Emergency care nurses under pressure to meet four-hour waiting target

Published: 28 April 2008

A survey from the RCN shows that nine out of ten emergency care nurses have felt unduly pressured to meet the four-hour waiting target.

The results of the survey of over 500 frontline emergency care nurses, published today, shows that the pressure to meet the four-hour waiting time has had negative consequences for the quality of patient care.

75 per cent of nurses surveyed said that patients were regularly admitted to inappropriate wards just to meet the target. With many nurses saying they believed that lowering the percentage of patients who had to be treated within the time limit would improve the quality of care.

Commenting on the results of this survey, Dr. Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said:

“More than anything, A&E nurses want to meet the needs of patients, but they work in a system which compels them to meet the needs of targets. Our members, who work in A&E departments up and down the country, say that this target is too restrictive and unrealistic for them to provide the kind of care they would like.”

Dr Carter added that "the RCN is calling for a more realistic target of 95 per cent of patients seen within four hours rather than the current 98 per ", which he said would give A&E staff "the flexibility and the breathing space to deliver the personalised quality care that both patients and the government are demanding."