We have launched a study into the effectiveness of unscheduled care services in Wales and would like members of the public to contact us with their opinions and experiences (Please click here to complete our brief survey).

Unscheduled care is a term used to describe any unplanned health or social care - ranging from emergency hospital treatment, to patients who need help to care for themselves at home.

Why are we looking into this?

The complexity of the current unscheduled care system can confuse members of the public over where to go for help and they may go to one particular service when it would have been better for them to have gone somewhere else. This, in turn, can lead to pressures on unscheduled care services, such as the ambulance service and accident and emergency departments. 

If more than one service is needed, these services do not always work together effectively. Delays can also be caused when a person is transferred between services.

Our study will look at the entire system of unscheduled care in Wales.  We will use the findings of work we published in June 2008 on the ambulance services in Wales and we will also examine the following aspects of unscheduled care in detail:

• NHS Direct - looking at its cost effectiveness and future role;
• A&E - looking at the handover target for patients, the way this data is recorded and whether the target is helping to improve ambulance crew capacity; and
• Out of hours - this will include a review of out of hours primary care, social care and mental health services.

How can you get involved?

We want to hear from you to get a better understanding of the issues you may have faced when choosing unscheduled care services. If you would like to contribute, we would be grateful if you could follow the link below to complete a short survey of four questions - anonymously if you like. If you have used unscheduled care services more than once over the last two years, feel free to submit more than one response to these questions.

Please click here to complete our brief survey

Many thanks for your time and help. 

For more information, please contact Stephen Lisle on 029 2032 0610 or email stephen.lisle@wao.gov.uk

For general enquiries, please:

Email: info@wao.gov.uk
Tel: 029 2032 0500