The College of Emergency Medicine (CEM) is urging all clinicians, managers and commissioners involved with the delivery of emergency care to be vigilant, and compliant, in the implementation of the new clinical quality indicators for emergency care that come into practice in April, following their launch in December, by Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley.
Developed to replace the 4-hour target, to promote quality and patient safety, it is hoped that the new indicators will put patients consistently at the forefront of care. The quality indicators were developed by the Department of Health team in conjunction with clinicians from the CEM and the Royal College of Nursing, with input from the CEM Lay Advisory Group. The set of eight indicators focus on the following areas within emergency care:
• Ambulatory care.
• Unplanned re-attendance.
• Total time spent in the Emergency Department.
• Left without being seen.
• Service experience.
• Time to initial assessment.
• Time to treatment.
• Consultant sign-off.
