Gold standard for Sunderland and South Tyneside patients as Emergency Medicine marks 50 years


Published: 13th October 2017

Emergency care teams in Sunderland and South Tyneside have performed amongst the best in the NHS in new figures published by NHS Digital this week.

As the NHS braces itself for another extremely busy winter period, emergency care doctors and nurses across the South of Tyne area are appealing to the public to use services wisely, to always call NHS 111 first and to keep emergency care free for those with serious or life threatening problems.

This week, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine is celebrating its golden anniversary, recognising 50 years of emergency care and the amazing transformation in Emergency Medicine and improvements in patient outcomes that have taken place over the last half century.

People living across Sunderland and South Tyneside are being urged to support their local NHS so that busy frontline teams in emergency care can help those most in need and keep up the excellent performance which has been achieved across both trusts over the summer.

During August 2017, which is always one of the busiest months of the year for NHS Emergency Departments, there were over 18,000 emergency attendances across Sunderland and South Tyneside.

  • In Sunderland there were 12,500 attendances and the average time to treatment was 45 minutes with 95% of all patients receiving treatment within 2 hours and 21 minutes. Overall, 95.67% of patients were seen within the national four hour standard.
  • In South Tyneside there were 5,489 attendances and the average time to treatment was 59 minutes with 95% of all patients receiving treatment within 2 hours and 55 minutes. Overall, 96.18% of patients were seen within the national four hour standard.Both City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust exceeded national A&E performance against the four hour standard for August which was 90.3% and were rated in the top 25% of Trusts nationally. Dr Kate Lambert, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The transformation we have seen in emergency medicine over the last 50 years has been truly remarkable and advances in medicine and technology mean that together with our ambulance colleagues we are now able to help save many more lives. “As we approach a time of year when we traditionally see more emergency hospital admissions, particularly amongst frail older people who are more vulnerable to illness during winter, we are urging the public to help us to keep by keeping our vital emergency services free for those who really need them.“The NHS offers some of the most fantastic emergency care anywhere in the world, but we all have a duty and a responsibility to ensure we use these services wisely. Community services and alternatives to ED mean that many people who might consider attending the Emergency Department can get help and advice for less serious or less urgent conditions elsewhere.
    “Our simple message for everyone this winter is to call ahead first, before accessing any NHS service, using the free NHS 111 number which is available 24/7. This is the quickest way to get the right source of help, advice and treatment.”