Door to needle times are to be reduced from 30 to 20 mins in the next 12 months in spite of the fact that there is no literature to support the clinical effectiveness of this move. The rationale being that if it is quicker it must be better. A&E Depts showing a 100% compliance will be given Beacon status and the lead clinicians will be given 3 DP's.
Units that do not acheive the golden 30 min rule will be downgraded to trauma centres. However to improve the targets and to crank up the A&E staff who are not working efficiently or dare I say it hard enough there are now plans afoot to reduce door to needle times even more and figures of 10 mins or dare I say it 5 minutes are being quoted to make the system one of the most efficient in the world. Already clinical staff are being recruited to collate data from overstaffed units to monitor the effectiveness of the new targets.
Don't say you haven't been warned I heard this from a usually very reliable source. Please keep it under your hat.
Danny McGeehan
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