As winter approaches, the importance of rapid advice to support efficient patient flow and demand management across urgent and emergency care (UEC) has never been greater.
Consultant Connect is the most experienced provider of fully managed rapid advice in the UK. Our systems are relied on across England, Scotland and Wales, leading to improved patient outcomes and better use of NHS resources.
Here are examples of how three NHS areas in the UK are using Consultant Connect to provide healthcare professionals with rapid advice to aid enhanced clinical decision-making:
1. Access to specialist advice before deciding whether a patient needs to attend ED
Providing a single access point to multiple acute specialties for reliable advice improves patient outcomes and increases productivity. With Consultant Connect, clinicians can directly ‘hunt down’ a specialist from a pre-defined rota for expert telephone advice. On average, 80% of calls are answered within 30 seconds, which means no time is wasted on busy switchboards or bleeps.
Since 2016, primary care, community teams, and ambulance clinicians in South East London (SEL) ICB have used Consultant Connect to support their urgent care pathways. The service enables clinicians to call consultants directly at the touch of a button, with calls answered within 23 seconds (on average). In the last 12 months*, 82% of calls have resulted in patients being navigated to A&E/ED alternatives.
2. Identify alternative care pathways before conveyance
Giving ambulance crews quick and reliable access to specialist teams is key to successful ‘call before convey’ pathway implementations. In Lanarkshire, for example, the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) use Consultant Connect to contact local A&E consultants when seeing patients with non-life-threatening conditions to discuss whether sending the patient to A&E is the best option. Calls to this pathway are answered within 3 seconds and often result in the patients being directed to a more suitable place, such as specific units or providing self-care advice that allows them to bypass A&E departments.
In Lanarkshire over the last 12 months*, this has resulted in 69% of patients avoiding unnecessary A&E admissions, thereby reducing the ever-increasing pressures on urgent care whilst improving patient care.
3. Direct referral pathways into community services such as UCR and Virtual Wards
It’s well known that for certain patients, such as frailty patients or those with respiratory conditions, a hospital admission for ongoing care needs isn’t always the best option. For these patients, being able to receive care in the comfort of their own home via virtual wards/Hospital@Home pathways can be a game-changer for how quickly they recover.
In Buckinghamshire, via Consultant Connect, a Frailty Hospital@Home (H@H) pathway was established in March 2023. Clinicians, such as GPs, nurses, community teams and specialists use Consultant Connect to refer suitable patients to the Frailty H@H pathway. In the last 12 months*, 50% of patients have been identified as suitable candidates for the Frailty H@H pathway, meaning they can receive hospital-level care in their homes. This helps patients maintain independence, avoid hospital-related complications, and enables their recovery to be much quicker. In addition, it releases clinicians’ time and ensures they see patients in the most appropriate way, whilst freeing up hospital beds for patients who need them the most.
4. Priority access to patients’ GPs for paramedics/ambulance staff
Ease of access to input from patients’ GPs is the most effective way to ensure that patients (e.g., older patients or those with long-term conditions) are treated in the community and stay out of hospital when it is safer to do so. GP Bypass Numbers can be added to the Consultant Connect service, enabling paramedics/ambulance teams to bypass queues of busy GP practice switchboards.
Across all of Wales, for example, all paramedics call GP Bypass Numbers for same-day emergency communications. 90% of calls are answered and resolved within 10 minutes, with 78% of these avoiding unnecessary patient conveyances and allowing the patient to be cared for at home or in the community.
* Correct as of September 2026
If you would like to find out more about how Consultant Connect can strengthen your UEC offering, fill in our short form below or give us a call on 01865 951 207:
Related materials:
- Enhancing e-RS to support Single Point of Access
- Clearing the backlog before it starts: how an advice-first SPOA model is transforming Dermatology
- Consultant Connect Impact Report
- Urgent Care Pathways – Examples in Practice
- Meeting NHSE’s FRAIL strategy
- Helping you implement the SAMEDAY strategy to support SDEC pathways
