Has anyone else noticed an increase in chest pain presentations in the
last few weeks following the onset of the BHF's 'Chest pain is your
body's way of telling you to dial 999' campaign?
Our figures for the 25 days before and after the campaign onset on
20.11.06:
Before
After
Total patients 4985
5124
'Chest pain' as presenting complaint 280
405
'Ischaemic chest pain' or 'MI' as diagnosis 108
170
'Non-specific chest pain' as diagnosis 58
122
Not sure what I think of these campaigns. One colleague is quiet upset
by the timing of this when our workload is already increasing and
anecdotally we are getting many 'worried well' in their 30s and very few
genuine IHD patients. Indeed, those with known IHD are still waiting
hours at home for their GTN to work or trying to contact their GPs.
Simon
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