A hospital in the U.K. has decreased wait times in the accident and emergency department after implementing Access hsTnI

In April 2018, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was the first National Health Society (NHS) laboratory to go live with Access hsTnI.

The goal was to alleviate overcrowding and decrease wait time for patients to under four hours in the accident and emergency department.

During implementation, an early rule in/out protocol was introduced using gender-specific cut-off points. The Access AccuTnI+3 has a protocol of 0 and 6 hours and combined M&F 99% upper reference limit (URL) and the Access hsTnI has a 0 and 3 hour protocol and gender-specific 99% URL.

Reduced Patient Waiting Times

One month prior to the introduction of the Access hsTnI, in March 2018, 46% of patients with chest pain waited longer than four hours in the accident and emergency department – this number decreased to an average of 22% from April-August 2018 once the Access hsTnI was implemented.

50% fewer patients presenting to the accident and emergency department with chest pain are waiting longer than four hours compared to previous year, following implementation of Access hsTnI from April-August 2018.

Additionally, 50% fewer females with chest pain wait longer than four hours in the accident and emergency department and 47% fewer males with chest pain are waiting longer than four hours.