Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB) and IC24 Transforms Urgent Care
The Norwich Unscheduled Care Coordination Hub (UCCH), part of Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (ICB), has successfully integrated CLEO Urgent Care from CLEO Systems - delivering significant benefits to both clinicians and patients.
As part of a wider transformation of urgent and emergency care services across the region, CLEO Urgent Care is helping the UCCH team deliver personalised, timely care to patients who call 999, ensuring they receive the right care at the right time.
Background.
The UCCH is a pioneering initiative using a range of multidisciplinary teams to provide timely and appropriate responses to 999 calls across the area. The team chose to integrate the patient management system CLEO Urgent Care within its hub in order to support the clinical triage and navigation of patients to ensure they receive the most appropriate care.
The Challenge.
Prior to CLEO Urgent Care’s integration, the UCCH faced increasing pressure from rising 999 call volumes. This often led to unnecessary ambulance dispatches and hospital admissions, with many patients being sent to emergency departments when alternative care options would have been more appropriate.
Although the team had robust processes in place, they needed a more efficient and scalable solution to manage demand and improve patient outcomes.
The Solution.
The team at IC24 and UCCH started to work with CLEO Systems in order to integrate CLEO Urgent Care into the hub. The system was chosen for its interoperability, adaptability across care settings and user-friendly clinical triage tools.
Key features leveraged by the UCCH include:
• Patient streaming and redirection
• Secure data transfer
• Electronic prescribing
• Digital appointment booking
• Virtual consultations
Following successful integration, CLEO Urgent Care now enables call handlers to proactively review the call stack, assess patient needs and determine whether emergency care is necessary — or if alternative community-based care would be more appropriate.
The system allows clinicians to contact patients directly, triage their needs and provide appropriate care when hospital admission is not required. This is especially valuable for patients needing frailty support, complex condition management or end-of-life care, who can now be treated compassionately at home or in their place of residence.
CLEO Urgent Care also supports the coordination of virtual wards and community interventions, enabling truly personalised care. Its rich reporting dashboards and data insights give teams visibility into performance and patient trends, helping them allocate resources more effectively.
Impact and Benefits.
The integration of CLEO Urgent Care has:
• Enhanced clinical triage and patient navigation
• Reduced reliance on emergency services
• Improved patient outcomes
• Increased system efficiency and resilience
‘Teams are able to have a much wider reach and this approach is particularly valuable for supporting frail and older populations, delivering effective end-of-life care.’
We are aiming that the patient gets the right care in the right place the first time. We have developed a shared governance agreement to outline which providers are responsible for each stage of the patient’s journey through the system. In cases of deterioration, there is a clearly defined point of contact to ensure patients receive the help they need without delay.
Having access to live information is really useful. We know if there is a 12 hour wait in A&E and we can find other ways to care for the patient. We are breaking down barriers, providing MDT care for patients so they can remain at home, which is important for patients. It’s exciting for the workforce who have new ways of providing clinical care which is relieving pressure on ambulance service.
Real World Example.
A 73-year-old man living in a hostel in Norfolk, with multiple long-term health conditions, called 999 with chest pain and a fever. He expressed a strong preference not to go to hospital. Using video consultation and support from the UCCH multidisciplinary team, a safe care plan was agreed to manage him at home. He was referred to the Virtual Ward and received follow-up from community services—avoiding unnecessary hospital admission while receiving appropriate care.
Results
89% of calls managed via UCCH have no further unplanned contacts with the health system at day seven.*
- Reduction
In very long 12+ hour responses for lower acuity calls - 8156
Ambulance dispatches transferred to the community - 13,107
999 calls reviewed as an MDT team - 928
Call before convey patients stay at home with care and support - 1377
Call before convey calls to the hub
*Sept 23 - Sept 24
We are immensely proud of our frontline clinicians, service coordinators, and operational team members who work alongside the UCCH MDT team to deliver this amazing service for our patients, as well as the wider IC24 team who work hard behind the scenes to ensure the hub operates effectively
UCCH is already an outstanding example of integrated Urgent Care in action and the addition of CLEO Urgent Care has taken it even further. By enabling real-time triage, coordination and communication, CLEO Urgent Care ensures patients receive the right care, at the right time, in the right place - enhancing an already excellent service.
IC24 and Norfolk and Waveney ICB were awarded ‘Best Contribution to the Improvement of Urgent and Emergency Care’ at the 2025 HSJ Partnership Awards, recognising their innovative and impactful work.
