Urgent Care at Your Door: Meeting Growing Demand Amid Rising Ambulance Delays
The past few days have been especially busy at MET Medical, as we respond to a surge in urgent calls for our Urgent Care at Your Door service. With winter approaching, we’re seeing many elderly patients needing immediate care due to falls and other sudden health issues. As NHS ambulance services face significant delays, many families are reaching out to us as a faster, more reliable alternative. Our highest number of calls has been due to falls where there is pain, e.g. hip fractures.
For elderly individuals, falls are one of the most common reasons for an emergency call. While not every fall leads to life-threatening injury, it still requires prompt attention to prevent complications. Unfortunately, long ambulance wait times are leaving vulnerable patients without the immediate care they need—something we’re working to help with in our community by providing an accessible solution right to patients’ in their homes. Recent cases have called 999 and been advised of delays of 9-11 hours.
Addressing the Needs of Today
At MET Medical, we’re entirely focused on responding quickly, knowing how crucial each minute can be when it comes to urgent care for elderly patients, not just from a medical perspective but from a well-being one. Our recent calls include people who’ve fallen and are stuck with few options other than waiting for hours and hours in agony on the floor and others who are more suited to the aims of our service, such as those suffering from chest infections or urine infections which if left could lead to the need for emergency admission to hospital. The increased demand we’re seeing reflects a real need for our service.
How We’re Making a Difference Now
Our Urgent Care at Your Door service brings skilled healthcare professionals to patients, meeting their needs without delay. Our team, composed of Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACPs), Specialist Paramedics and nurses, are trained to assess, treat, and stabilise a wide range of conditions at home, helping people avoid the stress of a hospital visit wherever possible. Right now, we’re focusing on:
Timely Response: As calls for our urgent care service continue to rise, we respond rapidly to every call to ensure elderly patients don’t face extended waiting times. We prioritise getting to each patient quickly, providing assessments, wound care, and advanced support at home whenever possible. The reason we launched membership is to reduce the financial burden on individuals and improve our capacity planning so we can always deliver good response times.
Immediate Assessment and Treatment: Our ACPs, nurses and paramedics offer the level of care that many non-emergency situations require, with the capability to perform tests, evaluate injuries, and provide immediate intervention. This on-site treatment approach is especially crucial for elderly patients who need quick solutions to avoid further complications. Doctors are on call to support our frontline clinicians and review test results.
Preventing Hospital Admissions: For elderly individuals, even a minor hospital stay can be challenging and often comes with risks, such as exposure to infections. We’re actively working to reduce these risks by treating patients at home, sparing them from hospital visits unless necessary.
Meeting Increased Demand in the Community
As the calls continue, our team remains committed to being there for our community. We’re always here to support families with loved ones who need urgent attention, stepping in to bridge the gap left by current ambulance delays. We know that for many elderly patients and their families, time and comfort matters. Our Urgent Care at Your Door service ensures patients get their needed support.
When you need us, MET Medical is ready to help—providing peace of mind to you and the people you care about most. For those facing urgent but non-life-threatening issues, we’re just a phone call away, prepared to deliver timely, compassionate care.