By Helen Mooney
19 November 2009
The speed at which patients are treated by their local accident and emergency department varies widely across the country, according to a report by the NHS Information Centre.
The Accident and emergency – Patient journey report on 2007/08 A&E statistics was published on November 18. It showed that three-quarters of patients in A&E are seen and treated or admitted to hospital within three hours – the government’s target is a maximum waiting time of four hours.
However, there is a wide local variation – from zero to 15% – in the numbers of patients dealt with in the last ten minutes before the deadline expires.
The findings also show that the number of patients leaving A&E per minute increases as the four-hour deadline approaches and that there is a marked rise in the ten minutes before the deadline, when 6% of all patients attending A&E across England are seen and treated.
The percentage of patients leaving A&E who are admitted to hospital also rises markedly in the last ten minutes before the four-hour cut-off, when 66% are admitted compared with 21% overall.
NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: ‘This report gives a valuable, minute-by-minute insight into patients’ experience of A&E services and highlights a marked variation in both the speed of care and the destination of patients when they leave A&E.’
19 November 2009
The speed at which patients are treated by their local accident and emergency department varies widely across the country, according to a report by the NHS Information Centre.
The Accident and emergency – Patient journey report on 2007/08 A&E statistics was published on November 18. It showed that three-quarters of patients in A&E are seen and treated or admitted to hospital within three hours – the government’s target is a maximum waiting time of four hours.
However, there is a wide local variation – from zero to 15% – in the numbers of patients dealt with in the last ten minutes before the deadline expires.
The findings also show that the number of patients leaving A&E per minute increases as the four-hour deadline approaches and that there is a marked rise in the ten minutes before the deadline, when 6% of all patients attending A&E across England are seen and treated.
The percentage of patients leaving A&E who are admitted to hospital also rises markedly in the last ten minutes before the four-hour cut-off, when 66% are admitted compared with 21% overall.
NHS Information Centre chief executive Tim Straughan said: ‘This report gives a valuable, minute-by-minute insight into patients’ experience of A&E services and highlights a marked variation in both the speed of care and the destination of patients when they leave A&E.’
