Sustainability and Seven Day Services Taskforce Interim Report

Coronary Care

The Scottish Government issued a Heart Disease Improvement Plan in August 2014 which sets six priority areas which will contribute to the overall aim of improving the experience and clinical outcomes for patients living with heart disease^[7]. The priorities include improving secondary and tertiary care cardiology. They stress the importance of patients with heart disease receiving the right investigation and treatment, administered by skilled staff in a timely, equitable and evidence-based manner. Actions being taken forward include improved patient-centred flow into, through, between and out of hospital for patients with chest pain and the development of local and regional pathways including strategy for cardiac investigation and intervention. We will link to the implementation of this Improvement Plan as it develops.

Also of note is the Resuscitation Rapid Response Unit - 3RU, which provides a 24/7 on scene resuscitation service for patients in cardiac arrest^[8]. It was piloted in Lothians as a joint project between the Scottish Ambulance Service and the Resuscitation Research Group at the University of Edinburgh. The 3RU team - a small team of paramedics, supported by doctors, nurses, dispatchers, medical students and a resuscitation officer - has shown significantly increased survivability rates for out of hospital cardiac arrests in Edinburgh - 33% as compared to the Scottish figure of 15-20%^[8]. The Scottish Government is supporting a wider roll out of this scheme with funding of £200,000 in 2014.