An integrated urgent response hub aims to reduce pressure on emergency departments and improve access to urgent care. Key issues include workforce shortages and a lack of coordination between services. The document outlines steps to develop a hub, including defining local needs, engaging stakeholders, setting up a strategy group, and creating governance structures. Measurement of the hub's performance on access, clinical effectiveness, and patient experience will be important. The goal is to provide additional urgent capacity at the primary care level through new integrated multidisciplinary teams.

1. Developing an Integrated Urgent
Response Hub
Katayoon Bamdad

2. Urgent Response
 Urgent care response is the term usually given to a care work that takes place
in emergency departments (EDs), Out of Hours, minor injury units and walk in
centres.
 When any of these urgent care places is under pressure then the whole care
system is under pressure specially primary care system for example:
 A packed ED leads to earlier discharges from the acute trusts and into
the community which results in more pressure on the GPs
 The GP Five Year Forward View, NHS Long Term Plan and now COVID 19 crisis
present opportunities to develop integrated urgent response hub at the
primary care level which will reduce demand within the urgent care system
 Integrated urgent response hub is not only about every practice being open
seven days a week; but it is about delivering additional urgent capacity at the
GP and community level.

3. Why an integrated Urgent Response Hub is needed? ( Current Key issues
and Key Benefits)
Current Key issues
 COVID 19 crisis has placed enormous pressure on local GPs and hospital services, both in
terms of the number of patients and the effect it has had on staffing levels.
 Variation in the urgent services has resulted some patients are admitted to hospital
unnecessarily due to lack of urgent access to the GPs
 Incorrect dispositions from NHS 111 to primary care or the EDs
 Patient demographics; with rising patient expectation and demand specially due to COVID 19
crisis
 Health inequalities and inequalities to access
 Workforce shortages
 Lack of data/record sharing between and across care settings
 Lack of suitable digital Consultations
 Digital poverty ( related to the certain population and patient groups)

4. Future Key Benefits
 Improved access to urgent healthcare services
 Improved patient experience and outcomes
 Reducing pressure on A&E
 Care team have a direct line to other healthcare professionals (enabling
them to access expert advice to support the care of their patients
 Access to additional trainings ( Workforce improvement)
 Enabling Digital consultation where possible

5. • GP services at scale
• New Integrated multi-
disciplinary teams
• Improved urgent access
specially for vulnerable
patients due to frailty
and long term condition
• Improved patient safety
and experience
• Improved Workforce
• Improved planning and
training hub
• Improved clinical
effectiveness
• Digital Technology
enabling care
GP Transformation at Scale, defined by
Assessing Local
population
Needs- Place
based
integrated
urgent care
Stakeholders Engagement
Transformation
leadership team
Local plan for
sustainability and
transformation
GP Services
working together
OUTCOMES
Developing an integrated urgent Response Hub
Overview

6. Developing… Continued
 Define current situation ( Equality access impact assessment, and data
analysis)
 Identify stakeholders (Identifying wider partners within NHS providers, local
authorities and council, CCGs, community services, third sector, charities, NHS
111, digital providers, patient and public)
 Stakeholder engagement (Engage with stakeholders and build relationships.
This engagement is important to identify their needs and their priorities)
 Identifying right leaders and clinical champions
 Important for implementation phase and sustainability of the programme
 Important for stakeholders buy in

7. Developing… Continued
 Setting up System-wide Strategy Working Group (included sponsoring and
executive board)
 Define shared vision and objectives
 Further define and identify the high level priority work areas (hub’s quality
resilience and clinical effectiveness, developing and training workforce,
improving urgent care access, patient safety)
 Create high level timeline which include set of actions with timeframe
 Identify the issue with the integration ( workforce issues, clinical and
information governance, digital connectivity, patient and staff safety)
 Including Lesson learned – from those locality who already have
developed the hub and from your COVID 19 experience

8. Developing… Continued
 Create stakeholders communication plan which should include:
 Identify Communication pathways amongst professionals,
 Patient communication: need public awareness campaign so people
will know that hub is available for their urgent care
 Create Governance and leadership structure
 Create Information Governance ( how patient data will be shared?)
 Regular reporting to stakeholders and executive board ( Highlight reports)
 Risk and Issue registers
 Programme’s performance measurement and monitoring
 Creating KPI and Quality standard for hub’s performance with clear
domains

9. Developing… Continued
 Create Evaluation criteria
 Patients need ( specially in terms of ease of access to the hub and
continuity of care)
 Clinical effectiveness
 Workforce and resourcing
 Escalation level and system ( how is it different from ED’s escalation
system?)
 Clinical governance ( specially for serious incidence)

10. Thank you
Any Questions?