Six Goals for Urgent and Emergency Care

The Six Goals, co-designed by clinical and professional leads, span the Urgent and Emergency Care pathway and reflect the priorities in the Programme for Government 2021–2026 to provide effective, high quality and sustainable healthcare as close to home as possible, and to improve service access and integration.

These goals represent the outcomes we expect for people who need to access Urgent and Emergency Care. Successful delivery of the goals should enable optimal experience and outcomes for local populations and staff.

The national Six Goals for Urgent and Emergency Care Programme has been established to support Health Boards and their partners to transform and improve delivery of Urgent and Emergency Care services to the people in Wales.

In Fe­­bruary 2022, Welsh Government published the Six Goals for Urgent and Emergency Care Policy Handbook, setting out the priorities for Urgent and Emergency Care to ensure that patients get the right care, in the right place, first time.

The handbook contains a series of quality statements for each of the six goals, to describe in detail the outcomes and standards individuals should expect when they may need Urgent or Emergency Care.

In April 2022, the Minister for Health and Social Services launched the Six Goals for Urgent and Emergency Care Programme at an event attended by over 300 representatives of health and social services, third sector and other organisations.

The Six Goals for Urgent and Emergency Care Portfolio Management Office (PMO) supports delivery of the Programme, working closely with Welsh Government, Health Boards, NHS Trusts and partner organisations. The PMO ensures the connectivity and flow of information between Goal Leads and enabling workstreams, and is accountable to the Six Goals Programme Board.

To contact the PMO, you can email the Six Goals mailbox - ABB.SixGoalsUEC@wales.nhs.uk

The Six Goals Programme’s key achievements to date have been set out in the Six Goals for Urgent and Emergency Care: Year One Progress Report.

The Six Goals Programme Board has endorsed a number of key projects for 2023/24, building on the early successes of 2022/23. Year two of the Six Goals Programme will continue to provide effective, high quality and sustainable healthcare as close to home as possible, and to improve service access and integration.

The Programme will continue to prioritise the delivery of two critical service transformation initiatives, namely: Urgent Primary Care Centres (UPCC) and Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) services.