BMA claims A&E access rates nosedive in week after audit

The number of accident and emergency departments which met government four-hour access targets fell from 85 per cent to 65 per cent in the week after the government's audit, according to a British Medical Association survey.

The survey, which collected data from consultants in 95 of the 207 A&E departments in England, found that just 55 per cent of departments hit the four-hour access target the week before the audit took part in the last week of March.

Respondents said that during the audit, 85 per cent of the departments hit the target. But just a week later, the figure slipped back to 65 per cent.

The national target was for 90 per cent of patients to be dealt with inside four hours, an aggregate figure which allowed for varying performance from trust to trust. Unaudited figures released by the Department of Health in April said 92.9 per cent of A&E attenders had been dealt with inside four hours or less.

But one-third of respondents to the BMA survey did not believe the published figures for their department were an accurate reflection of their situation.

The survey also said 72 per cent of departments had introduced exceptional arrangements during the audit week. Nearly 60 per cent increased the use of agency staff, 23 per cent made staff work double or extended shifts and 16 per cent cancelled elective operations.

Over half of respondents believed that efforts to hit government targets were distorting clinical priorities.

Nonetheless, 81 per cent said the initiative had improved the performance of their department.

Dr John Heyworth, president of the British Association of Accident and Emergency Medicine, said the audit showed that 'what was once thought impossible to achieve could be done with the right resources and the right processes in place'.

But Dr Heyworth said it was 'depressing and demoralising' to have resources one week and see them taken away the next. He added: 'We support these targets in principle but they can only be achieved if sustainable resources and processes are in place'.

A spokesperson for the DoH said: 'Manipulation of statistics or treatment of patients in an inappropriate way is not acceptable'.

But he said the March milestone and next year's final 100 per cent target had 'concentrated minds'.