NHS watchdog warns ambulance delays resulting in heart attack patients waiting up to three hours for treatment

An investigation has found that ambulance delays are leaving heart attack patients waiting up to three hours for life-saving procedures.

The NHS watchdog said the long waits are risking the recoveries and lives of patients suffering the most serious type of heart attack.

The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) found that around ten per cent of patients were having to endure waits of three hours to receive lifesaving treatment, which involves having stents inserted into arteries to relieve blockages.

The HSIB investigated responses to the most critical form of heart attack, known as ST-elevated myocardial infarction, or STEMI, which affects around 31,000 people each year.

The NHS recommends such patients have a procedure known as a primary percutaneous coronary intervention, or PPCI, within 1.5 hours of diagnosis. This is also known as an angioplasty, which involves the insertion of a mesh tube (stent) to widen a clogged artery and improve blood supply.

Timely treatment can avoid further damage to the heart and therefore allowing patients the best chance of going on to make a good recovery. However, the HSIB report that “there has been a decreasing ability for ambulance services to ensure that patients are transferred to a PPCI centre and undergo PPCI within timescales set out in national guidance.”

A 2020 report into care for myocardial infarction found that the average time between the emergency call and procedure in England has increased each year from 117 minutes in 2015/16 to 125 minutes in 2018/19. The report added “In 2018/19, 31 per cent of patients with STEMI did not receive PPCI within 150 minutes of their call for help.”

HSIB’s Dr Stephen Drage, said “Delays in emergency response to STEMI and the impact this could have on treatment is a patient safety issue seen across England. Data cited in our report suggests that the longer the delay, the poorer the outcome could be.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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