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Jersey’s Emergency Department has continued to achieve the four-hour standard for A&E waiting times but has failed to meet targets for triage times, the latest healthcare statistics show.
So far this year, patients have spent an average of 1 hour 15 minutes in the emergency department but less than 70% of patients were triaged within 15 minutes, falling short of the 90% standard.
The figures are the latest statistics published by the Government of Jersey on the performance of Jersey’s healthcare services between March 2021 and March 2022.
The standards state that more than 90% of patients should be triaged within 15 minutes of arriving at A&E. This standard was not achieved by Jersey’s emergency department in any calendar month over the past year, and so far in 2022, 66.9% of patients were triaged within the 15 minute timeframe
The Government’s Quality and Performance Report stated that this reduction was due to the number of simultaneous arrivals and the current staffing model in the emergency department.
Pictured: Patients have spent an average of 1 hour 15 minutes in A&E this year, surpassing the four-hour standard.
The report states: “At present, the triage nurse also provides clinical support to the minor treatment area which can result in delays.
“The staffing model has been reviewed in line with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and Royal Collage of Nursing ‘BEST Tool’.
“This has identified an increase in staff is required to ensure dedicated triage provision.”
The report also highlighted how the use of locums to cover staff shortages had resulted in patients waiting longer to receive treatment.
This was based on data showing the percentage of treatments in the past year that were started within 60 minutes.
The standard in this instance is centred on the RAG (Red, Amber, Green) traffic-light system where 90% is favourable (green), 70–90% is neutral (amber), but less than 70% if unfavourable (red).
Year-to-date data shows that 64.2% of treatments commenced within 60 minutes.
Pictured: The report highlighted how staff shortages had resulted in patients waiting longer to receive treatment.
The report states that this “slight reduction” in the standard was due to some shortfalls in staff due to short notice sickness. Where possible, locum provision is provided but the efficiency of locums if often lower than usual staff whilst they are trained into the local Jersey processes.
“Patients who attend the Emergency Department are triaged and patients of a higher clinical priority have treatment commenced on a priority basis,” the report says.
The Health Department has also seen an increase in the number of patients spending more than 10 hours in the A&E department.
The standards state that this should never happen, but since January this year, a total of 56 patients have spent more than 10 hours in the emergency department.
Pictured: There was a rise in the number of patients with Covid in the Jersey General Hospital in March.
The report notes that this increase is a result of ‘patient flow’ within the inpatient areas and a lack of capacity in providing home care.
March saw a rise in emergency demand and patients with covid in Jersey General Hospital, and workforce impact was also noted in the nursing, residential and homecare sectors.
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