Website of the Department of Health

In this way, the ESC will help trusts across the nation meet the NHS Plan target of seeing, treating, admitting or discharging all patients within 4 hours of arrival at A&E by December 2004. The ESC offers opportunities for clinical teams to learn tools and techniques and share practices to improve care and reduce patient waits and treatment delays. This method has proven to be effective in other UK collaboratives, such as in primary care, cancer and coronary heart disease, as well as in other national health care systems.

Every trust in England with a 24-hour A&E department is participating in the ESC, which runs from October 2002 to September 2004.  The programme focuses on the whole system of emergency care, rather than individual departments. Participation from all acute Trusts, the ambulance service, social services, primary care, NHS Direct, therefore is vital to the success of the ESC. For further information on the ESC programme please visit our website, linked below.

• Emergency Services Collaborative on the NHS Modernisation Agency website (opens new window)