Accident and emergency staff meet operational standards

Accident and emergency (A&E) staff in England have delivered a “tremendous achievement” and helped departments meet operational standards for 98 per cent of patients.

New statistics show that people needing A&E treatment last year were seen, diagnosed and treated within four hours of arriving at a hospital.

Health minister Ben Bradshaw said the result reflects the hard work of NHS employees who dealt with more patients in 2008 than ever.

“The waiting experience for millions of patients in A&E has dramatically improved,” he added. “Nurses have told me how ambulance staff used to queue out of the door with patients on trolleys before the four-hour standard was introduced.”

Sustained investment and innovation contributed to the results, the Department of Health (DoH) said. An extra 1,800 staff now work in the field of NHS emergency care in England, in addition to 749 extra consultants.

In related news, it was recently announced by the DoH that agreements to secure up to 90 million vaccines for H1N1 influenza have been signed with Baxter and GlaxoSmithKline.