Highly skilled, patient-focused, responsive, and kind – North Mid emergency department team continues to deliver against backdrop of ongoing pressure and unprecedented demand

Patients using the emergency department at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust can be confident their treatment will be provided by well-trained, safe, skilled staff in a visibly clean unit with specialist equipment that manages infection risk well, according to a new report out today (Fri 14 Oct).

However, staff are delivering these high standards within a context of major challenges that require a system-wide response, including delays to ambulances able to handover patients, and continued unparalleled demand for urgent and unplanned care and treatment.

The report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which regulates all providers of health and care services, summarises findings of a team of CQC inspectors who visited our hospital-based urgent and emergency care (UEC) service in July 2022, to undertake a focused inspection of care provided.

Focused on patient needs

The inspection team highlighted that staff throughout the service were trained in key skills, had clear understanding of their roles and accountabilities, kept good care records, and managed safety well. The inspectors described that staff were focused on patients’ needs, managed risks to patients well, as well as working well together inside and outside the department to keep patients safe.

North Mid’s emergency department sees more than 700 patients on some days, and like many hospitals across England, it is seeing patients with increasingly complex needs, and high numbers of ambulance arrivals.

Inspectors found that some patients wait too long for assessment and treatment once they arrive in the department, and that patients brought by ambulance cannot always have their care handed over as quickly as they should. The CQC’s report acknowledges that many patients experience long waits and spend more than the national standard of four hours before being discharged or admitted for further care.

Dr Nnenna Osuji, Chief Executive of North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, said:

“Every member of North Mid’s urgent and emergency care service should be proud of the work they do every day, for everyone in our community, and I am grateful to the CQC for their report which highlights the immense commitment our staff show to our local patients, day in, day out.

“I am proud of our incredibly busy and hardworking team, from junior doctors, to phlebotomists, staff nurses and cleaners, and everyone who supports them to continue to go above and beyond every day. I am even more pleased for our local community that the CQC’s findings show North Mid continues to provide safe, well-equipped, highly skilled care and treatment for so many people, despite ongoing challenges of high demand and pressure.

Help us continue to help you

“Like our hospital, which draws much strength from our brilliant north London community, our emergency department is embedded in a system which not everyone sees all the parts of. I do, and I want to extend my thanks to partners across the urgent and emergency care system, for their ongoing work to help us continue to improve. From rota coordinators to medical suppliers, to royal colleges, staff side, and educators, we are all one team, and I urge our local community and its leaders to work with us to use our emergency department wisely so that we can continue to look after people who need us most.

“This means making time to protect yourself from illnesses where possible like flu and covid, taking the chance to have vaccinations when you are offered them, and looking after family, friends and neighbours as we approach the winter period. Our staff are here for everyone, and we ask that you look after them too and treat them with kindness.”

The full report is available on the CQC’s website at www.cqc.org.uk/news.