Powis, NHS National Medical Director, said: “After a decade and a half it is only right that we look at how we measure urgent and emergency care with fresh eyes. There have been many innovations in urgent treatment in that time and it is important that they are reflected in how we assess patient care from start to finish. The coronavirus pandemic has only made it more important that we update the way we measure urgent care to ensure NHS services deliver what matters most to patients and clinically.”