July 2011 data

Hammersmith Hospital’s A&E service is provided by the emergency unit (EU) and the urgent care centre. The hospital also has the Trust 24-hour heart assessment centre (receiving patients by ambulance with high risk cardiac chest pain) and the Trust renal unit, both of which accept acute specialty patients into their own facilities.

Hammersmith Hospital EU is an acute receiving unit for medical emergencies by ambulance as well as patients who walk in with a broad range of conditions. The urgent care centre is run in partnership with London Central & West Unscheduled Care Collaborative and the Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust. It is open from 08.00 to 22.00 while the EU is open 24 hours a day.

Our July data for patients returning within seven days is for the EU only. In our August publication, we aim to provide a figure which integrates the urgent care centre and emergency department.

The Trust has developed an action plan in conjunction with the London Ambulance Service and has already seen an improvement in ‘time to initial assessment’ for patients arriving by ambulance. Hammersmith Hospital scores well when benchmarked with other London based hospitals.

The teams across the hospital work very hard to ensure patients do not exceed the four hour wait and are auditing and reviewing current plans in preparation for the winter period, which is traditionally busier.

The department works with the local social and primary care services to develop management plans for patients who have multiple chronic medical problems that are best managed by more than one organisation.

A&E Hammersmith patient pathway

A&E summary HH

A&E time in assessment/treatment graph HH