Emergency care services are under increasing pressure, with >million attendances in Emergency Departments recorded in Wales (2016-2017). The percentage of patients spending less than 4 hours in A&E in 2017-2018 was 81.7%, the lowest on record, and below the Welsh Government target of 95% in all but one health board. Emergency 999 care and out of hours services are also struggling with increased demand and challenges in meeting performance targets.
We are building on our programme of work to support improvements to urgent and emergency care, identifying appropriate responses to patient needs, and delivering care closer to home.
Core activities
- A programme of work on how best to respond to 999 callers with sustained high needs
- Using qualitative methods to understand patients’ views about interventions delivered by ambulance services
- Evaluating the impact of paramedics working in primary and community care settings
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Reducing ambulance conveyance to emergency departments
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Increasing primary care skill-mix e.g. of paramedics
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Developing new technologies in ambulances to improve patient outcomes
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Clinical decision support for paramedics and treatments in the community rather than hospital
Leads
- Professor Helen Snooks, Associate Director, PRIME & Professor of Health Services Research, Swansea University
- Dr Alison Porter, Associate Professor in Health Services Research, Swansea University
Research projects
Please visit the 'Research Portfolio' page and select WP2 from the drop-down list.
Publications
Please visit the 'Publications' page and select WP2 from the drop-down list.
