IMPACT SNAPSHOT: CUREd Data Platform for Urgent and Emergency Care

We developed the first integrated data platform tracking patient journeys across emergency care, revealing that patients with mental illness are 3-6 times more likely to use urgent care.

#Analogue to Digital
#Sickness to Prevention
#Hospital to Community

The Yorkshire and Humber ARC’s CUREd (Clinical Urgent and Emergency care Research database) project has developed a comprehensive linked data platform that is transforming understanding of patient journeys through the urgent and emergency care system.

Key Impacts:
• Created the first integrated regional data platform tracking patient journeys across NHS111, ambulance services, and emergency departments.
• Expanded to a national CUREd+ platform covering all acute hospitals in England over a 12-year period.
• Revealed patients with serious mental illness are 3-6 times more likely to use urgent care than non-mental health patients.
• Identified 20-60% variation in avoidable hospital admission rates between facilities.
• Demonstrated how digital technology in care homes reduced hospital admissions by 25% across 122 facilities.
• Directly informed Department of Health and Social Care policy on managing emergency care pressures.
• Secured additional NIHR funding to develop optimised service models for high-intensity users.

The project demonstrates how linked routine data can identify system inefficiencies and drive evidence-based service redesign. By developing novel methodologies for health data linkage and building research capacity, CUREd has created an invaluable resource for understanding how patients navigate complex urgent care pathways. The platform is particularly valuable for studying underserved populations, including those with mental health conditions and seizure disorders, whose needs are often poorly addressed in the current system. This work is creating a foundation for more efficient, patient-centered urgent care delivery across the NHS.