Making See and Treat work for Patients and Staff

During recent years, major steps have been taken towards improving emergency care in England. Progress so far has resulted in benefits for both patients and staff which would have been considered impossible only a short time ago, but there is still a long way to go.

See and treat is one of the key innovations which has improved the experience for patients with less serious illness and injury while at the same time improving working conditions for staff. The aim is to assess and treat patients with minor complaints as soon as they arrive, rather than asking them to wait. The key principle is that the first clinician to see the patient is able to assess, treat and discharge them safely.

Over 160 A&E departments in England are now either testing or have already implemented see and treat systems to treat patients with minor complaints. This has resulted in significant and impressive improvement in waiting times.

However, there are other sites that have not introduced see and treat as a system of care. The Modernisation Agency's Emergency Services Collaborative (ESC) has now produced a guide called: Making See and Treat work for Patients and Staff. This new guide looks at sites that have introduced see and treat and reveals how they made the system work for them and what they felt were the defining factors for success.

Source : DOH | More Information