Atrumed

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Atrumed's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Atrumed is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

40 | ATRUMED

Chief Executive Laween

Al-Atroshi

Working as a close team is

our recipe for success

Atrumed run the on-site emergency GP clinic at the Luton

and Dunstable University Hospital. Atrumed’s speed and

efficiency in dealing with patients enables Luton and

Dunstable to boast the best-performing A&E in the UK, with

40 per cent of the A&E activity that comes through the hospital

then reverted to Atrumed’s clinic. Chief Executive Laween Al-

Atroshi discusses how their services are helping to change how

healthcare is delivered.

We are one of the secrets behind the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital A&E

service, the best-performing A&E in the UK. Our on-site urgent GP clinic helps

ensure the quality of their efficient service, which is able to deal with 98.6 per

cent of patients within four hours, while the national average is just 90 per cent.

We treat 40 per cent of the patients who enter A&E, most of whom do not need

hospital treatment.

We are keen to engage with NHS and healthcare organisations to deliver efficient,

safe and value-for-money care while maintaining quality and innovation.

Streamlined process

The Luton and Dunstable urgent GP service was managed by another provider,

which went into liquidation and had challenges such as cessation of streaming,

but since Atrumed started managing the service in 2017, we have been able

to streamline a lot of the work. We work as a subcontractor to the hospital,

providing a far safer and more robust process than the previous management. Our

safety standards are ranked nationally and are delivered by our experienced staff.

FACTS ABOUT

ATRUMED

»Chief Executive:

Laween Al-Atroshi

»Founded in 2017

»Based in Luton

»Services: Runs the on-site

emergency GP clinic at

the Luton and Dunstable

University Hospital

Atrumed

41ATRUMED |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019

Atrumed is working to get ISO certified

9001:20015 which will be in place by

February 2019.

We have over 70 GPs on our books

who work on a long-term rotational

basis, alongside full-time GPs. The

staff body has a wide skill set, and

we also employ advanced nurses

and healthcare assistants. As a team

they provide consistent quality care

between the hours of 8am and

midnight (16 hours), 365 days a year.

We plan to see our good practice

replicated by other NHS trusts and

we are happy for them to utilise

our experience and expertise when

establishing their service. Through

building partnerships with other urgent

GP services, we will be able to expand

our operations and services, while

sharing quality, streamlined urgent GP

care with patients across the UK.

Assisting the NHS

The NHS is under a lot of pressure as

a result of reduced funding, so our

main purpose is to reduce their burden

as best we can. A&E services are at

full capacity around the UK and there

is a dearth of qualified staff to treat

patients. To reduce the strain on the

NHS and the A&E services, we have

produced educational resources that

aim to help people understand the

purpose of A&E and present them with

alternative modes of receiving medical

attention without clogging waiting

rooms. If we can offer the public

greater information on how to treat

injuries and illness at home, or redirect

them to online services, the strain on

the NHS can be reduced.

Regardless of who the provider of the

care is, there needs to be increased

funding for core services from the

government. Service in the UK needs

to be more readily available, and

to meet that need we need to see

collaboration between the public

and private sectors. Our provision

Not afraid to share best

practice

We are one of

the secrets

behind the

Luton and

Dunstable

University

Hospital A&E

service, the best-

performing A&E

in the UK

“

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

42 | ATRUMED

should be seen as a good news story

for the private healthcare sector,

because we have been able to provide

a vital service for an overstretched

public sector department seamlessly.

Any revenue generated is invested

back into the staff and service. This

is benefiting the hospital and the

patients, which should be celebrated.

Building for a better future

Atrumed has a genuine family

environment, which is welcoming for

staff and patients alike. Despite working

with GPs on a rotational basis, they

have bought into our approach and

service quickly, and have provided vital

services to our patients. Everything we

earn is reinvested into our service and

patient care and we have ambitions to

be at the forefront of the industry in

terms of research and innovation.

Moving forward, we hope to expand

our service and create a new aspect to

our business. Currently, we believe that

there is not enough readily available

access to private blood tests, and as a

result we want to add this service as a

separate part of Atrumed.

The service will be called Atruchecks

and will enable patients to request

health screening tests and private

blood test profiles, so they can access

their health profile in detail at their

convenience. Tests can be booked

simply online and the test itself will

then be posted to patients with the

option of the blood to be drawn either

from our centre or from an established

network of private hospitals in the UK;

alternatively, they can opt to have a

nurse sent to theirhome.

Our service offers patients a choice

of private but affordable healthcare

screening, and we believe this model

will soon become national practice.

Healthcare is changing and evolving

at a rapid pace and we want to be

at the centre of this innovation, with

potential diversification into the beauty

and genomics sector.

Regardless of the direction our

expansion takes, we want to excel

and become the national model for

excellence. We have achieved this

by enabling Luton and Dunstable

to become the best A&E service in

the country, but we now hope to

build on this success and become

national leaders elsewhere. Funding

is tight, and we need to work within

our means, but because we operate

a quality-driven model, we reinvest

in quality service. We are built to

serve our patients and the Luton and

Dunstable University Hospital, and we

will continue to do so as we develop

our new services.

We are keen

to engage

with NHS and

healthcare

organisations

to deliver

efficient, safe

and value-for-

money care

while

maintaining

quality and

innovation

“

Engaging with

communities in our work

This article was sponsored by Atrumed. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

This year’s Parliamentary Review reflects on a tumultuous and extraordinary year, globally and nationally. As well as being an MP, I am a keen student of history, and I am conscious that 2020 would mark the end of an era. It will be remembered as the year in which we concluded Brexit negotiations and finally left the European Union. Above all, it will be remembered as the year of Covid-19.

In our fight against the pandemic, I am delighted that our vaccination programme is beginning to turn the tide – and I pay tribute to the British businesses, scientists and all those who have helped us to achieve this. But the virus has dealt enormous damage, and we now have a duty to rebuild our economy.

We must ensure that businesses are protected. We have made more than £350 billion available to that end, with grants, business rates relief and our furlough scheme supporting more than 11 million people and jobs in every corner of the country, maintaining livelihoods while easing the pressure on employers. The next step is to work with business to build back better and greener, putting the net zero carbon challenge at the heart of our recovery. This is a complex undertaking, but one which I hope will be recognised as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Through the prime minister’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, we can level up every region of the UK, supporting 250,000 green jobs while we accelerate our progress towards net zero carbon emissions.

With our commitment to raise R&D spending to 2.4% of GDP and the creation of the Advanced Research & Invention Agency, we are empowering our fantastic researchers to take on groundbreaking research, delivering funding with flexibility and speed. With this approach, innovators will be able to work with our traditional industrial heartlands to explore new technologies, and design and manufacture the products on which the future will be built – ready for export around the globe.

And I believe trade will flourish. We are a leading nation in the fight against climate change. As the host of COP26 this year, we have an incredible opportunity to market our low-carbon products and expertise. Our departure from the EU gives us the chance to be a champion of truly global free trade; we have already signed trade deals with more than 60 countries around the world.

As we turn the page and leave 2020 behind, I am excited about the new chapter which Britain is now writing for itself, and for the opportunities which lie ahead of us.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy