Hospitals trial new NHS targets

6 April 2019, 11:16 | Updated: 6 April 2019, 11:19

Kettering & L&D Hospitals are to trial new A&E targets - which could lead to changes in the way Casualty Departments are measured up and down the country.

Emergency care patients with the most serious conditions will receive rapid treatment within an hour... as people with minor conditions - can expect to wait longer.

At present, all A&E patients should be seen within four hours, but the target has not been hit since July 2015.

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Fourteen NHS hospital trusts are set to trial new targets which could lead to changes in the way A&E performance is measured.

Hospitals at selected sites incuding the Luton & Dunstable and the Kettering Hospitals, will begin testing from May before wider implementation in spring next year, NHS England said.

A series of pilots were announced by the body last month, including possible changes to targets for A&E, cancer and planned operations.

Under the new plans for emergency care, patients with the most serious conditions will receive rapid treatment within an hour, while people with minor conditions can expect to wait longer.

At present, all A&E patients should be seen within four hours, but the target has not been hit since July 2015.

The proposals have faced criticism from some, who say the targets are being abandoned because they can no longer be met.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine has previously warned that scrapping the four-hour A&E target would have "a near-catastrophic impact on patient safety".

NHS England said:

"The information we gather through field testing and engagement will inform final recommendations from this review, and ahead of full implementation beginning spring 2020."