Emergency care blueprint published

A new blueprint for the development of emergency care in Ireland has recommended that services should be delivered through networks of emergency departments and units in hospitals.

The proposed new networks should be made up of emergency departments in hospitals which operate on a 24-hour basis as well as new local emergency units and local injury units which would have more limited opening hours.

Such a move could have implications for existing emergency services in a number of hospitals around the

The report of the national emergency medicine programme, published by the HSE this afternoon, recommends the development of new models of care for the treatment of patients.

The report says that patients should be assessed and discharged or admitted within six hours of arrival in an emergency department.

It says patients should receive the same high standards of emergency care irrespective of wherever they sought emergency services.

The report proposes that the new networks would work closely with pre-hospital care as well as with hospital-based services and primary care.

It says new clinical governance structures and practices should be put in place to drive improvement in the quality and efficiency and cost-effectiveness of patient care.

The new report recommends standardised, evidence-based processes for patient assessment in all emergency departments, with an emphasis on effective patient streaming and minimisation of delays for patients.

It says national clinical guidelines will be developed and implemented for the top 20 high-risk and high-volume conditions.