Patient changes attending A&E

Change to A&E attendance

This winter, a new pilot is being launched in our Emergency Departments that will triage patients in a new way, ensuring they’re seen in the right place for their care needs.

This new streaming programme, which has already been introduced at other hospitals in the region, will see a care navigator triage patients on arrival to the Emergency Department. They will advise patients of the most appropriate place of care for their needs - potentially enabling them to be treated faster and out of a hospital environment.

The Emergency Department will always be available to patients who require emergency care and treatment. Those attending where their care is not an emergency, and where it is safe to do so, will be advised to attend an alternative service in the community, such as a specialist service at the Trust, a Walk-In Centre, GP, or local pharmacy.

At the door streaming further builds on the national NHS 111 First campaign, which was launched in December 2020 and encourages those with non-urgent health needs to contact the service first before attending A&E, to ensure patients can be seen in the right healthcare setting most appropriate to them.

Professor John Brennan, Interim Medical Director at LUHFT (pictured), said: “Our priority is to always provide safe and quality care to our patients who attend A&E. We’ve seen year-onyear increases of attendances at our Emergency Departments, and as we head into the winter period, these departments will become progressively busier.

“One of the main benefits we expect to see from this approach is an improvement in patient experience. Those who do not require emergency care will be advised to attend a more appropriate healthcare setting if it is safe to do so. This should also help to reduce long waits in A&E for those in need of urgent care, and means our teams are able to focus on patients who attend with an emergency.”