Health and care collaboration to ease pressure on urgent care services this winter

NHS and care services across Humber and North Yorkshire are under huge pressure – with more than 1,000 people a day attending emergency departments in the region.

This pressure has significantly increased over the last week – especially in hospitals and GP surgeries – and is compounded by rising cases of Covid-19 and flu.

Despite the challenges, frontline staff and organisations across the region are working together, and tirelessly, to give patients the best possible care they can.

Stephen Eames, Chief Executive, Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (HCP) said: “We are working together, as partners in health and care, across the Humber and North Yorkshire to address some of the key challenges in our system.

“As a partnership we are continuing to prioritise a recruitment drive across health and social care ahead of winter – with the aim of being one workforce.”

As well as boosting our workforce , lower category ambulance calls are being diverted to community services (single point of access) where healthcare professionals can signpost patients to a more convenient service for them, if they do not need to attend hospital.

Stephen Eames said: “Ambulance services across England have been under considerable strain all year and there is no straightforward solution to ease this, but as one measure, additional paramedic staff are being located where they are needed the most to support ambulance crews with patient handover and helping ambulances get away quicker to respond to emergency calls. We also have Hospital and Ambulance Liaison Officers at each hospital helping maintain patient safety standards and again helping with handover times.”

Furthermore, extra discharge rounds have been added in hospitals in a bid to identify more patients who are ready to be discharged home without needing a care package. Mental health support and ‘crisis house’ services have also been bolstered across the region.

“Our GPs and practice nurses are also working incredibly hard to give extended access to patients,” continued Professor Eames. “In fact, we are seeing more primary care appointments available to patients than ever before. A patient that needs to be seen the same day and face-to-face, will be seen that day.

“We continue to see thousands of patients a week across our region book a GP appointment and then not attend and I would urge people to cancel their appointment if it is no longer wanted. That consultation can then be given to a patient who has an urgent need.”

While many patients in hospital are very unwell, health and care services are urging people to seek other health services if their condition is not serious or life- threatening:

Stephen Eames added: “We face a vast number of challenges this winter, that threaten to be as great as the challenges of the pandemic. It requires an extraordinary response from all of us in the Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership – working together.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who is involved in our system working long hours, and determinedly, to improve patient care, especially our frontline colleagues, and indeed the public for their understanding at this extremely challenging time.”