19
Mar 2019
NHS England announces four-hour A&E target may be dropped
Saying targets were becoming outdated, NHS bosses have unveiled plans for an overhaul of the A&E waiting time target, together with changes to waiting times for cancer and planned operations.
Rather than aiming for all patients to be seen and treated within the target of four hours, instead the sickest patients will be prioritised for earlier treatment, so that patients arriving with heart attacks, sepsis, strokes and acute asthma will begin their care and treatment within an hour.
The changes will be piloted this year and if they are a success, could be introduced across the board in 2020.
The Care Quality Commission’s chief inspector of hospitals Professor Ted Baker, said that although the original target had been helpful in improving emergency care, the time was now right to measure performance more effectively.
He went on to say “Emergency departments need a set of standards which give priority to patients with life-threatening conditions.”
However, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine said that it opposed the new plans and said that the four hour target should be incorporated to work alongside the new measures.
President of the college Dr Taj Hassan, said “We are keen to ensure that any changes are not imposed due to political will, but are developed responsibly, collaboratively and are based upon clinical expert consensus in the best interests of patients.”
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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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