Patients are continuing to go to Nobles Hospital’s A&E because they cannot secure timely appointments with their GP, an independent review has found.
The report, commissioned by the DHSC, noted that some patients told reviewers they had been advised by their own GP practice to attend A&E if the appointment offered was “too long to wait”.
Peter Gent, Managing Director of PSG Health Limited and author of the review, said: “It was well recognised that patients frequently attended the Emergency Dept as an alternative to using GP services which is by now an engrained practice.”
The review found there is currently no integrated Urgent Care model on the island, although an out-of-hours GP service operates between 6pm and 8am.
GP representatives reported frequent delays in receiving timely discharge information from the hospital, alongside confusion over patients being discharged from the Emergency Department with follow-up radiology booked as ‘ED Outpatients’ but intended for GP staff to pick up.
The reviewer concluded that a system-wide approach to minor illness should be a high priority, offering better services to patients and more appropriate deployment of professional skillsets.
The review recommended recommissioning an integrated Urgent Care model to realign lower acuity presentations, enabling patients to be assessed and managed by the right team without avoidable delays.
This would include clinical streaming in A&E with direct access pathways back to GP services, self-care options, prescribing pharmacy services and minor injuries provision.