皇冠体育app

New figures showing the quality of A&E services have been published for the first time today.

皇冠体育app publication was ordered by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to give patients and the NHS a more rounded view of the quality of A&E services. 皇冠体育app eight clinical quality indicators measure more than the single standard introduced under the previous government which showed the percentage of patients being seen within four hours.

Although the number of patients being seen within four hours remains a key measure of A&E performance, the new figures being published today also include:

鈥⒙牷使谔逵齛pp proportion of patients who left A&E without being seen
鈥⒙牷使谔逵齛pp proportion of patients who had to attend A&E again within the week after their first attendance
鈥⒙牷使谔逵齛pp time it takes to initial assessment.

All the measures were developed jointly by Professor Matthew Cooke, the National Clinical Director for Emergency Care, together with senior clinicians in the College of Emergency Medicine and the Royal College of Nursing.

皇冠体育app figures show that there is variation in the quality of care across the country and highlights areas where there may be a need for improvement.聽 Without the publication of this important information, these issues would have continued to go unnoticed and unchallenged.

皇冠体育app publication of the A&E figures follows recent figures illustrating the success of the Government鈥檚 transparency drive on mixed-sex accommodation. Since December, when data were first collected, breaches have fallen by 90 per cent in the space of eight months.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said:

鈥淲e know the time that people wait in A&E is important to patients, which is why it remains at the core of our new measures of A&E performance.

鈥淏ut, waiting is not the only thing that matters to patients, which is why it should not be the only thing that matters to the NHS. We should be measuring the whole quality of care patients receive at A&E, which is what this Government has done.聽

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp figures published today will help the NHS drive up the standards of care, improve patients鈥� experience and shine a light on where A&Es can improve.

鈥淧atients should be able to expect a 24/7 accessible and safe emergency care service which is integrated across the NHS. I expect all trusts to use this information in a positive way and improve services for patients.鈥�

Professor Matthew Cooke, National Clinical Director for Emergency and Urgent Care said:

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp new clinical quality indicators for A&E services offer an opportunity to ensure that we always strive to improve services for patients.

鈥淲e now have measures that look at the percentage of patients who re-attend A&E departments within seven days of their first visit or how quickly potentially life-threatening conditions are first assessed so that the emergency care system can be viewed as a whole to give patients the best possible care.鈥�

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

1.聽皇冠体育app full data for the A&E clinical quality indicators can be found on the .

2.聽Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is visiting the A&E department at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital on Friday 26 August.

3.聽For more information, please contact the Department of Health press office on 020 7210 5221.

LIST OF A&E INDICATORS

1.聽Percentage of patients with certain ambulatory care conditions admitted
2.聽Unplanned re-attendance rate
3.聽Total time spent in the A&E department
4.聽Left department before being seen for treatment rate
5.聽Service experience
6.聽Time to initial assessment
7.聽Time to treatment
8.聽Consultant sign-off