The reasons people access unscheduled care tell us how to sustainably relieve pressure on it. The evidence from lived experience demonstrates that the key to creating long-term sustainability in unscheduled care is to better address demand drivers by investing well in services outside unscheduled care.
To achieve this, we need to provide decision-makers with better information on the causal links between the care and support provided by services outside the box and the impact this has on the demand for unscheduled care. Decision-making on unscheduled care still largely relies on output and throughput figures on various parts of the unscheduled care system. We need to see a shift to greater reliance on qualitative and quantitative insight within national and local decision-making to see a change in how decisions are made.
Check out our resources below to find out more about:
- Why do people access unscheduled care, and what are the implications for planning?
- How to address failure demand by taking a whole systems approach to manage the need and demand for unscheduled care
- What we know about the quantified causal links between services out with unscheduled care and the levels and nature of demand for unscheduled care
- Reflections from decision-makers on what insights they need to inform better decision-making
Resources:
1. Rethinking Unscheduled Care - Strategic Planning Considerations
- Access and download the report summary
- Access and download the full report
- Access and download the original design investigation summary report
2. Rethinking Unscheduled Care - Insights for Decision Makers - Cause link evidence summary
- Access and download the report
3. Rethinking Unscheduled Care - Insights for Decision Makers - Findings from interviews with decision-makers
- Access and download the report
Contact us if you have any questions at his.transformationalsystemchange@nhs.scot