Same Day Emergency Care and Cancer

What’s Same Day Care?

Same Day Emergency Care, previously known as Ambulatory Care is not new but does continue to evolve as a concept. The underpinning principle is that coordinated access to assessment, diagnostics and treatment can enable some patients to avoid an overnight hospital stay (admission). Over time, many clinical conditions have shifted from traditional inpatient care to outpatient and same day – DVT and PE are clear examples.

‘Same Day Care’ is best viewed as a spectrum of service that might support a patient in receiving same day urgent care in a variety of settings including:

• ED
• GP same day appointment
• Urgent Treatment Centre
• Community 2hour Urgent Response and Hospital at Home
• Hospital Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC)

Each of these services has a defined role which may overlap and often appear confusing . Furthermore, access may vary dependent on local geography and service configuration. It is important to note that cancer patients may benefit from all of these options at some time in the cancer journey.