Integrating Urgent & Emergency Care
In March 2024, AACE co-published, with NHS Providers and NHS Confederation, a long-term vision for the ambulance sector. The vision provides the context within which we believe ambulance services can significantly contribute to improvement in urgent and emergency care provision across systems.
Following the election of the new Labour Government in July 2024 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Wes Streeting, commissioned a review of the NHS by Lord Darzi and used his report as a springboard for introducing change. DHSC, together with NHS England, have begun a widespread engagement exercise to inform the development of a new 10 year plan for the NHS.
Our feedback on behalf of all of our members into the review and the 10 year plan build on the sector vision developed earlier this year, and respond to specific questions asked. We will continue to engage with our members and partner organisations as the 10 year plan is developed and implemented.
>> Read our response to Lord Darzi’s call for evidence>> Read our submission to the ‘Change NHS’ 10 year plan
Collaboration with all partners, in secondary, primary, mental health and community, and our wider stakeholders in our communities, for the benefit of patients, requires greater integration of the urgent and emergency services we, between us, provide.
By acknowledging the potential for change and co-designing system UEC strategies with all partners and stakeholders, the ambulance sector can play a pivotal part in helping to alleviate many of the system pressures and capacity issues, rather than contributing to them.
AACE has been working with the NHSE Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) team, who are also now working closely with the Emergency Care Improvement Support Team (ECIST) and the iUEC team.
In this Further Faster session (July 2024) we discussed:
- the interface between ambulance and hospital care,
- the impact of hospital handover delays on patient care,
- what the alternatives are to conveying patients to emergency departments (and the limitations of these),
- how we aim to get patients to the right care, first time when someone calls 999 and,
- how integrated care-coordination at the point of call is helping us to get it right with that single touch point,
- how we can identify where, if systems can address critical gaps in services, we can improve outcomes and experience for patients
Download the slide deck below:
