Improving urgent and emergency care: get involved

This engagement is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took part and gave feedback.

Between July 2024 and October 2024, NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) Board asked local people to share their views on urgent and emergency healthcare services.

As part of the engagement residents could fill in an online survey or attend meetings and events.

Health leaders took the opportunity to:

• tell people about the local strategy for UEC services, explain all the services available and how the introduction of urgent treatment centres (UTCs) can benefit patients​
• discuss proposals for areas where sites do not meet the criteria for a UTC, and to hold community conversations to understand the needs in their local area.

Through the engagement, feedback was also captured to:​

• explore the public’s understanding of the difference between urgent and emergency healthcare​
• understand which services people would use for urgent and/or emergency illnesses and injuries​
• find out which urgent and emergency care services people use, don’t use or were unaware of.

The ICB asked for feedback about patient’s experiences, to help monitor and improve NHS services, and prepare for the introduction of Urgent Treatment Centres (UTC) across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

UTCs will offer help to people with urgent needs – minor illnesses or injuries that need attention that day but are not life or limb-threatening emergencies.

In previous conversations with the public, there was feedback that, with the current mix of urgent care services, it’s not always clear which is the most appropriate service to use. That means people can often go to an emergency department and face a long wait if the condition they have is not a medical emergency.

UTCs will be open at least 12 hours a day, every day, and have a consistent range of services. All UTCs will treat patients of all ages, for both minor illnesses and injuries, and will carry out a wider range of X-rays during full opening hours.

When the survey closed on 13 October, there were 1,553 responses – 1,281 to the main engagement survey, and 272 to the easy read version.

Involvement findings

You can read the summary report of findings from the 2024 involvement on our website.

Information shared during the involvement period is here:

Want to find out more?

Visit other pages on this website to learn more about urgent treatment centres and our work to improve our local urgent and emergency care. For national information about urgent treatment centres visit the NHS England website.

Next steps

We are grateful for the input from residents across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, via the in-person engagement sessions and the online survey. This invaluable feedback is key to shaping our approach to the next stage of UTC designation and further development of urgent and emergency care services across the area.

Our development of Urgent Treatment Centres (UTC) focuses on the 25/26 NHS Operational Planning Guidance, which outlines the new requirement for co-located Urgent Treatment Centres with Emergency Departments (ED).

We are continuing to monitor Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent residents’ access of Urgent and Emergency Care pathways at all sites within the local area, to ensure future services best cater for our population’s health needs.

Further public engagement will be undertaken as part of the NHS England service change process, where appropriate.