Three quarters of people now seen within four hours at North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust

More patients are now being seen quicker at North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust thanks to ongoing work to support frontline teams and deliver high quality urgent and emergency care.

Figures show that in June more than 75% of people were seen, discharged or admitted to hospital within four hours. This is up from 67% last summer and places the trust in the top 4 out of 17 NHS organisations in the North West for its four-hour A&E performance. 

The significant improvement reflects the hard work and effort of teams providing care in the Emergency Department at Warrington Hospital and Urgent Treatment Centres in Runcorn and Widnes.

Initiatives that are driving this improved performance include the opening of the trust’s new Surgical Same Day Emergency Care Unit in March. The new unit operates from 8am on Mondays right through to 8pm on Fridays, providing care for patients with conditions such as abdominal pain, renal colic and back pain.

Other developments include improving triage processes when people first arrive at the Emergency Department, enabling more people to get the right care, in the right place at the right time.

Meanwhile, the trust has also increased the number of patients who are seen by the Urgent Community Response Team. The team provide urgent care in people’s own homes, helping older people and adults with complex health needs to avoid unnecessary Emergency Department attendances and hospital admission.

Chief executive, Nikhil Khashu, said: “Our staff are working incredibly hard to improve the care and experience of patients who need urgent and emergency care. The increase in people being seen within four hours is a significant improvement from last year and we are proud of the progress we have made.

“We know some people still experience longer waits, particularly when they are waiting for a hospital bed to become available. We will continue to focus our efforts on making further improvements, working with partners across health and social care.”