HEALTH and social care organisations in Worcestershire joined forces last month to investigate new and better ways of caring for patients.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the three major hospitals in Worcester, Kidderminster and Redditch, and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust, which is responsible for a range of non-emergency services in the county, teamed up with West Midlands Ambulance Service, South Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group and Worcestershire County Council to run the seven-day Perfect Week initiative starting on Wednesday, July 9.

A patient visiting A&E in the county will be treated first by Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust staff but may later be moved to a community hospital run by Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.

The Perfect Week scheme is a Department of Health programme working to improve this flow.

During the week new ideas were trialled including a new booking system for patient transport and discharging patients earlier in the day so they are settled in time for lunch.,

Throughout the week Worcestershire Royal Hospital 97 per cent of patients visiting A&E at Worcestershire Royal Hospital were treated within the government-mandated four hour period, above the national target of 95 per cent.

Chief medical officer at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust Mark Wake said: “This exercise was about ensuring we have all of the necessary things in place across our hospitals to sustain performance and ensure that our patients receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time, every time.

“Of course, no week is ever perfect, but we were able to demonstrate the best we can be and what we need to do differently in the future.”