News from our partners: Winter Control Room launched in preparation for the challenging winter ahead

News from our partners NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin

Today (Thursday 1 December 2022), NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin has launched a seven-day control centre to manage demand and capacity across the county as health and social care services face one of their toughest ever winters.

The Winter Control Room will use multi-agency data to respond to pressures across the health and social care system, with staff able match demand to capacity across the system and track this throughout the day to de-escalate pressure and manage risk.

Data, including A&E performance and waiting times, staffing levels, ambulance handover times and bed occupancy, will all be examined by dedicated operational staff.

The Winter Control Room will help Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System respond quickly to challenges as they emerge, helping us to understand where the pressures are and allowing us to work with partners to better manage demand and capacity.

Sam Tilley, Director of Urgent & Emergency Care and Emergency Planning for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said:-

“For the last couple of years or more during the pandemic, we have been experiencing pressures on services across the whole health and social care system. These pressures can strike different parts of the system at different times or in tandem. This could be demand for ambulances, increases in people walking into A&E, demand for care home beds, or for primary care appointments.

“This new control centre is a positive step forward and will allow staff to see real time data from across health and social care, enabling us to see where ambulance queues are building up, waiting times are increasing, see where bed occupancy is challenged for instance, and to work together across the system in a joined-up way to address these issues quickly.”