It is a little known fact that to be successful as an emergency physician in the UK it is vital to take a three month rotation in Archery. Archery is a key skill for us all dating back to Medieval times when we introduced the longbow into warfare. This devastating tool could cause panic in opposing forces, scattering them into many wide and ineffective directions. In short they were an effective tool to cause and disruption inthe opposition ranks whilst the noble English armies of old strode forward with their visions of the future. Soldiers trained using targets to hone their skills and to focus on the aim - meeting the target.
Of course these days we do not have real bows and arrows in the emergency department, but archery remains alive and well. In the modern NHS we still train our troops in archery, or at least in the principle aim of archery - to meet the target.
With our long history of target setting and target hitting it is therefore no suprise that we are world leaders in standards/targets/indicators....., whichever term you prefer in fact and it has to be said that a target culture in the NHS has been criticised widely, even being blamed for the exodus of trainees to Southern climes, but there is arguably more to it than that.
In last weeks episode we touched on new targets around trauma care in the UK and that raised many questions and opened a debate on twitter. This week we want to take those thoughts further and ask what we, as the archiest of arch archers across the entire NHS can do with these externally set targets.
What we forgot to say in the podcast is the absolute need to work alongside a short stay admissions unit under the ED umbrella. Without that you would really struggle to deliver safe and efficient care. We both work in units with short stay admission units that allow us to deliver safe diagnostic and therapeutic interventions to our patients.
So, with some trepidation Iain and I ask whether all targets are a bad thing....
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Ep 24 - Getting started in Emergency Medicine Research
Ep 23 - Smacc Chicago update
Ep 22 - Button Battery ingestion in children
Ep 21 - Code for Cash and Credibility
Ep 20 - Understanding Troponin Part 3: The NICE guidance.
Ep19 - In Situ and Guerrilla Sim in the ED
Ep 18 - Victoria Brazil on great presentations with St.Emlyn's
Ep 17 - Diffuse Axonal Injury with John Hell
Ep 16 - Intro to EM: The patient with syncope (transient loss of consiousness)
Ep 15 - Understanding Troponin - Part 2
Ep 14 - Exeter CEM conference with Adam Reuben
Ep 13 - Intro to EM: Shortness of breath
Ep 12 - Intro to EM: Headache
Ep - 11 Understanding Troponin Part 1
Ep 10 - Intro to EM: Staying safe in your first job
Ep 8 - Trauma Team Leadership
Ep 7 - Delving into the Number Needed To Treat, RRR and ARR.
Ep 6 - SMACC Back-Back on What to believe and when to change.
Ep 5 - Understanding diagnostics in Emergency Medicine Part 3 - Prevalance
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