Urgent and emergency care
- keep the Friarage Hospital at the centre of healthcare for the local population.
- address the immediate issues of the urgent care pathway.
- ensure that treating people at, or near to home, is a viable option wherever possible.
- work together across the system to shift the focus from illness to wellness.
- assess the future purpose of the community hospitals.
- create a step change in the integration of health and social care.
- radically rethink the delivery of health and care in rural areas, including the use of technology.
- radically rethink and take opportunities to reform our workforce.
The new clinical model aims to integrate primary care, ambulance services and hospital-based services to improve the quality and resilience of urgent and emergency services.
A “proof of concept” phase to test the new model started on 20 March 2017 and is due to continue until the end of June 2017. We have agreed to extend the testing phase until further notice to allow more time for evaluation.
Members of the public needing to attend the Friarage Hospital’s A&E for urgent or emergency services can and should continue to do so.
This programme of work is included in our 2017-2019 Operational Plan and will help inform the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) for Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield, Darlington, Teesside, Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby.
- A patient centred service: that meets the needs of the population and is simple to access.
- An emphasis on quality: safety, effectiveness and patient experience, so that the service is delivered in line with national standards and specific commissioner requirements.
- Flexible and responsive: so that the service can respond flexibly to changing needs and are delivered to patients in a timely manner. This includes where national policy, local changes to strategic direction or information identifies a need to change, and the management of peaks in demand for the service.
- Effective and proactive communication: involving South Tees Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the CCG regularly discussing service delivery and taking new and innovative approaches to service delivery.
- Robust and timely information reporting: so that South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ensures the integrity of performance and activity information and routinely provides this for commissioning, public health and clinical governance purposes.
- Value for money: the service must be affordable and provide value for money for all parties in a challenging economic environment.
- Maximise the use of developing technology: the service must work closely with other sites (e.g. James Cook University Hospital through Telemedicine) to make best use of systems and support communication between sites.
- Integrated: a service that is integrated from a patient’s perspective delivering seamless and effective care to patients wherever possible.