Helping to avoid A&E waits
Local people are getting the right help they need faster thanks to a new scheme launched by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System (ICS).
Although A&E may be the first service people think of when it comes to urgent medical care, it is often not the best place for our local people to get the help they need. Known as ‘call before you convey’, this new scheme aims to get people the best care for their concern, by linking up ambulance crews with the right teams and services.
In the first six weeks of the scheme many unnecessary visits to A&E have already been avoided – with around 60% of people referred into the initiative being directed to alternative services better suited for their needs. In addition to giving local people a better care experience by helping them get seen by the right service, the scheme has also freed up valuable time for our ambulance crews to attend life threatening cases such as strokes, heart attacks and major trauma.
Under the new initiative, ambulance crews can call a dedicated helpline when they attend a person in the community who may not get the best benefit out of a visit to A&E. Working together with the Call Before You Convey team of experienced senior clinicians, ambulance workers can get the people in their care to the right service quickly – whether that’s a community care response team, an Urgent Treatment Centre, or a specific department within a hospital.
Dr Vaz Ahmed, Clinical Lead for Urgent & Emergency Care for the ICS said:
“This innovative project has already helped many people in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough get the medical support they needed from the right service, avoiding unnecessary attendances at A&E which can often be a stressful experience.
“By supporting our local people to get the right care at the right time the teams involved in Call Before You Convey are helping to reduce pressures on A&E services as we head into the colder months. This will free up our urgent care teams in hospitals to look after those people who need their care most.”
Adam Gimson, an Advanced Paramedic at the East of England Ambulance Service who works out of Cambridge Ambulance Station, said:
“Call Before You Convey has been a useful service which my colleagues and I have utilised to great effect.
“When calling you know you are speaking to an experienced local clinician who can help even if it isn’t avoiding transporting the patient to hospital, as they can enable you to bypass the emergency department and long waits to offload your patient.
“Knowing that calling also aids with the patient’s pathway through hospital is useful as the clinician will notify relevant specialists.”