SaHF DMBC Volume 1 Edition 1.1.pdf - Shaping a healthier future

Recommendations: non-emergency transfers
1. Stable, non-emergency patients should be provided with appropriate advice and information on
where to access follow-on ED care, and discharged from the UCC.
2. The receiving ED should be informed that the patient will be attending and the patient should be
provided with a case-number to ensure that they do not have to repeat registration and
assessment on arrival at the ED.
3. Some stable, non-emergency patients will be unable to make their way to an alternative service
safely (for example, some paediatric patients). In this instance, the UCC will be expected to
make a clinical decision on whether these patients require safe transfer.
4. Where safe transfer is needed, the UCC provider will be responsible for arranging the transport
of the patient.
Recommendations: emergency (‘999’) transfers
5. Only serious, „999‟ emergency cases are transported by the London Ambulance Service (LAS).
For example, suspected cardiac.
6. In line with College of Emergency Medicine guidance, the LAS should not consider the UCC to
be a „place of safety‟ for prioritisation purposes.
7. LAS response time should be the same as when responding to a „999‟ emergency in an out of
hospital setting (i.e. a maximum of 8 minutes for the majority of cases). The necessity for this
response standard will be kept under review.
8. LAS ambulances should be appropriately crewed, such that UCC staff will not be required to
accompany the patient during transfer.
9. Responsibility for deciding where an „999‟ emergency patient should be transported to should lie
with the LAS. This decision should be made according to their knowledge of the diagnosis and in
line with their internal protocols.
7b. Work of the Emergency and Urgent Care CIG 172