Evaluation of the pressures on urgent and emergency care
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In response to calls from patients and their families about how long they had waited in A&E, Healthwatch Wirral visited the A&E department and urgent treatment centre (UTC) at Arrowe Park Hospital and walk-in centres at Victoria Central Hospital and in Eastham. Healthwatch Wirral spoke with patients about why they had chosen A&E or the UTC instead of alternative care, support and treatment in the community. Healthwatch Wirral also spoke with staff to gather insight into the challenges they were experiencing.
Conversations with hospital, UTC, and walk-in centre staff identified issues around referrals, long wait times for GP appointments, a normalisation of going to A&E when unwell, lack of awareness around service provision, and more convenient walk-in centres than GPs. Healthwatch Wirral noted a general lack of knowledge about A&E alternatives, particularly community-based sources of help.