RCPE Comment on Royal College of Emergency Medicine’s STEP campaign
Commenting on the publication of the STEP campaign [1], Prof Derek Bell, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said,
“The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh welcomes the launch of the STEP campaign and we believe it highlights issues which are significant for all health professionals as these issues will only be resolved through collaborative working.
The pressures in unscheduled care are well known, and the focus of any work we do must be to improve care for the acutely unwell patient. The RCEM rightly highlights safe and sustainable staffing as a key issue in Emergency Medicine, as it is in all health professions, and the RCPE’s recent editorial on preventing further serious failings in care made proposals for developing minimum staffing levels for all professions in hospital settings.
Ensuring we have collaborative working throughout hospitals will help to address the problem of “exit block” identified by RCEM, where patients cannot progress through the hospital from Emergency Departments to the appropriate ward, usually because the inpatient beds are full. Improving “patient flow” throughout the hospital is vital and many of the issues highlighted in the RCPE statement on this issue are still outstanding. Tackling exit block and patient flow must be a priority for action for all involved, whether clinicians; managers or politicians.
The STEP campaign highlights issues that are also being considered by the Scottish Government’s unscheduled care review, and it is important that both these initiatives are supported and driven by all professions associated with health and social care, and that a whole system approach is planned and adopted.”
ENDS
Contact: Lindsay Paterson on 0131 247 3673
Notes to Editors
[1] The RCEM Scotland STEP Campaign will be published on Tuesday 24 March 2015. Advance copies of the press release and campaign can be obtained from Ben Walker on ben.walker@rcem.ac.uk or call 020 7400 6107
