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

8.13. Developing a consistent specification for urgent care centres
Feedback from consultation emphasised the need for a consistent urgent care centre
specification across NW London. In response, we established the Emergency and Urgent
Care Clinical Implementation and Planning Group (E&UC CIG). The purpose of the CIG was
to:
Develop recommendations in response to pre-consultation review, consultation
feedback and input from clinicians, providers and commissioners
Ensure that the implications for emergency and urgent care were communicated and
fully understood at a local level, and that clinical colleagues are kept informed
Ensure that plans for implementing changes to emergency and urgent care received
appropriate input from clinicians and patients.
Over a six month period, the E&UC CIG conducted a significant programme of stakeholder
engagement and considered evidence from a broad range of sources.
UCCs are intended for patients with urgent primary care needs and who therefore do not
require treatment at an A&E department. They have strong links with other related services,
including GP practices, community services and community pharmacies. They are also
networked with local A&E departments, whether on the same hospital site or elsewhere, so
that any patients who do attend an urgent care centre with a more severe complaint can
receive care appropriate to their condition quickly.
On completion of this programme of work the E&UC CIG made the following
recommendations for urgent care centres:
1. Nine urgent care centres in NW London. They will be located at both major
hospitals and local hospitals
2. All UCCs will operate on a 24/7 basis
3. London Health Programmes quality standards covering emergency
departments should be adopted in addition to those London Quality Standards –
emergency and maternity care already stipulated pre-consultation
4. All urgent care centres in NW London will operate to a consistent set of
standards, irrespective of whether they are co-located with an emergency
department
5. An urgent care centre is a primary care service and will be expected to operate
with a distinctive primary care ethos. This will be reflected in staffing, case-mix,
integration with local primary care services and the implementation of positive redirection
back into the care of the patient‟s registered GP
6. The urgent care centres should partner with a specific emergency department.
The partnership should include oversight of joint governance arrangements (e.g. a
Joint Clinical Governance Group)
7. Robust transfer protocols will be implemented to ensure that, where necessary,
urgent care centre patients can be transferred to emergency departments in a
manner that is both timely and clinically safe
8. Detailed modelling work has been conducted to understand anticipated
emergency department and urgent care centres activity volumes, including the
likely volume and acuity of urgent care centre to emergency department patient
transfer, and its impact on patient experience, the London Ambulance Service and
other ambulance transport services.
Figure 8.22 outlines the key features of the urgent care centre specification developed by the
E&UC CIG. This specification is explored in more detail in the following section.
8d. Urgent care centres 252