160,000 risk harm each year from ambulance handover delays

Ambulance handover delays could harm 160,000 patients a year, 12,000 of them severely, according to a structured clinical review of cases by service bosses earlier this year.

The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives examined a sample of 470 cases where handover to A&E was delayed for an hour or more on 4 January this year. The review, whose findings were shared with HSJ, involved every mainland ambulance service in England.

It found that 85% of those who waited more than an hour suffered potential harm, with nine per cent potentially severely harmed. 

Extrapolated across an entire year, using levels of delays up to September 2021, this suggests 160,000 patients are potentially harmed annually. Patients who waited the longest for handover were at greatest risk of some level of harm, and the risk of severe harm more than tripled for those waiting more than four hours compared with those waiting for 60 to 90 minutes.

Read full story

Source: HSJ, 14 November 2021