Simon Burrows, Associate Director of Sustainability and Transformation Blog

Simon Burrows, Associate Director of Sustainability and Transformation at Nottingham CityCare visited Nottingham’s Urgent Treatment Centre to find out first-hand about staff and patient experiences

Nottingham’s Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) assesses and treats people who have urgent but not life-threatening illnesses and injuries. Jim Quinn, Head of the UTC introduced me to the team, who showed me how they maximise space in the building, and we looked at how new digital tools are being used to improve care.

I was taken through the whole patient journey, from initial booking in at reception, to triage, and on to consultation, and finally discharge.

The centre is open seven days a week, 365 days of the year from 7am to 7pm and staff do a fantastic job handling unpredictable demand and often high numbers of patients. At times they receive more than 200 visits in a day.

Once booked in, patients wait to be called for a triage assessment with a medical professional like Clinical Practitioner Stephen Ramsden, who I observed. The team do a fantastic job keeping waiting times for triage down.

During triage, patients are assessed to determine the urgency of their condition and the nature of the treatment required. Efficient triage ensures people are seen in a timely manner.

If a patient’s condition is serious and they need to be seen more urgently, they will be prioritised to go to a hospital accident and emergency department or moved up the queue to have a quicker consultation. If they don’t need to be seen as urgently, they may be advised to go to their GP or a pharmacy.

Managing patient expectations is challenging but the team does a great job.

Once a patient has been triaged, they wait to be taken through to consultation, where they are examined in more depth, by Clinical Practitioners like John Carr, who asked questions and listened to the answers before providing an assessment.

Previously a paramedic, it was interesting to see his skillset in action and to get his reflections on how he works, how he has settled into his role, and is enjoying working as part of the UTC team.

They are working hard to keep waiting times for treatment under four hours and for all patients to receive their initial triage within 15 minutes. It was good to see first-hand how everyone is focussed on making the flow through the department as smooth as possible.

Looking at their work with my responsibilities for sustainability and transformation, I was keen to see how digital tools, including SystmOne templates and patient call screens are being used and hear from frontline colleagues about opportunities for further improvement.

I’d like to thank everyone for the insight into their daily lives and the chance to listen in to conversations staff and patients were having.

With quiet efficiency they do fantastic work with patients who are often in distress and needing immediate care.

It was great to see at first hand the difference they are making to the lives of people in our communities.