Patients 'not waiting on the back of ambulances for as long' say NHS
The latest waiting time performance has been published for Plymouth's emergency department
Plymouth's Derriford Hospital has become the 'most improved Trust in England' in relation to the four-hour emergency wait target - but bosses warn there's still more to do.
In data by NHS England, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) saw a 10 per cent improvement overall.
The targetfor 2024/25 is to see and treat 78% of patients within four hours of them arriving at an Emergency Department.
In 2023/24 UHP was seeing an average of 54.9% of patients within four hours, but with the recent improvements this has risen by almost 10% to 64.8%.
In 2023/24, 18% of patients attending as emergencies would have waited more than 12 hours - falling to 16 per cent in the latest figures
Vicky Carter, Senior Matron for Urgent and Emergency Care, said: “For our patients, what we are showing is that they are not waiting on the back of ambulances for as long.
"We’re able to get them into a more comfortable space, we’re able to get them onto an appropriate bed.
“We’ve hugely increased the in reach from virtual wards, Same Day Emergency Care Unit, frailty, our frequent attender’s team, our homeless team – that really feels different. If you’re a patient coming in and seeking specific support, it is much easier now to connect with that specific support than it ever was before.”
The trust has implemented a number of changes throughout 2024/25 under the One Plan, including:
- Increasing the number of beds for emergency patients by 35 beds
- Creating a frailty Same Day Emergency Care unit
- Creating a surgical Same Day Emergency Care area
- Opening 24 protected orthopaedic beds for patients needing planned orthopaedic operations
- Caring for an additional 3,585 patients through our Same Day Emergency Care/Hot Clinic pathways
- Implementing a community x-ray car which to date has significantly improved patient experience by reducing the number of patients who need to be conveyed by providing assessment and wrap around care in the community. This has resulted in 9 beds saved
- Implementing an End of Life Care service in the Emergency Department, with patients who are able being moved to a more comfortable End of Life unit at Mount Gould Hospital. The Mount Gould site provides better community access for family/carers, and a quieter environment, more time to care, and now with Marie Curie specialist support available across Mount Gould