UHP rated most improved for patients attending as emergencies
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) has been rated the most improved Trust in England in relation to the 4-hour target despite increased demand for the Emergency Department.
In data shared by NHS England, UHP is leading the trusts who have made the most improvement regarding the 4-hour waiting time target for patients attending our Urgent and Emergency Care services and Minor Injury Units during the 2024/25 year. The 4-hour target for 2024/25 is to see and treat 78% of patients within 4 hours of them arriving. In 2023/24 UHP was seeing an average of 54.9% of patients within 4 hours, but with the recent improvements this has risen by almost 10% to 64.8% in the 2024/25 financial year to date.
UHP is also among the top 10 trusts in the country for improvements in the number of patients waiting more than 12 hours in the Emergency Department. In 2023/24, 18% of patients attending as emergencies would have waited more than 12 hours, however, in the 2024/25 financial year to date this has decreased to 16% of patients.
These improvements have been made despite demand for emergency services at UHP increasing by 6.1% in 2024/25, equating to an additional 4,646 attendances. Meeting this additional demand and improving the experience for the almost 300 patients attending the Emergency Department each day has been possible due to the commitment and dedication of colleagues who are working on the Trust’s ‘One Plan’ – a programme which is driving improvements in the quality of urgent and emergency care for patients.
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 (SDEC), 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.”
In order to facilitate this improvement, the Trust 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
These changes have already had a significant impact on the experience of patients who are waiting in the Emergency Department and being treated at UHP. Speaking about his experience with the Cardiac Chest Pain Hot Clinic after attending as an emergency, patient Arthur Radcliffe said: “I was given an appointment to come for a CT scan at 10:50am. It was well ahead of time; I was out by 11:30am. It was absolutely brilliant.”
However, the Trust recognises that there are still further improvements to make. Overall, UHP is currently rated as 109 out of 122 trusts nationally for the 4-hour target, and 40 out of 45 in relation to 12-hour waits.
While changes to the site have already been made to improve the experience of patients waiting in the Emergency Department, there are a number of ongoing developments that will further increase the Trust’s ability to provide outstanding care to patients who arrive as emergencies. These include further work to provide more care in the community and thereby avoid people needing to attend our emergency units and more space to care in the shape of a new Urgent Treatment Unit and Fracture Clinic, and the new Emergency Care Building which will double the space to care for the increasing numbers of patients with urgent and emergency conditions.
Michael Whitcombe, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, said: “This doesn’t just sit with the Emergency Department and the Emergency Department teams. They are still in the thick of it, but it’s how we as a site respond to support them in getting our patients to the right place at the right time.”
