Cardio victims wait too long for drugs
HEART attack victims at Ipswich Hospital are not getting treatment as quickly as they should, according to new figures.Only two thirds – that is 67 per cent - of suspected heart attack victims get vital clot busting treatment within 30 minutes of entering the hospital against the 75 per cent target of the National Service Framework.
By Jessica Nicholls
By JESSICA NICHOLLS, health reporter
jessica.nicholls@eveningstar.co.uk
HEART attack patients at Ipswich Hospital are not getting treatment as quickly as they should, according to new figures.
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Only two thirds – 67 per cent – of suspected heart attack victims get vital clot busting treatment within 30 minutes of entering the hospital against the 75pc target of the national service framework.
However a ground-breaking new project at the hospital has meant more patients have been seen much quicker in the last few months.
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Figures from an audit project showed that the hospital was at least 25pc below the target time for administering the thrombolytic treatment, which breaks down the clots in the heart.
The figures released by the Royal College of Physicians were from January to June this year but since then a spokeswoman for the hospital said the numbers have dramatically changed.
A new project called IDEA – ideal design of emergency access – meant that everyone in NHS and social care organisations, along with the East Anglian Ambulance Trust were working together to get patients admitted more quickly.
Ambulance crews should soon be able to carry out an electrocardiogram in the ambulance and administer a thrombolytic drug before they arrive at the hospital.
Another change is that patients are taken straight through to the specialist cardiology department when ambulance crews bring them in instead of having to register at reception first.
The Ipswich Hospital spokeswoman added: "We are working hard to make improvements.
"We are constantly monitoring the situation and are working to meet the targets."
Other hospitals in the region, West Suffolk Hospital and James Paget were also below target for the first six months of this year.
The report also assessed the use of aspirin, beta blockers and statins, drugs which reduce the risk of another heart attack.
Emerging data for July to September this year showed that almost 70pc of patients across the UK achieved the door-to-needle target and that most hospitals were meeting the targets for prescribing heart attack-preventing drugs.
WEBLINK
www.rcplondon.ac.uk
www.ipswichhospital.nhs.co.uk
