CEM calls for fundamental change in its new report

The College of Emergency Medicine (CEM) has launched a new report: The drive for quality – How to achieve safe, sustainable care in our Emergency Departments. The report is the first of its kind, calling for a fundamental change in the way emergency care systems are designed funded and run.

Emergency care systems in the UK & Ireland are facing their biggest challenge in well over a decade, as they aim to cope with unsustainable workloads and a lack of sufficient numbers of middle grade Doctors and Consultants in Emergency Medicine to deliver consistent quality care. Both the Care Quality Commission and NHS England have recognised the scale of the crisis and the need for urgent action in the past week.

The report makes ten recommendations across four domains. The CEM is calling for the recommendations to be considered and adopted by national policy makers, commissioners, clinicians and Trust Boards, in order to return systems to stability and help deliver the quality of care that patients expect when they seek help in an emergency. The principles within the recommendations apply to all countries within the UK, although the commissioning arrangements will be different in each.

Download a summary of the report and the full press release by the CEM here

(News released by The College of Emergency Medicine 15 May 2013)