When healthcare services are under pressure, reliability matters. For Northern Health, “care and cover you can count on” is more than a promise. It’s something we work to demonstrate every day – through the clinicians we provide, the partnerships we build and, ultimately, the outcomes we help to deliver.
Providing GPs and clinicians to urgent and emergency care centres means being there when our NHS partners need us. Day or night. Planned or at short notice.
It means delivering consistently high levels of shift coverage. But it also means looking beyond the rota – understanding local care systems, supporting clinical teams and helping patients receive the right care, in the right place.
And after eight years of continuous UTC delivery, the numbers tell an important story.
“As GPs, we understand the pressures our NHS partners face because we experience healthcare from the clinical side too. For me, care you can count on means doing what we say we will do – providing experienced clinicians, being there when our partners need us and never losing sight of the patient at the centre of it all.”
470,000+ patients cared for
Since we launched in 2018, we have looked after 497,870 patients through the UTC — and we’ll pass half a million this autumn.
Through 2025/26 alone, the UTC cared for 77,358 patients – more than 6,400 every month and an average of 212 every day. That’s a record annual volume and 53% higher than pre-COVID levels. And 2026/27 is running ahead of that record: 27,526 patients between April and July, an average of 226 every day — 6.6% more than the same period last year.
Over eight years, annual patient volumes have increased by 82% compared with the launch year — and are still growing.
GP and clinician coverage that stands up to pressure
For our NHS partners, we know that dependable care begins with dependable cover.
At Northern Health, our mission is ambitious: 100% coverage, every day, for every patient.
And our shift performance shows just how close our team comes to delivering it.
Across contracted shifts in 2025, Northern Health was responsible for 9,130 hours of cover. Just 0.75 hours were missed – equivalent to 99.99% coverage. And yes, this statistic is excruciating for us, but we hope that it demonstrates how dedicated we are to our promise.
Count on us for additional cover too
Alongside contracted provision, Northern Health also responds when additional GP and clinician support is required. For additional cover requested at three separate locations during 2025, we covered 6,226 of 6,617.5 advertised hours, that’s 94%. For non-contracted hours that are above and beyond our promise, we feel that’s good, but we know we can improve for 2026/7.
For partners managing busy urgent and emergency care services, those aren’t simply staffing statistics. They represent thousands of hours of care where essential services have friendly clinicians in place and patients have access to the care they need.
“Reliability comes down to the detail. Every shift matters, because behind every hour of cover there are patients who need care and colleagues who need support. Our job operationally is to make sure our partners know they can pick up the phone to us and that we’ll do everything we can to get the right people in the right place.”
Care that keeps patients moving
Coverage matters because of what it makes possible.
In 2025/26, 96.5% of UTC patients were seen within four hours – Northern Health’s strongest year on record and close to the national Type 3 benchmark of 97.3%, despite record patient volumes.
That standard is holding into 2026/27: between April and July 2026, 96.8% of patients were seen within four hours — identical to the same period last year, while caring for 6.6% more patients.
There were 2,719 four-hour breaches across the entire year, down 46% from 5,021 the previous year. On a daily basis, breaches fell from 13.8 to just 7.4.
Most importantly, 97% of patients were resolved without emergency admission. Only 2.5% have required admission so far in 2026/27 — our best figure on record, down from 4.1% when the service launched.
That reflects a model built around experienced, GP-led clinical decision-making: helping patients receive appropriate care at the front door while easing pressure elsewhere in the system.
Making a difference to the wider system
The impact reaches beyond the UTC itself.
Northern Health’s UTC contributes approximately 9.8 percentage points to the Trust’s overall national four-hour performance measure so far in 2026/27 – taking the blended figure from 62.9% to 72.7%. It is the strongest sustained contribution on record.
That contribution becomes particularly significant when services are under the greatest pressure. In January 2026, when Type 1 performance fell to 59.9%, the UTC added 10.2 percentage points, keeping blended performance above 70%.
It’s an example of what effective partnership can mean in practice: not simply filling shifts, but supporting flow and helping the wider urgent and emergency care system perform more effectively.
“Attendances have been consistently high, but the team’s hard work and commitment have helped us achieve exceptional four-hour performance. It’s a reflection not only of the numbers, but of the quality, safety and care being delivered for our patients.”
Experienced clinicians. Better outcomes.
Northern Health is GP-led for a reason.
Experienced GPs can make confident clinical decisions at the front door, resolving cases appropriately and avoiding unnecessary escalation or admission.
Our data shows how that model has matured. Despite patient volumes growing substantially since launch, the UTC’s emergency admission rate has fallen from 4.1% to 2.5%.
Northern Health estimates that its model helps avoid approximately 2,300 emergency admissions each year.
For patients, that can mean receiving appropriate care without an unnecessary hospital admission. For NHS partners, it can mean additional capacity where it is needed most.
“There are a lot of people and processes behind every shift and every statistic. What stands out to me is how everyone works towards the same thing – supporting our clinicians and our partners so that patients can receive the care they need. It’s very much a team effort.”
Delivering value as well as care
Better patient flow also has a financial impact.
Using conservative assumptions based on published NHS reference costs and academic research, Northern Health estimates that our service delivers an annual cost benefit of approximately £2.7 million to the Trust.
The estimate takes into account patients genuinely diverted from the Emergency Department, the cost difference between Type 1 and Type 3 attendances and emergency admissions avoided through experienced GP-led decision-making.
Northern Health deliberately uses a mid-range, marginal cost estimate rather than a larger gross figure – because dependable partnership also means being transparent about the evidence.
Real people who really care
Numbers matter. But they only tell part of the story.
Behind every percentage point, every covered shift and every patient seen are people: GPs and clinicians, operational teams, NHS colleagues and partners working together.
That human side of healthcare is central to Northern Health.
Our patients describe us as “fantastic”, praising our professionalism, understanding, advice and kindness. One clinician similarly spoke of being thankful for the support received during challenging moments.
That’s what care you can count on ultimately means.
It means being dependable when pressure rises. Providing experienced people when they’re needed. Supporting partners as well as patients. Measuring performance, learning from it and continually looking for ways to deliver better.
“We’re proud of the numbers, but we’re even more conscious of what sits behind them. Every statistic represents patients, clinicians and NHS colleagues. Our ambition is to keep building on what we’ve achieved – aiming for 100% coverage and continuing to improve outcomes for the communities we serve.”
Care and cover you can count on
Northern Health keeps urgent and emergency care centres running smoothly, providing GP and clinician coverage on-demand, day or night. With an excellent track record of consistent, high-quality shift coverage, we provide care and cover that you really can count on.
Statistics updated August 2026, using NHS England published data to 31 July 2026.
