BMA claims that patients in A&E are being put at risk

The Government's 4-hour admission to discharge time limit for patients attending accident and emergency (A&E) departments is currently due for scrutiny in the light of a British Medical Association (BMA) survey which has found that patients are being put at risk (BMA, 2005). According to the survey, 82% of A&E departments reported threats to patient safety from pressure to meet the 4-hour target. The most common complaints were that care of seriously ill or injured people was being compromised and that patients were being discharged from the A&E department before they were adequately assessed or stabilized. It was also found that patients were being moved to inappropriate clinical areas or wards in an effort to get them out of A&E, which only served to increase the stress of staff working within the rest of the hospital.