The Health and Social Care Scrutiny Board meeting on 11 December 2024 was scheduled to include a briefing about the performance of the accident and emergency department at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire, as well as receiving an update about the provision of virtual health services. The meeting was also scheduled to receive the minutes of the previous meeting of the board.

UHCW - A&E Waiting Times

A briefing was included on the agenda for the meeting about the performance of the Accident and Emergency Department at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire.

A report from the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of UHCW had been provided to attendees of the meeting. This report showed that A&E waiting times at UHCW were significantly worse than the target set by NHS England.

When patients attend the Emergency Department it is expected that 95% of patient should have a decision to admit, be transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival.

The report stated that performance had been deteriorating since April 2022, and that only 55.4% of patients attending A&E in October 2024 had been admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours. The report cited a number of reasons for the poor performance of the department, including the introduction of a new Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system in June 2024, and data quality issues resulting from the new system.

The report also stated that:

The national position for emergency care remains challenged, with the coming winter months expected to place even more strain on unplanned pathways.

In mitigation, the report outlined a number of measures that the hospital had put in place to try to improve performance and patient experience. These included attempts to avoid admitting patients to hospital, the streaming of patients to Same Day Emergency Care Units, and the prioritisation of patients with the most serious needs.

The report also stated that Our waiting room is closely supervised by nursing staff to ensure that any deterioration in patient condition is noted and that patients are updated on waiting times.

Virtual Beds

Councillors were scheduled to be briefed on the provision of 'virtual beds' in Coventry.

The meeting report pack included a briefing note from Jodie Storrow, the OCIT Lead at UHCW. The note explained that virtual wards were a way of caring for patients at home who would otherwise need to be admitted to hospital.

The briefing note explained that:

Virtual wards in Coventry and Rugby continued to deliver a bed base of 40, consisting of but not exclusive to frailty, Acute Respiratory Infection, Heart Failure and General medicine pathways.

The note stated that there were plans to increase the number of virtual beds to 60 by the end of the financial year 2024/25, with the ambition of reaching 90 virtual beds the following year. The note stated that new pathways were being developed, including 'acute oxygen therapy at home', and 'early supportive discharge following bowel resection.'

The briefing note explained that the virtual ward model had been integrated into the One Coventry Integrated Team (OCIT), an initiative intended to deliver integrated health and social care services to the people of Coventry.

Minutes

The agenda included the minutes of the meeting held on 13 November 2024. These were provided so that attendees of the meeting could agree that they were an accurate record of the previous meeting.