Urgent care services in Wirral working together to reduce wait times
Wednesday, 27 December 2023
Urgent care services, including urgent treatment centres (UTC), walk-in centres (WIC) and minor injuries units provide medical help when it's not a life-threatening emergency. They can diagnose and deal with many of the ailments and problems people go to A&E for.
Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (WCHC) operate two walk-in centres in Wallasey and Eastham, a minor injuries unit and the UTC next to the emergency department at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WUTH) working in partnership with hospital colleagues.
Managing waiting times is key to ensuring patients receive a good experience with timely access to treatment. Since January of this year, over 80,000 people have attended our urgent care services with an average of 97-99% being seen in less than four hours.
In November alone, 7,363 patients attended the UTC or walk-in centres in Wirral. Of this number:
- 7,214 (98%) of people were seen and treated within four hours.
- 1,169 UTC patients were streamed away from A&E, enabling emergency medicine specialists to focus on those with higher acuity need.
During the same period, the top 5 reasons for attendance included:
- Wound care - dressings / suture removal
- Throat (cough)
- Injury of shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, hand
- Injury of hip, leg, knee, ankle, foot
- Rash / localised swelling
To support patients who require urgent care, digital information screens have been deployed across all of our sites displaying live data on waiting times. The screens also share public information on the types of conditions seen, signposting to alternative services (111, pharmacy), seasonal campaigns and introducing people to who our staff are.
Between January and November 2023, Wirral urgent care services received 86% positive feedback:
“We were seen very quickly. In fact we were in an out in under an hour. All the staff were very friendly, knowledgeable and kind. The walk-in centre provided an excellent service. Thank you.”
“Absolutely fantastic staff. My son is autistic and they were brilliant with him. Quick wait time and professional. Truly a credit to the NHS.”
“Friendly staff who put me at my ease. Efficient and very short waiting time.”
“Everything was smooth from start to finish in terms of process. Waits are expected, but the journey seemed to make sense. All of the staff, doctors, nurses I came into contact with were lovely and very supportive.”
Wirral has a range of plans underway to support urgent care services throughout winter. These include scoping the provision of ECGs in urgent care to increase diagnostics, expanding point-of-care testing and improving the management of chronic wounds which is part of a wider piece of work across the system.
Services continue to clinically assess and stream patients away from A&E and promote and signpost to pharmacies with a prescribing pharmacist (for example, patients with urinary tract infections).
Urgent and Emergency Care Upgrade Programme (UECUP)
The UECUP programme is a collaboration between the Department of Health and Social Care, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WUTH) and the Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (WCHC).
The development programme will create efficient patient management and improve flow for those who attend either the Emergency Department or the urgent treatment centre. There will be a single point of access, ensuring patients are seen quickly, assessed and provided with the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
The upgrade will include:
- A full internal Urgent and Emergency care refurbishment including a new Children’s Emergency Department
- A partial new build element
- A dedicated ambulance entrance providing privacy and dignity, and a larger ambulance set - down area enhancing capacity.
For more information about UECUP visit www.wuth.nhs.uk
Information about Wirral’s UTC and WICs can be found at www.wchc.nhs.uk