The previous 24/7 model was unsustainable for several reasons. They can be summarised as:
- Workforce fragility and clinical risks;
- Workforce working outside (and/or under) their scope of practice;
- Inappropriate attendance of Mental Health patients;
- Concerns over the safety of the Unit raised by the Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) inspection June 2023 including:
- Concerns around clinical safety raised by the Nursing and Midwifery Council to the HIW;
- Timely and effective care provided to patients who were in the Minor Injury Unit who should have been treated elsewhere (medical and surgical patients), known as ‘majors’;
- The quality of the environment for treating medical and surgical patients;
- Lack of overnight support for Emergency Nurse Practitioners when doctors were not available.