CEEU : Acute Myocardial Infarction :

How the NHS Manages Heart Attacks

April 2005-March 2006

following link is for a pdf download Printable version of full report in PDF format (468k) *

Executive Summary

This is the Fifth Public Report from the Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project (MINAP) on the treatment of heart attack patients. It presents data from all hospitals and ambulance services in England and Wales that provided care for patients with suspected heart attack from April 2005 to March 2006 (2005/6) in comparison with data from the previous year (2004/5). The report shows continuing improvement in the care of heart attack patients.

High quality care of these patients includes the early diagnosis and rapid treatment to re-open the blocked coronary artery responsible for the heart attack. This is usually by treatment with clot dissolving drugs (thrombolytic treatment) and the prescription of drugs that reduce the risk of further heart attack (secondary prevention therapy). Although the majority of patients receive a thrombolytic drug, an increasing number are now receiving primary angioplasty instead of thrombolytic treatment.

Patients receive thrombolytic treatment faster

  • 58% of patients received thrombolytic treatment within 60 minutes of calling for professional help in England compared with only 22% in early 2001, while in Wales the figure was 30%, compared to 22% in 2003/4.
  • 83% of eligible patients in England received thrombolytic treatment within 30 minutes of arrival at hospital compared with 44% during early 2001.
  • 74% of eligible patients in Wales received thrombolytic treatment within 30 minutes of arrival at hospital, compared to 65% in 2003/4 when the Welsh hospitals were first included in the Public Report.
  • The percentage of hospitals in England providing thrombolytic treatment to 75% of their eligible patients within 30 minutes of the patient’s arrival at hospital is similar, 88% against 89% in the last report in June 2005. In Wales the percentage fell from 56% to 47%.

Thrombolytic treatment is increasingly being given by paramedics
before the patient reaches hospital, saving valuable time

  • 28 of the 31 ambulance services in England and the Welsh ambulance service can now give thrombolytic treatment to patients before they reach hospital (pre-hospital thrombolysis).
  • In 2005/6, 2,231 patients received pre-hospital thrombolytic treatment compared with 1,374 patients in 2004/5.

More patients are being treated by primary angioplasty

More hospitals are now providing angioplasty as an emergency treatment for heart attack. This
is known as primary angioplasty.

  • In 2005/6, 1,647 patients were treated with primary angioplasty instead of thrombolytic treatment, compared with 1,087 in 2004/5.

Prescription of secondary prevention medication continues to increase

  • The proportion of heart attack patients prescribed secondary prevention medication on discharge from hospital continues to exceed the targets remaining at 97% for aspirin, 92% for beta-blockers and 96% for statins in England, with a corresponding increase to 98%, 91% and 94% in Wales.

 

 

* PDF files require the free Adobe Acrobat reader.

 

This page last updated on June 20, 2006