A&E transfer records criticised

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Hospitals must keep better records of how long it takes to hand patients from ambulances into A&E departments, says the Auditor General for Wales.

In a report, Jeremy Colman said many patients have to wait too long in ambulances before being transferred into the care of hospital staff.

This can leave vehicles queuing outside A&E when they are needed elsewhere, he added.

He urged hospitals and the ambulance trust to work to improve the problem.

The report found that while there have been some positive steps to improving the handover process, the true extent of the delays is unclear.

Handover times are not being consistently recorded due to problems with new data terminals, staff resistance in using them and uncertainty over the process of recording information, it said.

The minister needs to bang heads together now, and give patients the service they deserve Mike German AM

New targets introduced in 2008 gave ambulance crews and emergency units 15 minutes for patient handovers and have helped to raise awareness of the issue.

The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust monitors turnaround times and has used an internal target of 20 minutes for the total turnaround (handing the patient over plus the time making the vehicle ready for the next call).

But the ambulance service has estimated that crews were delayed at hospital emergency departments for nearly 30,000 hours beyond this 20 minute target in 2008, the report said.

Mr Colman said the NHS needs to take a "firmer grip" on patient handover times.

He said NHS trusts and the ambulance trust needed to ensure the correct handover data was recorded, along with "inspiring greater staff commitment" over the issue.

"Excessive handover times at emergency departments affect capacity within the unscheduled care system because ambulance crews are consequently unavailable to take the next call," he said.

"I hope the NHS will take on the recommendations outlined in my report, and that acute trusts and the ambulance trust will work together more effectively, to improve the situation."

'Horror stories'

Mike German AM, the former leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said Health Minster Edwina Hart needed to "bang some heads together".

"Patients are suffering," said Mr German, a member of the assembly's audit committee, who was one of the members who quizzed ambulance and NHS chiefs on the poor state of the service across Wales.

"The problem has dragged on for years: my postbag and surgeries I have been hearing from families with horror story after story for the past five years.

"The minister needs to bang heads together now, and give patients the service they deserve - especially in emergency situations where ill people, sometimes in a critical condition, need an ambulance, transport to hospital to be seen quickly."