Checkpoint at Northwick Park Hospital A&E!

Very interesting that a trial scheme at the Northwick Park Hospital to redirect some people attending accident and emergency to elsewhere outside the hospital, has been hailed a success.
Wonder if this screening for patient care has been blessed by the Healthwatch Harrow and the West London Clinical Commissioning Groups, and who is defining the ‘success’ taking account of the distress caused by redirecting patients like elderly, vulnerable and children to elsewhere?
Such a screening at the hospital A&E entrance to find who needs emergency treatment might ease pressure on the hospital, save NHS some money and help to counter public outcry about long delays in getting emergency treatment at the hospital, but is not a healthy alternative to fully funded efficient emergency treatment at the hospital.
Add to all this the fact that the *face to face consultation with Harrow GPs is rare should give a good idea about the quality of patient care in Harrow!
Fresh in the Harrow memory is the closure of the much-loved Walk-in Centres and Urgent Care Centres (UCCs), which were proudly introduced as alternatives to accident and emergency departments and which provided treatment for minor illnesses and injuries, without an appointment. Bring these back to help out the A&E.
Considering experiences of sending patients back to community, let us have assurance that the patients with life-threatening conditions like subarachnoid haemorrhage, heart attack, compromised air ways etc will have emergency treatment at the hospital and not shunted around in the community.
[*We posed a question:  how exactly the pandemic has added more pressure on GPs to the fact that face to face consultations are rare in Harrow, given that it is the 111/119 and not GPs who deal with patients with Covid symptoms, and where needed hospitals provide the treatment?
Following is a typical GP response:  “Face to face consultation is the norm and much easier and quicker for all GPS, some people with higher authority do not want this to happen and don’t want primary care to get back to the same work pattern. We are not even allowed to keep surgery doors open for easy access and our receptionist are now working as a gate-keepers and don’t have time to answer the phone or do other admin work”.