What does this indicator mean?

This indicator looks at the percentage of patients who leave A&E after they have been initially received (registered) but before they have been seen by a clinical decision-maker. High rates of patients leaving without being seen by a clinical decision-maker are associated with perceptions of excessive waiting times in A&E and poorer patient experience.

What is good performance?

Good practice would be for trusts to have less than 5% of patients leaving without being seen by a clinical decision-maker. It is acknowledged that some patients will inevitably leave without being seen for a variety if reasons.

How is UHB performing?

In May 2015 only 2.03% of patients left without being seen by a clinical decision-maker. The latest available national performance data shows that 2.33% of patients left without being seen in February 2015.

What is UHB doing to improve performance?

The introduction of streaming for patients presenting within the Emergency Department in January 2015 has had a positive impact on this indicator. The Trust will continue to focus on reducing this indicator by improving the patient flow through the Emergency Department for major and minor cases.

UHB data quality

Trusts are expected to have less than 5% of patients with missing data. The Trust’s patient management system ensures that all patients have times recorded so there is no missing data for this indicator.