This week Blackpool Teaching Hospitals has been participating in the #TeamFyldeCoast improvement week in collaboration with health and care partners across Lancashire and South Cumbria.
The exercise built on what has been learnt responding to the pandemic, test new ways of working and ensure people have the best possible experience of health and care services.
Today’s focus has been on SDEC
Since the opening of SDEC in early September, the ambulatory care unit has been operating from the modular build outside ED in order to accelerate our Same Day Emergency Care Model.
Same day emergency care (SDEC) is one of the many ways the NHS is working to provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time for patients. It aims to benefit both patients and the healthcare system by reducing waiting times and hospital admissions, where appropriate.
SDEC is the provision of same day care for emergency patients who would otherwise be admitted to hospital. Under this care model, patients presenting at hospital with relevant conditions can be rapidly assessed, diagnosed and treated without being admitted to a ward, and if clinically safe to do so, will go home the same day their care is provided.
Patients can be referred to SDEC treatment through different routes, including:
- Following streaming or triage in emergency departments (EDs)
- Direct referral from GPs
- Direct transfer from ambulance services
- Direct referral from NHS 111
There are significant benefits associated with treating people through SDEC services, including:
- The ability for patients to be assessed, diagnosed and start treatment on the same day, improving patient experience and reducing hospital admissions
- Avoiding unplanned and longer than necessary stays in hospitals, resulting in lower risk of infections and de-conditioning for patients
Since the opening of the SDEC unit our team have been steadily increasing the number of patients seen in the unit, it is operational between 8am – Midnight. The SDEC team are proactively identifying patients from the ED in order to reduce congestion in ED and avoid admission to hospital.
In addition the team are working with NWAS in order to increase the number of direct admission pathways to the SDEC unit and further reduce congestion in ED.
Following yet another unprecedented week of attendances across all areas of the Trust, Natalie Hudson, Chief Operating Officer paid tribute to all those who have gone above and beyond to engage with #TeamFyldeCoast.
He said: “As the Trust continues to provide the best possible health and care services during these unprecedented times and significant pressures, I am heartened to see that an initiative like the #TeamFyldeCoast Improvement Week has brought out the best in our colleagues as we strive to implement improvement ideas and create sustainable changes.
“This week we have seen excellent progress, with the spotlight shone on a number of areas, including the Golden Patient, Discharge Lounges, the Electronic Patient Tracker, Red to Green and the SDEC.
“As well as celebrating the wins, I think it is important too that we understand there are areas which do require improvement and look at ways in which we can learn and change from the #TeamFyldeCoast collaborative. I say collaborative as we have been joined on this initiative by our health care partners across the system, as it is important that we work together on these improvements.
“Thank-you to each and every colleague who has contributed to this Improvement Week, your hard work, dedication and resilience is brilliant and very much appreciated and we now look forward to seeing the impact of these efforts in the weeks and months to come.”
Want to learn more about the #TeamFyldeCoast initiatives? See our previous focus from Day One, Day Two, Day Three and Day Four