18.06.13
‘Excellent opportunity’ to change urgent care
NHS England is asking patients and staff to respond to the Urgent and Emergency Care Review to develop a national framework for a safe, efficient system that is accessible 24/7.
The review, commissioned by NHS England and led by national medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, is open to feedback until August 11.
It aims to develop consistently high quality and safe care, every day of the week. Guidance for commissioners will also be provided to ensure right care in the right place and efficient delivery of services.
Patients are defaulting to A&E due to confusion about where to go when they need urgent medical care, the review warned.
Sir Bruce said: “The Urgent and Emergency Care Review has provided us with an excellent opportunity to improve the way we offer care between our hospitals, primary and community care and social services.
“We have seen clear improvement in A&E performance across the country coming into the summer, but the issues will not just simply go away.
“Over the past few months, we have been building an evidence base of guidance, reports and data to inform our review – and it is clear that the way we currently deliver urgent and emergency care needs to change.
“A compelling case for change can only be built on evidence and, while not always comfortable reading, it is the only way to have a truly honest discussion. We must keep pace with medical progress and make sure everyone has the best chance of receiving the most appropriate care.
“We now need to hear your views on our work so far, and what you want from your local health services to ensure high quality and safe care in the right place and at the right time for those who need it.”
Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “It is crystal clear that current pressures on the wider urgent and emergency care system cannot continue. We need to look at transformative ways to improve the whole service in the long-term so people get the right care, and know where and how to access it.
“Achieving improvements will require all parts of the service, along with the public and patients who use and rely on urgent and emergency care, coming together to look at solutions.
“We need to have an honest conversation with the public from the outset about why we are in the situation we are in, and what needs to happen to remedy it. It is encouraging to see NHS England urging these conversations through its review.
“We need to look at the way we spend money on urgent and emergency care, for example moving it away from crisis admissions and towards more supportive planned care. We need NHS and social care services working together more effectively so people are not moved around from one part of hospital unnecessarily or kept in hospital when they could be getting the care they need at home. And we need to look at how and where we base services, so that the most serious cases can be treated with the best specialised, round-the-clock care.
“The people who use and rely on the NHS deserve safe and sustainable health services. Changing one part of the system in isolation from another or changing only in response to external pressures will not deliver the long-term change we need for the NHS's survival. Part of the transformation we need requires a change to the NHS's culture and the way different parts of the system communicate with each other and work together.
“The NHS Confederation will be working with its members from right across the health system over the coming months to help inform this consultation about what we believe are the best ways forward to achieve real and lasting improvements.”
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