New figures outlining the performance of ambulance trusts have revealed regional variations in treatment times and survival rates for patients including heart attack, cardiac arrest and stroke victims. The statistics, relating to ambulance treatment and outcomes in April 2011, take a number of clinical quality indicators into account.
The figures show that the survival rate for patients resuscitated by ambulance staff after an unwitnessed cardiac arrest varied from 0% for those treated by the Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Trust to 12% of patients attended to by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The national average rate was 6%.
The data showed that nationally, 90.8% of heart attack patients eligible for primary angioplasty received the treatment within 150 minutes. For patients treated by North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust the same timeframe was achieved in 82.3% of cases, compared with Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust which achieved 97.6%.
The statistics show that nationally, 66.2% of suspected stroke patients who were assessed face-to-face arrived at a hyperacute stroke centre within 60 minutes. Regionally, that figure varied from 0% in the Isle of Wight to 90.9% for patients treated by the North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The proportion of suspected stroke patients assessed face-to-face who received an appropriate care bundle varied from 84% to 100%, with a national average of 91.3%.
Joe Korner, director of Communications at The Stroke Association, said: ‘Tremendous progress has been made in recent years with more patients than ever before getting to hospital quickly and being admitted to designated stroke units. But unfortunately this isn't true of the whole country and it's worrying to see that in some regions ambulance services aren't getting patients to hospital within 60 minutes.’
