The aim of ambulatory emergency care (AEC) is to provide patients with ambulatory care‑sensitive conditions with safe and appropriate emergency care on the day they attend hospital. It is achieved without admitting patients to a hospital bed and is therefore an admissions‑avoidance service.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been running AEC at its two acute sites since May 2014. This article reports findings from a service review that looked at whether there were improvements in health outcomes for patients accessing AEC compared with those for patients who had presented to emergency care before the service was set up.

The article describes how a review of patient notes found that patients managed through AEC had fewer diagnostic procedures performed and were more likely to be discharged to their normal place of residence.