£2 Million Wasn’t Saved by Cutting Care, It Was Saved by Avoiding Waste

Emergency Departments were never designed to be the front door for everything.

But when access to care is fragmented or slow, ED becomes the default — not because it’s the right place for patients, but because it feels like the only option that won’t say no.

That default doesn’t just mean an ED visit.
It often means an ambulance too.

Immediate ED attendance frequently triggers ambulance conveyance, while scheduled or supported urgent care pathways often avoid it altogether. One decision upstream can determine whether a patient is managed safely in the community — or pulled deeper into the system from the outset.

Every unnecessary ED attendance then sets off a familiar chain reaction:
initial assessments, repeat histories, investigations ordered “just in case”, referrals passed along, waiting rooms filled with people who don’t need to be there, and clinicians stretched thinner as a result.

That’s where things changed.

By using Cinapsis, clinicians were able to access rapid specialist advice earlier - before patients crossed the threshold into ED. Decisions were shared, documented, and made with confidence in real time.

The result wasn’t “doing less” for patients.
It was doing the right thing, sooner.

Patients were safely managed without unnecessary ED attendance.
Care journeys became shorter and more appropriate.
Pressure eased on frontline services.

And as a consequence - not a goal - £2 million was saved.

Those savings came from:

• fewer ED assessments
• fewer unnecessary investigations
• fewer onward referrals
• less duplication across the system
• lower utilisations of Ambulances

In other words, less waste.

Waste in urgent care is rarely obvious.
It’s embedded in processes that push people further into the system than they need to go.

When clinicians have access to fast, shared decision-making, escalation becomes a choice, not a default.

Avoiding waste doesn’t reduce care.
It protects it.

If you’re looking at ED demand, urgent care flow, or referral pathways and asking where pressure could be eased without compromising patient safety, we’d be happy to talk.

‍Get in touch with the Cinapsis team to explore how earlier clinical decision-making can improve flow, outcomes, and experience, for both patients and staff.

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