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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| A&E's 15-minute ambulance target | A&E's 15-minute ambulance target |
| (29 minutes later) | |
| Accident and emergency departments in Wales have been given a 15-minute target to get patients out of ambulances on arrival at hospital. | |
| Health Minister Edwina Hart has set the time limit in a bid to stop ambulances queuing outside A&E units and to free them up for other emergencies. | Health Minister Edwina Hart has set the time limit in a bid to stop ambulances queuing outside A&E units and to free them up for other emergencies. |
| The Welsh Assembly Government said staff already worked towards the target but from April it would be mandatory. | The Welsh Assembly Government said staff already worked towards the target but from April it would be mandatory. |
| Doctors warned it must not mean patients are left waiting on trolleys. | Doctors warned it must not mean patients are left waiting on trolleys. |
| The British Association of Emergency Medicine backed the target as a way of helping ambulances meet their critical eight minute deadline for reaching emergency calls. | The British Association of Emergency Medicine backed the target as a way of helping ambulances meet their critical eight minute deadline for reaching emergency calls. |
| But the association's Welsh spokesman Peter Richmond warned it should not mean patients are simply waiting for treatment in a hospital corridor instead. | But the association's Welsh spokesman Peter Richmond warned it should not mean patients are simply waiting for treatment in a hospital corridor instead. |
| There are also alternatives to simply taking patients to A&E Peter Richmond, A&E consultant | There are also alternatives to simply taking patients to A&E Peter Richmond, A&E consultant |
| "The difficulties arise where the ambulance service simply offload patients into trolleys where there is no space, and no one to oversee them," said Mr Richmond, who is a consultant at the A&E department of the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff. | "The difficulties arise where the ambulance service simply offload patients into trolleys where there is no space, and no one to oversee them," said Mr Richmond, who is a consultant at the A&E department of the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff. |
| "This can lead to an unsafe, confused environment where ill patients are left in trolleys - are they being assessed and reviewed properly?" | "This can lead to an unsafe, confused environment where ill patients are left in trolleys - are they being assessed and reviewed properly?" |
| He said other options should also be looked at to help prevent congestion at A&E. | He said other options should also be looked at to help prevent congestion at A&E. |
| "These include more careful scheduling of relatively non-urgent ambulance arrivals," he said. | "These include more careful scheduling of relatively non-urgent ambulance arrivals," he said. |
| "There are also alternatives to simply taking patients to A&E. Perhaps the out of hours service can handle them, GPs, or the paramedics dealing with them without bringing them to A&E." | "There are also alternatives to simply taking patients to A&E. Perhaps the out of hours service can handle them, GPs, or the paramedics dealing with them without bringing them to A&E." |
| The handover period, which is subject to the 15-minute target, starts from when the A&E staff are notified by the ambulance crew that a patient has arrived and needs to be seen. | |
| It ends when the patient has been transferred into the care of A&E staff and the crew are free to return to the ambulance. | It ends when the patient has been transferred into the care of A&E staff and the crew are free to return to the ambulance. |
| Quality of services | Quality of services |
| The Welsh Assembly Government said the NHS already worked to the target but this wouild now be mandatory and achieving it would require organisations to work together. | The Welsh Assembly Government said the NHS already worked to the target but this wouild now be mandatory and achieving it would require organisations to work together. |
| "From April 2008 this becomes a priority target in line with the targets for responses to immediately life threatening calls by the emergency ambulance service and waits of no longer than four hours in a major accident and emergency department," said a spokesman. | "From April 2008 this becomes a priority target in line with the targets for responses to immediately life threatening calls by the emergency ambulance service and waits of no longer than four hours in a major accident and emergency department," said a spokesman. |
| He added: "Reducing handover times will improve the experience for patients and help release emergency ambulances to respond to life threatening 999 calls." | He added: "Reducing handover times will improve the experience for patients and help release emergency ambulances to respond to life threatening 999 calls." |
| The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust said it would be "working closely with colleagues at the hospitals in order to achieve these turnaround times". | The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust said it would be "working closely with colleagues at the hospitals in order to achieve these turnaround times". |
| In September 2007, the trust confirmed patients were regularly waiting more than 50 minutes in ambulances outside south east Wales A&E departments. | In September 2007, the trust confirmed patients were regularly waiting more than 50 minutes in ambulances outside south east Wales A&E departments. |
| In March, it said 11 of its ambulances were queued up outside the UHW in Cardiff because there were no beds available for patients. | In March, it said 11 of its ambulances were queued up outside the UHW in Cardiff because there were no beds available for patients. |
| During the same period people waited more than two hours to be admitted to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant as emergencies "overwhelmed" the hospital, it said. | During the same period people waited more than two hours to be admitted to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant as emergencies "overwhelmed" the hospital, it said. |