13 September 2002
Health Secretary Alan Milburn announced this week that former Royal College of Physicians' president Professor Sir George Alberti will be the first national clinical director for emergency access.
Immediately dubbed the emergency care czar, Alberti will advise on the implementation of the government's ten-year plan to reform emergency care and services. He will be asked to focus on improving patients' experience of casualty departments and will be able to step in where trusts are experiencing difficulties.
One of his toughest early targets will be to ensure no patient waits more than four hours in a casualty department by 2004, a move that should reduce average waiting times to 75 minutes. 'Inappropriate' trolley waits for assessment and hospital admission should also be consigned to history by that time.
The government has invested around £150m since coming to power on upgrading casualty departments and creating better links between hospitals and community care providers.
Alberti, who will work part-time, said his remit extended to care provided by primary care trusts, ambulance and social services. 'I think it's unacceptable that anyone should have to wait substantial periods of time before being seen, diagnosed and treatment started,' he said.
'A lot of this is about changing the way we organise the work. Emergency care is delivered against a background of frenetic activity. The biggest challenge is to ensure people across the system are able to create the "think time" to look positively at the way services are delivered,' he added.
Professor David Haslam, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said Alberti's new role was vital.
'Simplifying and improving patient access to emergency care is of essential importance, particularly at a time when the NHS workforce is under so much pressure,' he added.
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