Starting from February 4, 2025, Public Health Scotland will implement a new methodology to more accurately capture all emergency care activities in their weekly and monthly statistical publications.
This change, supported by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, will now include ‘planned’ A&E attendances. These are instances where patients are given specific time slots to visit minor injury units or A&E departments for emergency care.
This update comes after recommendations from an expert working group aimed at improving the consistency of A&E activity recording across the nation. Including ‘planned’ attendances in Scottish A&E statistics will align them with the inclusion of booked ‘new’ appointments in A&E statistics reported in England.
Public Health Scotland has confirmed through a published analysis that these changes will have a minimal impact on performance figures.
National Clinical Lead for Quality & Safety NHS Scotland Dr John Harden said:
“On behalf of the Scottish Government, I thank the expert working group for their work to explore how we can improve the consistency in the recording of A&E activity.
“As we strive to improve A&E performance, it is vital that we have a clear picture of emergency care across the country, and that the data we collect reflects the hard work of staff on the ground, so we have accepted the group’s recommendation to include planned A&E attendances in published stats.
“This means weekly and monthly stats will now provide a more accurate and consistent reading of the levels of emergency care being provided by our Health Boards.”
Vice President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Dr John Paul Loughrey said:
“The Royal College of Emergency Medicine welcomes the Scottish Government’s ‘Four Hour Emergency Access Standard: Expert Working Group Recommendations Report’. Accurate and consistent performance monitoring is crucial for improving Emergency Care in Scotland.
“The working group formed to assess performance data has provided recommendations that will significantly enhance data collection and prevent variations across health boards. The measures will help provide a clearer representation of the pressures faced by A&Es and ways for Policy Makers to work with clinical experts and RCEM to resuscitate emergency care.”
Clinical Director of Emergency Medicine at NHS Lothian Dr David McKean said:
“This revision of the Emergency Access Standard demonstrates a further commitment to providing safe, timely care to patients across Scotland. It should help to remove variation and ensure that all patients requiring emergency care are treated consistently across services.”
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