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Introduction to the Reforming Emergency Care programme
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Last modified date:30 April 2007
Background about the ongoing reform programme and its objectives.
Emergency care, like the whole NHS, is undergoing the biggest changes since the service began more than 50 years ago. Now, for the first time, services are being centred round the patient and their needs, not the other way around. The aim is to ensure patients get fast and convenient access to all services, including primary care and inpatient and outpatient hospital services
A ten year strategy, Reforming Emergency Care (October 2001), is driving the changes in emergency care. The strategy is based on six key principles:
- Services should be designed from the point of view of the patient;
- Patients should receive a consistent response, wherever, whenever and however they contact the service;
- Patients' needs should be met by the professional best able to deliver the service needed;
- Information obtained at each stage of the patient's journey should be shared with other professionals who become involved in their care;
- Assessment or treatment should not be delayed through the absence of diagnostic or specialist advice; and
- Emergency care should be delivered to clear and measurable standards.
The strategy aims to transform the patient's whole experience of emergency care through:
- Shorter waits through more beds, staff and better ways of working. By the end of 2004 no patient should spend more than four hours from arrival in A&E, to admission, transfer or discharge.
- Faster ambulance response times and better training and equipment for ambulance crews so they can save more lives.
- Simpler, more streamlined access to emergency services, including more primary care based services for minor complaints.
- A more integrated approach to emergency and critical care - wherever a patient happens to be in the health system.
The core areas of work being taken forward by the Department of Health:
The problems in emergency care do not exist in isolation, so they can't be tackled alone. The reforms taking place in emergency will work in conjunction with wider work to improve access to services across the board; modernise the workforce through role redesign; and offer more treatments in a primary care setting.
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A simple desktop Ready Reckoner has been developed specifically for operational managers enabling you to predict whether you will have sufficient beds or a bed shortage on any particular day, allowing you to take pre-emptive management action to prevent a beds crisis.
Emergency Medical and Surgical Admissions guidance
This document provides best practice guidance on emergency medical and surgical assessment and admission as well as the supporting processes that need to be in place. These guidelines aim to extend the high quality of care seen within the A&E department to the rest of the emergency pathway within the hospital and will also contribute toward further embedding the operational standard.
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