Access to Care (AtC) is the single point of access centre serving Kennet, North and West Wiltshire. The service is commissioned by Wiltshire PCT and is delivered by Wiltshire Medical Services.
AtC is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Between the hours of 8am and 10pm the call centre is fully manned by dedicated AtC staff – outside these core hours a basic service is provided by Wiltshire Medical Services’ Out of Hours staff.
Key objectives
- To provide health care professionals with a ’gateway’ into their relevant Neighbourhood Team
- To facilitate admissions into Community Hospital beds - we deal with admissions from the community (step up admissions) and discharges from acute units into community beds (step down admissions)
- To facilitate urgent admissions into District General Hospitals (DGH’s)
- To find alternative outcomes when acute admissions are avoidable
- To help manage capacity within the local health community
- To assist in the management of escalation procedures
The philosophy underpinning Access to Care is "the delivery of a patient-centred service, ensuring the appropriate professional delivers care at the right time, first time…every time."
