The challenge
To meet the requirement from NHS England for all ICBs to create a System Coordination Centre (SCC) to ensure visibility of, and a collective approach to, managing system demand and capacity across all regions.
NECS was commissioned to staff out of hours services to enable the SCCs to operate 8-8, 12 hours per day, seven days a week, 365 days a year across the four North East and Yorkshire ICS areas at very short notice.
Our response
Utilising the NECS wider workforce on an overtime basis, we were able to set up SCCs for all four areas operating out of hours services 5pm-8pm weekdays and 8am-8am on weekends and bank holidays. We then continued to provide this service with numerous short-term extensions.
NECS is now commissioned to provide the above service at the request of the ICBs for the current financial year for NENC, Humber & North Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.
West Yorkshire ICB however reduced its operating hours and NECS provides weekend and bank holiday cover 8-6, contracted until October 2026.
Techniques and tools
Working with the ICBs and NHS England, we provide regular service updates and training to our staff to support resilience across all areas. We strive to continually improve the service through learning, benefits realisation and lessons learned exercises.
We developed and introduced the RAIDR Smart System Coordination Centre solution, already in use in NENC, to two of the other areas and we use the system to provide a full region automated OPEL report to NHSE.
Improved multi-agency co-ordination through real time data sharing and joint decision making responding to system pressures with ambulance services, hospitals, mental health trusts and community care providers.
Analysis of data on bed availability, patient flow, staffing and other key metrics from Trusts, including utilisation of the NECS RAIDR app supporting both the SCCs and Trusts to enable timely interventions and patient flow management.
Outcomes
- Emergency Preparedness and Response to major incidents, including industrial action.
- Supporting and engaging in mutual aid arrangements and patient repatriations with neighbouring regions and Trust.
- Developing and following escalation protocols to higher levels of authority to ensure critical decisions are made promptly and collaboratively.
- Our services have contributed to improved waiting times in ED, reduced ambulance handover delays and enhanced system working across providers, all of which have a direct impact on the patient journey and can lead to improvements in patient care.
“Real credit to NECS in terms of … diligence and professionalism and concern for patients, and clearly willing to go the extra mile. Thank you and well done to … the team”.