Improving Safety in the Emergency Department this winter

Our emergency departments are under ever increasing pressure, with performance in winter reaching new lows every year; putting both patient safety and staff morale at risk. While a significant increase in resources, for both the NHS and social care, is clearly needed there are actions that health service leaders and boards can take to help their systems maintain safety and improve performance over winter. This video outlines those actions and calls on health service leaders to encourage whole system ownership of ED performance, with every part of the hospital understanding the importance. Our guide describes what systems should do, appropriate to the performance ‘zones’ EDs find themselves in; Green (4hr performance above 95%), Amber (85-95%), or Red (below 85%). Find out more at www.rcem.ac.uk/winterplanning