Sharing best practice from clinical leaders in emergency departments

Practical examples of how leading emergency departments are meeting challenges.

We recognise the huge pressures facing emergency departments, so to help address these and support local quality improvements, we worked with consultants, clinical leads, senior nursing staff and managers from leading emergency departments in 17 NHS acute trusts across England where we have identified good practice.

At a workshop, they discussed how their trusts are meeting the challenges of managing capacity and demand, and managing risks to patient safety. We are sharing these practical examples and initiatives so that other trusts and emergency departments can learn from them and adapt them to their own  departments to help improve the quality of emergency care for patients.

This resource identifies:

• strategies staff use to meet the challenge of increased demand and manage risks to patient safety
• positive actions to address potential safety risks and to manage increased demand better
• how working with others can manage patient flow and ensure patients get the care they need
• that rising demand pressures in emergency departments are an issue for the whole hospital and local health economy.