Urgent Care

Urgent Care Network – working together to ensure that people have access to care services they need, when they need them.

Health and Social care organisations in Cambridgeshire are working together as an Urgent Care Network to ensure that people have access to care services they need, when they need them.
 
Two main aims for the group are:

• reducing unnecessary admission to hospitals for people who could be treated at home or in the community
• reducing delays people may experience when waiting to access other health or social care services whilst in an NHS setting

The Urgent Care Network (UCN) is made up of clinicians and managers who represent our hospitals, community services, GPs, ambulance and County Council. The UCN is a partnership which has been developed to ensure that future services are designed and implemented collaboratively and to ensure that the limited resources we have available across the health and social care system are used in the most effective way.
 
Some of the pieces of work that the Urgent Care Network is involved with include:

• RADAR – a rapid assessment and diagnosis clinic in A&E for older people
• Falls response service – ambulance and social care joint working to assess people who fall at home and support them remaining at home
• Help at home – supporting the care network charity to increase capacity and provide support for frail and isolated people in their homes across the county
• Review of community care - how can district nurses and community matrons be used differently to support urgent needs in community
• Patient flow dashboard – helping GPs understand their patients access rates to urgent care services and promote proactive primary care management
• Discharge planning – working with hospital and community teams to improve discharge planning process for patients with ongoing needs.  

Up coming work:

• Supporting patients who regularly attend A&E with mental health and behavioural problems and helping them to manage at home
• Developing a dementia support service to work with care providers to improve care for dementia patients by reducing unnecessary admissions into hospital and reducing lengths of stay in hospital
• Promotion of voluntary sector organisations to increase access to their services direct from the public and from health care professionals.

If you would like to know more about the Urgent Care Network or their work please contact: Ewan Kelsall on 07748045544 or email ewan.kelsall@cambridgeshire.nhs.uk