Influential figures call for ‘single UEC service’ for NHS

The NHS should create a “single 24/7 service” for urgent and emergency care for every A&E department’s catchment area to address what is currently a “fragmented and disjointed” system, six expert groups have said.

The recommendation is part of a wide-ranging plan to reform the urgent and emergency care system, which has been jointly authored by bodies including the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, the Royal College of GPs and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives.

The expert groups’ reform blueprint, titled Our Urgent and Emergency Care Improvement Proposals, comes ahead of the government’s anticipated “improvement plan” for the sector.

It concludes the NHS has “got the winter it prepared for” and has “normalised and accepted” poor care. 

Proposed actions in the plan include creating a “single 24/7 service” for each emergency department catchment area, bringing together teams in EDs, urgent community response services and virtual wards, which would be focused on caring for people in their communities.

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Source: HSJ, 22 January 2025