What do urgent and emergency care pressures mean for the public?

It’s common knowledge that urgent and emergency care services are under pressure. We analysed public feedback to understand exactly how these pressures are affecting everyday people trying to access care. The aim is to help the NHS and decision-makers invest in the areas that matter most.

?So, what’s the latest insight?

• Urgent and emergency care is a rising issue – we’re hearing about it more frequently
• When people and families call 999 they have to wait hours for an ambulance
• For people who are taken to hospital by ambulance, there are also long waits outside before getting into A&E
• Some patients go without food, drink or pain relief during these long waits
• For others, they go without being seen or their health deteriorates while they wait

Public confidence has fallen

While people are still fairly confident they will receive high-quality care, they worry they will have too long to get it. That was the key highlight from our look back at two years of data and wider polling.

What’s the solution while long-term funding and workforce solutions are developed?

We think people’s experiences can be improved by:

• Having performance targets that align with what matters to people
• Better information on what to expect in A&E (e.g. live online waiting times)
• Using NHS111 First to its fullest

Take a look at our full article to see the picture of patient experience in 2022.

https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/our-evidence