Reducing ECG Wait Times for Chest Pain Patients in the ED

Following a CQC inspection, a quality improvement project aimed to reduce the median time to ECG for chest pain patients in the emergency department from 78 minutes to under 30 minutes. The project identified key issues, including the need for more Clinical Support Workers (CSWs) and improved triage processes. Four main interventions were implemented: prioritizing the recruitment of band 3 CSWs, providing additional training, mandating ECGs from triage, and introducing a Continuous Flow Model to reduce crowding. The median time to ECG improved significantly, reaching as low as 29 minutes, demonstrating sustained performance improvement over six consecutive data points.