Patients across the region are seeing the benefits of the NHS in the South East consistently exceeding the national target for delivering emergency care for patients in the community, NHS data shows.

The national target for Urgent Community Response teams (UCRs) is to reach at least 70% of patients referred to them within two hours, a target that the NHS in the South East has exceeded every month in the last year, on average reaching around 84% of eligible patients within the target time.

The UCRs are a team of health and social care professionals who help to care for people at home – preventing avoidable hospital visits and stays – and to assist people returning home from hospital who need extra support. They often focus on frail patients, or those with complex health needs, working to provide care in the most appropriate setting which can often lead to better patient outcomes.

They provide an urgent assessment within two-hours, and further multi-agency support within 48 hours, for a short time, with the aim of helping people recover quickly and keep their independence.

The teams work closely with ambulance services, GP practices, frailty units and other hospital and community services, as well as social care and voluntary sector organisations. Calls to UCRs can also be made by the public or patients themselves.

Across the South East, patients, particularly the frail, are being supported and cared for by UCRs, as the NHS focuses on preventing avoidable hospital admissions and shifting care from hospitals into the community. In 2024 UCR teams in the region attended 89,515 referrals within 2 hours, an average of nearly 7,500 every month.

Dr Christopher Tibbs, Medical Director for the NHS in the South East said: “UCR teams are doing a fantastic job across the South East and having a real impact on patient care, helping them stay in their own homes and avoid unnecessary hospital visits or stays.”

“They play a really important role, alongside other services such as Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) and frailty assessment units to support the most vulnerable patients.”

One example of this joined up working across the region is the Frailty Assessment Unit and Frailty Same Day Emergency care (FSDEC) based on Quex ward at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Kent. It has 12 frailty assessment beds and more than 12 Same-Day-Emergency-Care spaces.

It takes direct admissions from community partners including GPs, the ambulance service and the hospital’s emergency department and patients themselves can refer to be seen in one of their clinics. The unit has access to a multidisciplinary team, including Advanced Clinical Practitioners, consultants, resident doctors, therapists, nurses and pharmacists. It also works closely with both Community Acute Response Team and the East Kent Frailty Home Treatment Service which provides acute assessment and medical management for patients in their home or care home.

Quex ward currently sees around 60-70 patients per week with around 60% of these patients being discharged the same day.

Recently the UCR at Sussex Community Foundation Trust received a GP referral for an 85-year-old patient experiencing lethargy, reduced mobility, and early signs of a possible infection. The patient was identified as being at risk of hospital admission, and the referral was triaged to the UCR team, who attended within an hour. An Occupational Therapist assessed the patient, while a nurse conducted a clinical review of their medication. The patient was then remotely monitored through daily telephone and video consultations and remained on the virtual ward for a week, receiving ongoing clinical support.

Dr Tibbs added: “There are a number of these teams across the region delivering the highest quality of emergency care either at a patient’s home or in a specialised unit, and the work they do helps patients either stay at home without the need for a trip to hospital or get them home after just a short stay.

“Most patients would prefer to be at home, and frail patients in particular recover more quickly surrounded by their home comforts and their family.

“I’m very proud of these teams and systems for delivering such effective care in such high numbers, and I’m delighted for the patients that are benefitting from the teams’ efforts.”