Emergency care set to change in overhaul

CHANGES to the administration and management of emergency care in North Lincolnshire will come into force next Tuesday, it was announced yesterday.

Scunthorpe General Hospital will become the central point of contact for all unplanned care emergencies across the borough.

From October 1, the hospital’s A&E department will become a new emergency centre open 24 hours a day, alongside a new clinical decision unit (CDU) and short stay facility.

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The main change behind the scenes will be the establishment of a new telephone service that will take calls referred from the NHS 111 number, with the aim of being more able to direct callers to the local service they may need.

Fergus Macmillan, lead GP for urgent care at North Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “We have developed this model to ensure people who need emergency care can access this fast and easily.

“We know that people often attend A&E because they are unsure of how to get urgent care.

“This model will work closely with NHS 111, primary care and community services to ensure care is more integrated between services. People won’t necessarily see that as it will go on behind the scenes.

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“If people feel ill, we advise that they contact their own GP in the first instance, or ring NHS 111.

“This service will assess and advise them or transfer them to the Emergency Centre. The Emergency Centre will then arrange the help they need, either by asking them to attend the centre, or by sending an appropriate service to them.”

The group said seriously ill and injured patients will see “no significant difference” to the way they are treated.

The centre will also provide out-of-hours primary care services, while the CDU is for patients aged 16 and over and will provide inpatient care for up to 72 hours.

There are no changes to children’s services.