What people have told us about Urgent and Emergency Care services
This Healthwatch England briefing discusses people’s experiences of urgent and emergency care (UEC) services from December 2020 to August 2022.
It mentions how Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay reported on four Emergency Departments across Devon in September 2021. At all four hospitals they found that people had gone to the emergency department because they could not access another service, such as the GP or NHS 111. In one visit to one of the emergency departments they found that over half (51%) of patients attending were there because they couldn’t see their GP.
It mentions how Healthwatch in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay reported on four Emergency Departments across Devon in September 2021. At all four hospitals they found that people had gone to the emergency department because they could not access another service, such as the GP or NHS 111. In one visit to one of the emergency departments they found that over half (51%) of patients attending were there because they couldn’t see their GP.
The key themes identified included:
- People feel confident that they will receive high-quality care from urgent and emergency services, but believe they will have to wait a long time to receive it.
- People’s confidence in services changed throughout the pandemic.
- Those who were admitted to hospital following a visit to A&E were more likely to say their confidence in the service had increased.
- Older people have lower level of confidence in urgent and emergency services.
You can download the full report below for a detailed breakdown.
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Urgent Care Report
